Download a new instrumental mixtape from Philly beatmaker Hank McCoy

Philly producer Hank McCoy is a clever beatmaker, but I didn’t realize until today just how clever his handle is as well. He goes by “hankmccoybeats” in most social media circles, and if you Google image search that (as I was doing to find the picture above), you turn up a bunch of photos of a familiar face from The X-Men. Like Hank McCoy, beast. Like, duh John. It’s a crafty, but subtle nickname, though – if you get it, cool, and if you don’t, the music doesn’t suffer (but you should probably read more comics) – and likewise, Hank is a crafty weaver of instrumental hip-hop tapestries. nicethings was the same: Raijin Edition opens with a classy disco-soul synth-string section  on “Make You A Believer”, then slips into a slick funk crawl on “The Block,” later breaking out into a jazz-flute and trombone dance number called “The Sun.” It’s way versitle, and touches on some sinister moments as well – like the bass heavy trap tones of “OG.” But Hank doesn’t beat you over the head with his mastery of styles (even if he does run the breathy-voiced DJ drops pretty hard and heavy); rather, he presents them for you to either imagine them paired with rhymes by any of Philly’s dope MCs (Chill Moody is a frequent collaborator), or simply enjoy them as pieces of music unto themself. Stream the mix below, download it at Bandcamp.