PRE-ORDER: Chuck Strangers "Glory of the King's Hand" LP (Charcoal Color Vinyl)

On "Malcolm," a track from Chuck Strangers' latest opus, Glory Of The King's Hand, he raps, "I still rap from the perspective of my government name... " The stage name "Chuck Strangers" is, of course, an alias, but it's not necessarily an alter ego. For the man born Che Jessamy, his rap moniker isn't some over-the-top rock star persona contrived for public consumption; it's just a name. What you hear on his records is really who he is: a heavy-tongued griot from East Flatbush, Brooklyn, with a gift for vivid stream-of-consciousness storytelling. His bars are imbued with the wisdom he's gained in his lifetime, especially in the 14 years since he first made his debut with the Pro Era collective in the 2010s. "When I was younger I would always be looking forward to 'next year' or saying to myself, 'When I do this, it's going to be this'... blah blah blah," says Chuck, describing how his definition of success has evolved since then. "But then, as I got older, I have just been more grateful for the gift that it is to even make music [professionally]." The elaborate title of his new album, Glory Of The King's Hand, speaks to his gratitude for the hand that life's dealt him, which is a pretty good one. At age 34, he does what he loves professionally and does it on his own terms. That's something to be thankful for. Glory Of The King's Hand not only represents Chuck's matured attitude but also his matured sound. After a decade in the game, there's an emphasis on songcraft like never before: "On this album, I made a lot of conscious [musical] decisions," he says. "I made choruses, there's melodies, there's instrumentation... I really tried to just make better songs that people might want to hear again - that are more than just a good verse." Key to this refined approach was collaboration. Chuck is a proficient beatmaker in his own right, as evidenced by his production work for himself and artists like Joey Badass and Boldy James (see 2025's Token of Appreciation album), but this time around, he chose to be a producer in the Quincy Jones sense of the word, bringing together vocalists, producers, and musicians instead of handling all of the beats and rhymes himself: "I only did one beat on the album ["Everyday"], which is the least amount of beats I ever did on any of my albums." The results of this collective approach are astounding. Take, for instance, "Breaking Atoms," a track built on the improvised-on-the-spot music of production trio/band Human Error Club. A hypnotic Fender-Rhodes and head-nod-inducing drums are the perfect complement for Chuck and woods' visual verses and give way to Zeroh's psychedelic sung vocals and his exclamation, "We the main soooource!" Multifaceted newcomer Obii Say - Chuck's current favorite rapper - appears on two songs ("Everyday" and "Miracle Miles") and produces a third. The list of contributing producers is a who's who of underground sound scientists, including The Alchemist, Animoss, Theravada, Kenny Segal, Preservation, Child Actor, and Morriarchi. And while... King's Hand is in some ways a sample of what this section of the underground looks like in 2026, what Chuck brings to the table is uniquely Chuck Strangers. "I had to do my own thing!" His resolve is in part due to the influence of his legendary mentors, like the late Ka and The Alchemist, who each carved out their own distinct lanes. "There's a lot of Roc Marci's, there's a lot of Earl Sweatshirts and you've got many Alchemists out here, but I have to do my own thing that might look a little different from everybody else's shit... I can just be myself."