California Poppy

Editors’ Notes Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether Rexx Life Raj is a rapper or a singer, since he pulls both off with such apparent effortlessness. The distinction doesn’t matter, really: On the Berkeley native’s California Poppy EP, jazzy love songs coexist with thoughtful meditations on success, with beats that are as breezy and warm as Northern California sunshine. The highlight is Raj’s ultra-smooth update of E-40’s 1995 game-spitting classic “Sprinkle Me”—with a guest verse from the Bay Area godfather himself.