By a rough estimate, Reks is about 1000 tracks into his comeback mission, which is going on about three years now. That includes the countless songs he's slayed for other artists; from Boston acts like Blak Madeen and Moe Pope, to El Da Sensei and MC-baller Ron Artest, the Lawrence native and East Coast revivalist has bodied every instrumental in his path, seemingly improving with every bar and verse, if that's even possible.

More Occupy Boston Pics Here

Every revolution needs fresh theme music. Especially one organized by contemporary counter-culture warriors, who tend to have eclectic tastes. I'm not sure what they've been rocking down at Occupy Wall Street - just that the activists there got a boost from Immortal Technique the other day - but the shit I've seen online leads me to believe it ain't Bruno Mars

DJ Deadeye makes no apologies for saluting traditional East Coast boom bap. In fact it's quite the opposite sentiment, as, along with ST. da Squad affiliates like Termanology, the Lawrence-bred vinyl sensei and beatmaker has ushered unapologetic, lyric-heavy hip-hop back into the forefront. His seven-years-in-the-making debut, Substance Abuse, is a throwback of sorts in that Deadeye took the time and energy to unite more than 30 MCs and a dozen co-producers for a stew of thoughtful, thematic blacktop bangers.

At long last, Mattapan master Singapore Kane has blessed us with another mixtape, this one even more anticipated than the last few. Kane's star has risen since he, Reks, Term, and a handful of other Mass cats commandeered the underground and started running trains on tracks with intense frequency. Be it Brick Records, Showoff promotions, East Coast flavor, or whatever it is that unites this elite bunch, they've shown and proven recently.

It's ridiculous that anyone would read the New York Times for music coverage. Still the sad truth is that staff critic Jon Caramanica wields serious influence over the commercial hip-hop landscape, his master narratives weaving mittens for inept writers everywhere to handle trend rappers. So with another Grammy gala toasting mediocrity upon us, I thought it was a fitting time to eviscerate his write-up of last week's Stretch and Bob reunion show

If you're a frequent reader of this blog, then you know damn well how much faith we have in Reks, who's rocking tonight at The Middle East with Moe Pope, Singapore Kane, Kali, Wispers, JFK, and a few other cats who you should be up on. As you might have realized - we don't do much show promo here on JTTS (unless, of course, Trees is benefiting from it financially), but this is a show that should absolutely not be slept on.

Blak Madeen's Sacred Defense was without-a-doubt one of the best discs to drop anywhere last year - not just in Boston (here's the feature that I wrote about them). The album featured the likes of Reks and Lord Jamar - and sick beats through and through - but ultimately prevailed on the strength of Al-J and Yusuf playing off of one another.

It’s amazing how much hate mail I receive accusing me of ignoring local artists. Most hilarious is this ass on Facebook who recently bitched that I “write about the same people over and over.” He might have a solid point, if in the past year alone I didn’t pay significant attention to: Esoteric, Black Madeen, Bad Rabbits, Singapore Kane, Slaine, Boycott Blues, DJ Slim, JDO, M-Dot, Masspike Miles, D-Tension, The Berklee J Dilla Ensemble, Jaysaun, Will C, Amadeus, Rite Hook, WMS the Sultan, GWOP Gang, Wasted Talent, The Dunnas, Dawaun Parker, RADIx, Mr.

I’m not packing clothes for this year’s CMJ Marathon in New York City. In fact, I’m not even bringing down a laptop. Instead of spending five straight days inhaling various poisons, feverishly blogging on the same nonsense that everyone else is covering, and ransacking my weathered eardrums with out-of-tune guitar shreds and swollen bass lines, I’m limiting my trip to one day and two nights, and seeing how much I can cram in.