April 12, 2013 – There's a new Jay-Z song out about Cuba or something? Don't even worry about it, though. We've got RiFF RAFF out-Franco-ing James Franco, Diddy hanging out with the wrestling riff-raff, a Drake and Amanda Bynes mini-comic, an Antwon fan shredding on a bass guitar, and the quiet return of Mannie Fresh.1. RiFF RAFF Is Going to Be on a Soap Opera: Is RiFF RAFF seeking the ultimate revenge on James Franco and Spring Breakers for not properly crediting him? Yes, the character of Alien isn't entirely jacked from the absurdist sincerity of Jody Highroller, but the moviemakers' decision to downplay his importance to the characterization is unfortunate.

April 10, 2013 – Nice to see Kalenna, the other member of Diddy's Dirty Money project showing up on a radio-ready song with Rich Boy (who also hasn't really gotten the second chance he deserves). And Dawn Richard returns the major-label cast-off favor by spotlighting Eve! Meanwhile, Tyga panders, James Blake gets in over his head with the RZA, and a should-be-buzzing producer, Tony Gardner, puts himself in front of the mic.Dawn Richard, feat. Eve "Northern Lights (Remix)""Northern Lights," from Richard's album Goldenheart, now featuring Eve, is like a gathering of the perpetually underrated. Richard, formerly of Danity Kane and Diddy Dirty-Money, is making some of the most fulgent R&B right now, though it neither codes as "alt" or "mainstream," and as a result doesn't grab that many ears.

April 9, 2013 – There's not much information out there on Oakland producer-rapper Ammbush. He has made beats for DaVinci ("Champion," "Quit Playin'") and Main Attrakionz ("Wings"), and his mixtape Ammbaataa, is out on SWTBRDS, one of many savvy labels aware that weirdo street-rap and all-over-the-place Internet hip-hop have become one. But that's all we've really got, and that's pretty refreshing. Here is some relatively unmarked rap territory to explore.Ammbush can get very serious ("Fool'n With You" is a game-kicking love song plus drug-abuse admission) and also very silly ("Kick it like Pele with Sheneneh extensions" he boasts on "Keep Going"), but you never feel like he's trying to be anybody other than himself, even when he wanders into Tumblr-esque curating.

April 8, 2013 – Country-rap conversation-starter "Accidental Racist," from Brad Paisley's new album Wheelhouse (out tomorrow), is a plastic-sounding Nashville facsimile fitted with rudimentary nods to hip-hop production — electronic drums tug along the almost six-minute song, while its studio effects-soaked sound vaguely nods to record scratching. That's the best you can say about it. The worst: A heretofore rational Paisley haplessly misreads America's racist past, then LL Cool J drops a guest verse addressing "Mr. White Man," presumptuously voicing the effects of that racist past.

April 5, 2013 – 1. Mykki Blanco Live @ the Metro Gallery, Baltimore, MD 3/30: At this point, the only reason why Mykki Blanco isn't getting all-over-the-Internet love for picking up where Lil Wayne left off in 2008 or so is because of, well, you know why. That's a shame. Witnessing Mykki live at the Metro Gallery in Baltimore last Saturday was like a flash-forward to hip-hop's wonderfully freaked-out, outsider-inviting afterfuture. The show began with audio clips from the X-Men cartoon and Mykki raced to a fogged-up glass window and began scratching at it, acting out the mutant unleashed steez all up inside his songs. When "Wavvy" dropped, the whole crowd was asked to jump on the stage, and when the mic went out, Mykki kept rapping, staying on beat, just in case the mic decided to work again. It did for a few seconds.

April 3, 2013 – This week's five songs are all over the place. We've got a bass remix, a #BASED club song, a rappin'-ass hero and problematic human being owning a dubstep beat, post-screw Tumblr rap from Texas, and a sober cautionary tale to bring you back down to earth. Enjoy.Ciara "Body Party (Remix by Kutcorners & Marvel)"With the Mike Will Made It-produced, Future co-written "Body Party," Ciara finally gets the type of song she deserves. See, it's been a rocky few years for the mid-2000s Crunk&B singer, and though her last two albums had some highlights (Fantasy Ride's black-out drunk anthem "I Don't Remember"; Basic Instinct's too-club-for-the-club "Gimme Dat"), both albums were pretty much subsumed by the unsubtle anti-ballad moves of EDM. "Body Party," however, is a tender, inviting, doin'-it song that matches the attitude and vulnerability found on 2004's Goodies.

April 3, 2013 – Which beat from producer Childish Major first grabbed your ears? It was presumably the stunning work he did on Rocko's "U.O.E.N.O." — a slowly molting Basinski-like loop of decaying synths — which was subsequently overwhelmed by two lunkheaded lines from Rick Ross. Or maybe it was the production he did for fellow New ATLien (and SPIN Best New Artist for April) Rome Fortune, on the mixtape Beautiful Pimp. Just to name a few from that low-key highlight of this young year: There's "Balcony," a rising and falling loop of squeaks, stutters, and grunts; the space-age then underwater Ennio Morricone take on "Art of Art"; and the Atari glitch riff on Art of Noise, "Small VVorld."Well, add another quietly avant production to that list of favorites. "Rights For Wrongs" is the first single from Childish Major's upcoming mixtape of the same name.

April 2, 2013 – Named after a track from Austin rapper Western Tink's 2011 album Hard to Keel Vol. 1, the new mixtape Mobbin' No Sobbin' has been almost two years in the making. Perhaps, producer Beautiful Lou's slowly rising profile — two tracks on A$AP Rocky's breakout mixtape Live.Love.ASAP ("Trilla" and "Kissin' Pink"), work for Kitty Pryde (“Okay Cupid”), and Heems (“Running Thru the Jungle”) — is to blame.

April 1, 2013 – Abdu Ali, InvictosHighlights: "Banjee Musick," "I'mma Leaf," "360"RIYL: Baltimore Club; Death Comet Crew; Le1fA bit of a cheat because Invictos was actually released towards the end of 2012. However, this debut from a quivering, confident Baltimore poet/vocalist/rapper (in that order) takes a little time to stick in your craw. Produced by frequent Issue collaborator Schwarz, it's a bugged-out blur of vogue beats, Waka Flocka ad-libs, Lyn Collins “Think” break contortions, and art-rap interludes (hear Quentin Crisp and Nina Simone weigh in on being an outsider). Mindblowing, cleverly curated stuff.Download Abdu Ali's Invictos here.Mindless Behavior, All Around the WorldHighlights: "Keep Her on the Low," "I'm Falling," "Forever"RIYL: Chris Brown minus the listener guilt; Pretty Ricky; When boy bands ruledYeah, they are a boy band.

April 1, 2013 – Just in time for spring, Sean Falyon perversely puts out DECEMBER, a dark and foreboding EP that ties together a series of hyper-literate rap vignettes about things falling apart. In the style of good kid, m.A.A.d city, this deeply personal release is kept moving along via hard-assed, warm-hearted answering-machine advice from his moms. "All The Paper," a dark-night-of-the-soul trap track, is prefaced by a warning from mom to avoid a troubled cousin, who's just out of jail. The title track is fueled by novelistic details like "Another funeral, the usual/ Shedding tears and teddy bears." And all of it is delivered in Falyon's simultaneously heady and visceral style.A message from Sean Falyon about DECEMBER: "Being an artist, I like to use my music to tell my story. With that being said, DECEMBER is an eight-song EP of situations pertaining to my life.