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Poetry in motion: Rhody rap-tacular, part 1

ESH the Monolith jettisoned his Rhody homeland last year, though his partner in rhyme, turntable maestro Dox Ellis, remains a fixture spinning on the local circuit. Tyler Edwards, aka ESH (the Eccentric Super Hero), is one of the most gifted lyricists I've come across; his slick-witted wordplay is spiked with run-that-back double entendres. Look up the new track "Merica" and the Nightworks EP with Boston producer the Archetype ("The Third Tit," with Brooklyn-via-Edgewood rhymer Romen Rok, is a blast); be sure to download a copy at nightworksep.bandcamp.com. And while Edwards is an official resident of Allston, MA now, the ESH & Dox collabo remains intact and I'm hoping for a follow-up to their 2011 EP debut, The Invisible, later this year. The duo played a set at Local 121 last weekend (for promoter guru Denny Rochefort's 30th birthday party); check in at eshthemonolith.bandcamp.com for updates and show announcements.

You can find Dox Ellis spinning real-deal hip-hop at Provy hotspots Dusk, Local 121, and the Salon just about every weekend. Rhode Island boasts a wealth of rap-centric deejays performing regularly, so let's shout them out while we're here. Ellis teams up with Born Casual (borncasual.com) and his Pizzaboyz crew at Fete every Saturday night; DJ Primitive (facebook.com/djprimitive) took Best DJ in our 2012 music poll and continues to work rooms from Federal Hill to Newport; business remains brisk for local legend CR the Beast (crthebeast.com), spinning regularly between PVD and Boston; DJ Nook is a mainstay at Newport venues One Pelham East and Studio 3 and appears regularly on 90.3 WRIU-FM along with DJ Sterbyrock (deadletter.com), founder of the "Sterbyrockradio After School Special" and the highly successful Throwback Thursdays at the Apartment in Providence.

Stop by next week for updates on Jon Hope, Theo Martins, Big Rush, the Strange Famous family (don't tell me you're still sleeping on Juan Deuce & Falside?), and the highly anticipated Thr33 Piece Suit collabo featuring Chachi Carvalho, J. DePina, and Swann Notty!