[Saturday Spotlight] – Michael Christmas, Calez, J. Ab, Blake Selby, & Jay Complex

What’s up HHNM readers? We hope you’re having a wonderful holiday season thus far. As I mentioned last week, from here on out, our Saturday Spotlight series will now feature more than 2 artists per post, so we can further help those deserving upcomers. We do this for you guys.

With that being said, today we have brand new songs/videos from 5 talented emcees — Michael Christmas, Calez, J. Ab, Blake Selby, and Jay Complex. Don’t sleep!

Michael Christmas

Michael Christmas is a breath of fresh air to any hip hop geek, such as myself. The Boston emcee has a unique, and “fun” image that makes listening to his music a pleasure. His latest release ‘Jackie Chan’ produced by Jasper Cheff, featuring Manu Manzo, not only shows us Mike’s incredible lyricism and flow, but it also gives us some insight into his life and his take on things. This cut will live on Michael’s debut mixtape Is This Art, expected out early next year. I have high hopes for this guy!

Calez

Chicago upcomer Calez grabbed my attention earlier this week, and I’m certainly glad he did. With this smooth new track titled “Peaceful”, co-produced by Calez and R.A. Foster, it’s clear that the Chi-town emcee feels strongly about peace and positivity, and does all he can to spread it. Calez also runs a video series titled “American Dream Concpet”, and episode 3 (the newest one) can be found here. Be thankful for what you have in life — you never know what tomorrow may bring.

J. Ab

Coming out of Cleveland, Ohio, next up is R&B singer J.Ab with a smooth new track titled “Make Love.” Supported by seductive production courtesy of Fox Gabanna, the sultry “Make Love” captures the essence of romance, and even pays homage to Luther Vandross’ ‘Never Too Much’. This soulful tune will serve as the first single to J’s forthcoming album Bangers and BangHers coming soon. At this rate, the Cleveland singer will be making some well-deserved noise in 2014.

Blake Selby

Reigning from Lansing, MI, we have 23-year old spitter Blake Selby with an inspirational new video titled ‘Never Let Go’. Selby grabbed a fiery verse from Twista to give it that extra flavor, while the very talented Sam Kay laid down a memorable hook. Sean Babas directed the video, which shows Selby and the gang going from concert to concert, as well as linking up with multiple members of the D12 clique. This guy reminds me of a Machine Gun Kelly — and that’s not a bad thing at all.

Purchase this banger here.

Jay Complex

Last, but certainly not least, we have the energetic spitter from Nassau, Bahamas named Jay Complex with his hot new track ‘NuReligion’ produced by ChansliNxMerphy. This lyrical demolition shows Jay’s complex brain(pun intended) and his ability to have fun with his music. Jay’s upcoming EP religionROGUE is expected out soon and the title track can be heard here. For now, enjoy this freebie Jay gave us to close out 2013.