Sacramento street preacher Mozzy has built his career on telling unflinching tales of life on the corner, highlighting the triumphs, mourning the losses, and examining the systematic oppression that lies at the heart of this world. On his 2024 LP, CHILDREN OF THE SLUMS, the Oak Park rapper pays tribute to those the game has swallowed up whole: the young people who died tragically, the dealers who turned users, the leaders double-crossed by those they were closest to. The album is his first after a year-long prison sentence, and Mozzy is both reflective and mournful, regretting the days he was behind bars instead of leading his community to brighter days. On the title track, he draws this out explicitly: “Hope y’all ain’t forgot about me/Sick to my stomach, it’s gangster parties without me.” The cruel logic of the streets is that they keep moving, which is why CHILDREN OF THE SLUMS is so powerful: It honours and gives voice to those who tried to keep up with the current but were eventually pulled under.