Ohio-born and Montreal-based, rapper and producer cropscropscrops has been building a catalog from the ground up. Collaborative albums with Steel Tipped Dove's Fused Arrow label, NY producer Vaygrnt, and Columbus, OH producer Stale Brick — all of it rooted in the same instinct: put the listener somewhere specific and let them find their own way out. Concrete images, lo-fi cinematic soundscapes, and a confident deadpan that commands attention without raising its voice.

The momentum is real. Featured by Bandcamp and The Wire, and collaborating with underground veterans E L U C I D and Steel Tipped Dove, the pieces are assembling into something with a pulse. He's been at this long enough to have the craft. Not so long that you missed it.