Brooklyn-based MC Kota The Friend teams up with iconic producer Statik Selektah for a brand new LP entitled To Kill A Sunrise. Statik Selektah has a knack for working with incredible artists ahead of their mainstream success... I trust him to put me onto artists of a certain ilk, and he rarely, if ever, disappoints. To Kill A Sunrise boasts smooth flows and crisp production from top to bottom. Some background on Kota, "Kota the Friend was born in Brooklyn in 1992. He started exploring music by playing trumpet at age eight, growing more and more interested in music production in his high school years. He performed in various bands and worked as a cinematographer for independent musicians' video projects before establishing himself as a solo artist with a trio of singles in 2017. Kota's style blended jazzy undercurrents with R&B touches over beats that took cues from multiple phases of hip-hop's evolution. Full-length debut album Anything was released in 2018, and included cameo appearances from Hello Oshay, Childish Major, and Angel Haze. Positive reviews and press buzz came quickly, but Kota decided early on to stay independent. He would turn down offers from major labels multiple times over the next few years, opting for a D.I.Y. approach that offered him more creative control. In 2019 he released the FOTO mixtape, and the next year he followed it up with the brief project Lyrics to Go, Vol. 1. Second studio album Everything was released in May of 2020." As for Statik, a quick look in the archives will catch you up on Statik's work in recent years. Now... take in the latest and perhaps the official breakthrough project in Kota's discography below...