Boston hip-hop has come a long, long way since I showed up here to cover the scene 10 years ago. In that time, countless artists have seen international acclaim, and banked a good buck on tours from here to places like Japan and Germany. Cats like Slaine, Reks, and Termanology are renowned as some of the genre's premier lyricists – on either side of commercial divide – and top producers like Pete Rock and Premier regularly collaborate with artists from New England.

By a rough estimate, Reks is about 1000 tracks into his comeback mission, which is going on about three years now. That includes the countless songs he's slayed for other artists; from Boston acts like Blak Madeen and Moe Pope, to El Da Sensei and MC-baller Ron Artest, the Lawrence native and East Coast revivalist has bodied every instrumental in his path, seemingly improving with every bar and verse, if that's even possible.

More Occupy Boston Pics Here

Every revolution needs fresh theme music. Especially one organized by contemporary counter-culture warriors, who tend to have eclectic tastes. I'm not sure what they've been rocking down at Occupy Wall Street - just that the activists there got a boost from Immortal Technique the other day - but the shit I've seen online leads me to believe it ain't Bruno Mars

At long last, Mattapan master Singapore Kane has blessed us with another mixtape, this one even more anticipated than the last few. Kane's star has risen since he, Reks, Term, and a handful of other Mass cats commandeered the underground and started running trains on tracks with intense frequency. Be it Brick Records, Showoff promotions, East Coast flavor, or whatever it is that unites this elite bunch, they've shown and proven recently.