While this project—from producer L’Orange and rapper Solemn Brigham—has roots in North Carolina, you should still count it as local: L’Orange recently relocated to the PNW and much of this album was recorded in Seattle at Sendai Mike’s SODO studio. Pitchfork says Marlowe is “spirited, old-school rap that evokes the turn-of-the-millennium underground: There are no synths, no hooks, just bars, bars, bars over a collage of vinyl chops,” while HipHopDX finds synergy between an “MC connecting with the beatmaker on a deeper level to create something special.”

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