5. Matrameru- Sandglass

This hit my inbox early this morning and I have been listening it all day. It managed to bump another album off the list due to the fact that (i) it is free, and more importantly (ii) a great psychedelic hip-hop release. Well worth checking out.

4. Apollo Brown and O.C. - Trophies

It's that "classic" hip-hop album. Apollo Brown sets up some solid loops with fitting samples for O.C. to come on the mic and win that gold.

3. Vortx of Distorsun - Escape the Now

This was released late December 2011 so it still counts. Vortx of Distorsun starts to wean themselves off Infinito 2017 (who featured heavily on Children of the Sun), but thankfully the other rappers are more than capable of carrying the torch. They released another album Colored in February which I missed due to its CD only release.

2. Junclassic and Wunderkind - Better Than Fiction

Junclassic is on a role with the European producers. German producer Wunderkind continues to complement Junclassic's laid-back flow. A very slick album.

1. Quakers - Quakers

This album is huge, big, ambitious, monumental and great. I cannot imagine a bigger album than this coming out this year.