Remember when Statik took part in our Behind The Boards series? One thing that always stood out to me was when he said this about features, “I don’t pay anybody; it’s always trade-offs. It’s out of mutual respect, you know?” With that in mind, take a listen to his new effort, The Imperial, which features Action Bronson, Royce Da 5’9″ and Black Thought. Knowing they did it out of respect and not for a payday makes this effort even cooler. Of course, it’s not like rapping over Statik’s horn-driven, sample-spliced beat is drudge work either. There is plenty more real motherf**kin’ hip-hop waiting for us on Statik’s What Goes Around album, dropping August 19 via Showoff & Duck Down Music.