John Brown & Da Beatminerz (@DJEVILDEE @Beatminerz) - "Waxing In Mecca" (Album)

After two years of rigorous training and honing his craft under the tutelage of legendary emcees at Pendulum Ink, Hip-Hop's official lyricism academy, underground newcomer John Brown The Rapper applied his expanded skillset in a stretch of prolific studio sessions with pioneering Hip-Hop production duo Da Beatminerz (Mr. Walt & DJ Evil Dee). Those sessions resulted in Waxing In Mecca, the trio's new full-length collaborative album, released today (6/5/2026) via Soulspazm/Fatbeats.

“I discovered a beattape by Da Beatminerz on IG. I picked a beat, recorded a song in my home studio, and sent it to Mr. Walt. Up until then, we had only been communicating through email. It felt like forever before I heard back from him. But eventually, Walt got around to listening to the joint, and called me up. He was like, ‘Yo, I want to actually produce this joint for real. Like let’s go into the studio and mix it and get it right.’ We didn’t go in expecting to do a whole album together. We actually were originally just talking about two songs, which turned into an EP, then eventually grew into a full album. We just locked in and have been making music together for several years now. This album is the best 18 songs we made in that first period of our partnership, though we recorded so much more. We just had that chemistry from day one.” - John Brown The Rapper
Waxing In Mecca is both statement and philosophy. The title nods to “waxing poetic” (the act of delivering dense, elevated lyricism), and Harlem (the cultural mecca in which the album was recorded), while reframing boom bap as a sound that continues to evolve and expand.

With guest verses from Mickey Factz, Your Old Droog, Rockness Monsta, Ras Kass, and more, the album pairs sharp lyricism with the raw, rugged sound of underground Hip-Hop that Da Beatminerz helped shape in the early '90s. Grounded in sharp songwriting and vision, the album is sonically cohesive yet thematically wide-ranging, spanning personal reflections, social commentary, and quantum physics.