By a rough estimate, Reks is about 1000 tracks into his comeback mission, which is going on about three years now. That includes the countless songs he's slayed for other artists; from Boston acts like Blak Madeen and Moe Pope, to El Da Sensei and MC-baller Ron Artest, the Lawrence native and East Coast revivalist has bodied every instrumental in his path, seemingly improving with every bar and verse, if that's even possible.

So I've ate, shit, and slept with Mister Jason's Frankensteez project for nearly six days now, and it's rewind-button-city-all-day. Despite having disappeared from the recording side of things for years - since his Porn Theatre Ushers days with Nabo Rawk - Jason managed to return with a comeback strong enough to rape a horse.

DJ Deadeye makes no apologies for saluting traditional East Coast boom bap. In fact it's quite the opposite sentiment, as, along with ST. da Squad affiliates like Termanology, the Lawrence-bred vinyl sensei and beatmaker has ushered unapologetic, lyric-heavy hip-hop back into the forefront. His seven-years-in-the-making debut, Substance Abuse, is a throwback of sorts in that Deadeye took the time and energy to unite more than 30 MCs and a dozen co-producers for a stew of thoughtful, thematic blacktop bangers.

At long last, Mattapan master Singapore Kane has blessed us with another mixtape, this one even more anticipated than the last few. Kane's star has risen since he, Reks, Term, and a handful of other Mass cats commandeered the underground and started running trains on tracks with intense frequency. Be it Brick Records, Showoff promotions, East Coast flavor, or whatever it is that unites this elite bunch, they've shown and proven recently.

The hard-partying, harder-working Slaine has never been more exhausted than he was this Monday. It's no wonder; he'd been draining booze and hibernating in his Brockton lab for 17 straight days and nights recording his new The Devil Never Dies mixtape.

Slaine's looked weathered in the past. But in the wake of this most recent marathon session, his eyes were glassier than than they were on the tail end of his two-month tour with Tech N9ne, and after he completed months of filming for his roles in “Gone Baby Gone” and “The Town.

It’s amazing how much hate mail I receive accusing me of ignoring local artists. Most hilarious is this ass on Facebook who recently bitched that I “write about the same people over and over.” He might have a solid point, if in the past year alone I didn’t pay significant attention to: Esoteric, Black Madeen, Bad Rabbits, Singapore Kane, Slaine, Boycott Blues, DJ Slim, JDO, M-Dot, Masspike Miles, D-Tension, The Berklee J Dilla Ensemble, Jaysaun, Will C, Amadeus, Rite Hook, WMS the Sultan, GWOP Gang, Wasted Talent, The Dunnas, Dawaun Parker, RADIx, Mr.

The Subaru limousine – which I assume belongs to Ernie Boch, Jr. (nominee: Outstanding Blues Act of the Year) – idling outside the Roxy last night was an appropriate metaphor for the 2008 Boston Music Awards. Despite it being a quasi-posh invite-only event (albeit one that any super fan could have easily penetrated), the gala didn’t reek of superficiality.

I’m not packing clothes for this year’s CMJ Marathon in New York City. In fact, I’m not even bringing down a laptop. Instead of spending five straight days inhaling various poisons, feverishly blogging on the same nonsense that everyone else is covering, and ransacking my weathered eardrums with out-of-tune guitar shreds and swollen bass lines, I’m limiting my trip to one day and two nights, and seeing how much I can cram in.