MUSIC NOTES: REKS RETURNS W/ EVIDENCE, STATIK SELEKTAH, PHAROAHE MONCH

Hip-hop artists aren’t known for their humility, but ask any Boston spitter if they’d like to mess with Reks, and they will reject the offer. The globally renowned Lawrence-bred lyricist sometimes disappears, and as usual, this time he returned with notebooks full of mesmerizing rhymes.

The lead single off of his upcoming T.H.I.N.G.S. project, “Legacy Driven,” produced by Cali icon Evidence, finds Reks brilliantly reflecting on the current state of disaster over a bed of horns. Next up, this week he drops the Statik Selektah-produced track “The Complex,” which features the god MC himself Pharoahe Monch.

CHRIS FARAONE

A Queens, NY native who came to New England in 2004 to earn his MA in journalism at Boston University, Chris Faraone is the editor and co-publisher of DigBoston and a co-founder of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. He has published several books including 99 Nights with the 99 Percent, and has written liner notes for hip-hop gods including Cypress Hill, Pete Rock, Nas, and various members of the Wu-Tang Clan.