Sage Francis’s label takes another big step towards becoming an irrefutable indie hip-hop superpower with this inspired collaboration. Francis himself introduced top shelf Chicago beatsmith Reanimator to smooth Rhode Island lyricist Prolyphic some three years ago. Gradually, with Reanimator taking time to provided the finest instrumentals on Sage’s own albums, The Ugly Truth took shape. The organic nature with which the album evolved is written all over it. The beats are glowing with live instrument samples and boom-bap drums, easily on par with the finest yet released by the man, while the words glide as if born to those sounds. Thematically, Prolyphic runs through feelings of Western alienation, severe political mismanagement, and the farcical wrath that gun totting 50 Cent and Ca$his caricatures have inflicted on rap, among other instances of inequality and poor social graces. It’s as if Dr. Dre remembered his roots and Eminem grew a human conscience. The world is now a slightly better place.

• Multiple songs MySpace