A sludgy Midwest noise-rock trio, a dubbed-out London electronic singer-producer, a regular-guy Southern rapper, and more: Hear who needs to be on your radar this month. MARC HOGAN

A sludgy Midwest noise-rock trio, a dubbed-out London electronic singer-producer, a regular-guy Southern rapper, and more: Hear who needs to be on your radar this month. MARC HOGAN

Who: In June, this charismatic Mississippi rapper dropped his mixtape The Hunger Game, a 16-track, no-features affair that's sure to give Big K.R.I.T. some friendly home-state competition. Though he has the Dr. Dre cosign to attest for his rap ability, it's Lopez's unusual degree of regular-guy sincerity that makes him such a contemporary chart-rap outlier
File Next To: OutKast, G-Side, Kendrick Lamar, Big K.R.I.T.
Where to Start: The Hunger Game's "Mama Proud," which SPIN's Brandon Soderberg discussed in more depth here.

Who: Though this South London singer, producer, and songwriter has been blasting dubquakes across the U.K. house and funky scenes for a few years, her debut album, Playin Me', isn't out until July 17 on Hyperdub. Intimate, spacious, and tinged with melancholy, it's a more vocal-oriented effort, complete with a twitchy electro-pop cover of — yes — Coldplay.
File Next To: Laurel Halo, the xx, James Blake
Where to Start: "Come Into My Room," below

Who: Parisian singer Melody Prochet has only one single to her nom du pop, but it's a beguiling work of lilting, iridescent psych-pop, recorded and mixed with Kevin Parker of Australia's tripped-out guitar gurus Tame Impala. Prochet will take her project on a full North American tour this fall opening for accomplished dream-poppers the Raveonettes.
File Next To: Stereolab, Cate Le Bon, Tame Impala
Where to Start: "Crystallized," due out later this year on 7" via Fat Possum

Who: South African hip-hop mischief-makers Okmalumkoolkat and Dokta Spizee have worked with idiosyncratic countryman Spoek Mathambo, and they've just offered up the saucy, party-starting DP EP.
File Next To: Das Racist, Spoek Mathambo, M.I.A.
Where to Start: "Download This," which you can, in fact, download here.

Who: Iowa City's scene has a reputation for drifting, post-Black Dice noise music, but this Iowa-born trio's recent LP, Epic Loads, instead tends for sludgy, PBR-pumping noise-rock in a Steve Albini vein.
File Next To: Death Grips, Mclusky, Pissed Jeans, Clockcleaner Big Black
Where to Start: Epic Loads' "I Can't Believe I Broke Edge Again" and "24-Hour Revenge Fantasy," which you can download here.