Chuck Strangers — Glory of the King's Hand

Out Jul 10 on Lex, Bandcamp's Album of the Day Jul 17. East Flatbush, Pro Era-raised, fourteen years in, and he can make an entire record alone — so he made one beat and handed the rest to Alchemist, Preservation, Kenny Segal, Animoss, Theravada, Child Actor. Producer in the Quincy Jones sense. billy woods and Zeroh over Human Error Club improvisations on "Breaking Atoms." Ka and Alchemist as the mentors, and it shows in the restraint: Spam on the plate before Bob Barker turns up in the dream, city lockup without shoelaces, a life lived out of a carry-on. Seventeen tracks, forty-one minutes, none of it begging.