Zenith

Though it's been around for a decade now, the Seattle group Greyskul has always resided in the deep underground, beloved by its fervent fanbase while remaining mostly unknown to the hip-hop world at large. Aligned with Rhymesayers Entertainment, the group has released several solid albums (including Deadlivers and Bloody Radio) and worked with indie-rap royalty like Slug and Aesop Rock, but its distinctly unusual sound was just a little too dark and weird to really catch on. In 2009, the trio (Onry Ozzborn, JFK, and Rob Castro) hooked up with producer Maker for the well-received Graymaker; on Zenith, it connects with Smoke M2D6, embracing spazzed-out electronics and updating its style yet again. Longtime fans may be confused by the move, but there's a lot of good stuff here—most notably the title track featuring Raekwon, "I Adapt" with Solillaquists of Sound, and the school-shooting epic "There Is No Edge."