After producing for others over the past several years, Brooklyn-based producer maticulous puts the spotlight on his gifts as an artist with his new compilation, no caps. His production, pacing, and sequencing all truly shine on here, as well as his ability to pick just the right guest emcees to appear on his instrumentals.

Whether it’s Guilty Simpson expertly crafting a narrative on “Home Goin’” or yU and Uptown XO talking their sh*t on “Bein’ This Nice,” no caps is brimming with standout features. It makes sense, then, that maticulous calls this his “favorite project to create” to date. “It was born out of being completely locked down for months,” he says. “I would wake up everyday, listen to records, and become inspired with the only expectation of wanting to create music.”

That time resulted in the creation of six of the eight instrumentals you hear on no caps, with the upbeat and soulful “Everything” being one of the two exceptions. He actually made that beat in 2012, and it stayed one of his favorites for years. But as he was putting together this project, he just felt it was time for the world to hear it—and he’s not wrong. Skyzoo and Justo The MC do their thing on the track, making it one of the best on here.

More than anything else, however, maticulous just wants this release to be a breath of fresh air for listeners. “It’s very easy, for hip-hop especially, to get stuck in a formula,” he says. “One person has success and a hundred people try to make the same sounding stuff. No one needs to reinvent the wheel to make dope, timeless music.”

He’s not only right in his explanation, but he’s also putting his money where his mouth is with no caps. And in case you forget—it’s no caps when you spell the man’s name.