Beat tapes are my weakness. I listen to a lot of hip hop, but rarely do I find an instrumental project that I really fuck with. When I do find that needle in the haystack, I play it obsessively throughout the coming weeks, and revisit it over the course of the year. K1NG ELJAY’s latest project, ROYALTY: The Common Tape, is a breath of fresh air. It brings together his expertise, versatility, and inspiration from Chicago’s Common – all coming from a Birmingham, Alabama native.

The short, sporadic instrumentals are meticulously crafted, and while short, capture all that K1NG can do. He’s not only a dope producer, but a wordsmith who just won the Pigeon’s & Planes freestyle challenge on Twitter. Dude grinds, and has the talent to back it up. Stream above.