D Propser Merkabah, Chariot of Ascension

Derrick Prosper is not a household name, but the Providence, RI native has had his hands in classic projects and careers in hip-hop. He has produced and A&R'd for luminaries like Mos Def and mainstream powerhouses like G-Unit, and he always has his finger on the pulse -- but he's rarely seen.

He is also an artist (when inspiration strikes). In fact, that was his genesis in the hip-hop realm. First as a spoken word artist and later as an MC, D Propser -- aka Mastermind, as he was once called -- has the ability to command a powerful delivery and intense, dense lyricism.

He recently dusted the mic off and emerged as D Prosper the MC for a particularly charged track called "Merkabah, Chariot of Ascension." The metaphysical track adds a spiritual element to relentless rhyming, coupling substance with style. For the uninitiated, nearly every bar will include a nugget of information that could require hours of Googling to unpack.

While some may whine that D sounds a little like another MC who made consciousness a bit more accepted, Prosper and Jay Electronica are not the same MC. Though they can have a similar intonation and both have shared interests and views that naturally spills over into content, a discerning ear can hear the difference. Prosper is not as personal as Elect, and the latter has a slower and more deliberate flow than Prosper's machine-gun delivery.

This kind of hip-hop just isn't around much anymore, not at this caliber. Don't sleep on a mastermind.