My editor and I recently had a chat about how indie-rock bands and underground rappers approach guerilla marketing in drastically different ways. Mostly, we discussed how hip- hop artists turn the sidewalk outside every venue into Times Square circa 1985, and how their rock- and- roll contemporaries — on the opposite end of the promotion spectrum —fancy themselves too cool to work street corners passing out promos.

Basically I’m saying that I have way more rap discs to write about than I have time (or space). So until the Phoenix brass determines that Bay State boom bap is more important than my other assignments regarding drastic budget cuts and such, I can best prop local heroes in occasional round-ups like this one. Here’s some of the finest Beantown product that’s been pushed on me (literally and virtually) in the past month; and since we stand by our picks, we went through the trouble of providing a smorgasbord of tracks and links for your interactive pleasure.  

Next week, heads will get an ample dose of East Bostonian M-Dot as he opens up for M.O.P. at the Middle East — but we recommend priming yourself a bit with this little chip of his and Grime tha MC’s new block, Neighborhood Knock. Dot does a bit of everything: he’s writing and recording in West Rox with D-Sharp, he’s shooting a comedy pilot in Missouri and Iowa, and he’s performing his ass off all over the Northeast.