(Star Rats)

After a three-year hiatus, murk daddy flex (aka Terence Chiyezhan) is back and better than ever with an enlightened, sample-based instrumental EP with roots in boom-bap and other classic hip hop.

Unlike Chiyezhan’s previous releases, Bring on the Major Leagues makes positive use of negative space. While the record has plenty of strategic pauses, it also flows poetically from one song to the next. From Ghostface Killah to dreamy video-game music and a huge brass section, the EP’s samples are wide-ranging but tasteful and purposeful.

Some samples are reused in multiple tracks—see “How’s Your Bell Curve” and “Best Friends and Better Halves”—but this repetition is another contributing factor to the album’s coherence. There are no filler songs here, no signs of hurried production. “Victory of Flight,” the EP’s grand finale, is its longest track and one of its main successes, incorporating vocals from Anna Staddon of local band Saline.