Smoke Breaks IV by Chicago production collective THEMpeople is less a traditional project than it is a collection of what and who you should be listening to for the next few months.

The team, based on the city’s near south side, has had their fingers securely in the pot of the Hip-Hop scene and beyond that has been burgeoning in the Midwest for the past few years now. It’s hard to stop by their place just off the highway and not find a who’s who of artists, producers and the like, most with heads deep in notebooks, scribbling the words that will have their city singing later.

To be sure, THEMpeople have been a sort of backbone for much of the SAVEMONEY movement and work regularly with Most Dope songstress Njomza, among many others. Smoke Breaks IV has features from established names you’d expect such as Chance The Rapper, Vic Mensa and Alex Wiley and those on the come-up in Dally Auston, Joey Purp, Kami de Chukwu and Mick Jenkins. The project is essentially a ‘next up’ for what to expect rolling out of the Second City over the next year, including the melodic voice of Via Rosa and the slick rhymes of Legit.

It’s all appropriately curated by the THEMpeople team of L Boog, Michael Anthony, Sean Deaux and theMind. Take notice and enjoy.