Boston-based rapper Avenue combines urban storytelling with an old-school focus on sample-heavy production. Growing up in Roxbury, he was raised by a single mother and excelled as both an honor student and star basketball player in high school. Later, however, he was pulled toward street life and would be expelled from college. At this self-described low point in his life, Avenue decided to pursue music. Posting cyphers online in 2011, he would make his debut with the Words Speak Life mixtape in 2012. With an honesty and insight similar to Vince Staples and Kendrick Lamar, his dense bars and thoughtful perspective helped him develop a local following. He quickly followed with the Summer of '91 EP before issuing his sophomore mixtape, The Chandelier View. With production from frequent collaborator Hi-Fadility, the album featured appearances by Last Days, Caliph, Michael Christmas, Deon Chase, and Cam Bells. By 2016, as his exposure increased, he secured high-profile guests like Smoke DZA and Royce da 5'9" for his official LP debut, Mass Ave & Lenox. The album featured the Deon Chase/Smoke DZA collaboration "Nobody," as well as "Party's Over (Ringing Off)" and "Harry the Greek's." ~ Neil Z. Yeung