Young MCs. What happened to local hip-hop? Last year was a banner year. Dozens of good albums and several great ones came out. Rappers performed just about every weekend. DJs tore up the club with a few choice local singles. Arkansas seemed on the precipice of national exposure. This year, the scene seemed to go into hibernation. All the big players — 607, Conduit, Grim Muzik — slowed their output or took the year off all together. Here’s to 2009 being the year of the comeback. In the meantime, we’ve got some young guns on the rise to keep things interesting. Dat Heat representer Bware, 25, finally put out the long promised “No Jokes, No Games” album (it was worth the wait), and Hip-Hop school alum Maxx, 19, released his sharp self-titled debut. His “Like So” is below.

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