Label: Soulection

Genre: Hip-Hop

Members: Pheo

Based: Moreno Valley, California

Sounds Like: @Peace, Schoolboy Q, Kendrick Lamar

Links: Bandcamp, Twitter

Californian MC Pheo has been on the scene since the 2009 release of Word to Your Blogger, but he first caught our eye with his outstanding collaberation with Soulection Radio and UTB Life$tyle. The nine-track EP released in March sees Pheo speaking out about his experiences with women, adversity and everyday issues and happenings. All this is delivered in a laid-back, almost hypnotic flow on top of some really nice and similarly chilled beats from a host of top producers. We’ve picked out our favourite two, the first produced by our favourite New Zealand beatmaker Christoph El Truento (from @Peace) and the second sampling the grime colossus that is Wood Ridim. Definitely explore the whole EP which can be bought for free at Pheo’s Bandcamp (although donations are more than welcome).