How about more Hoosier State highlights for you as March comes to a close? Originally, I had not planned on making this a monthly thing, but with all of the great new music coming out of Indiana that I discovered this month – particularly in the world of hip-hop – I decided it’d be fun to start doing this regularly. I have since created a playlist (on both Spotify and SoundCloud) with these tracks all in one place, and who knows? Maybe some of them will land on of my year-end lists. Let’s not wish away 2018 quite yet, though.

Dream Chief – “Payphone”: Dream Chief just keeps getting better and better. Last November I was so blown away by their single “Novocaine” that it ended up being my #9 favorite song of all last year, but their newest cut tops even that. The only featured track from this month that isn’t hip-hop, “Payphone” is a head-bobbing electropop banger with a subtle funkiness and eerie train-like effects that really caught my attention at the beginning of the song.

O.D.D.I.T.Y – “Losin’ Focus”: The debut single proper from Jeffrey “O.D.D.I.T.Y” McClure, Jr., boasts an interesting dichotomy, as piercing snares and electronics are paired with softer, more atmospheric keys. Meanwhile, McClure’s lyrics depict his own personal struggles, both on the rapped verses and on the powerful chorus, the latter of which will really stick with you. “Losin’ Focus” is the first single in advance of O.D.D.I.T.Y’s ME EP. I’m reviewing the EP before it drops in just a few weeks, so keep an eye out for that!

DisTinct – “Level Up” (featuring Double A): The lightning-paced flow and quick wit of Indianapolis rapper DisTinct really shines through on his newest single. Both DisTinct and Double A spit fire, a sort of fire that pairs seamlessly with the fast, booming backbeat layered underneath it, and makes the four minute track fly by, almost to the point where it feels like “Level Up” is over too soon.

Marsiell – “What Is Love” (featuring Jeremiah Stokes & Kiella Squires): This smooth track is equal parts hip-hop and R&B. With a sung hook courtesy of Kiella Squires and a melodic kind of rapping throughout, “What Is Love” immediately stood out to me as one of the highlights from Marsiell’s latest mixtape, Nappy Roots, which dropped back in January. You may recognize the name Jeremiah Stokes from last month’s picks; on this cut, however, you will hear a different side of Stokes, whose fittingly smooth verse comes near the song’s end.