Hailing from Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood and half of The Stoop Kids, ScienZe (a.k.a. Jamal Monsanto) is an up-and-coming rapper/producer with a fast-growing fanbase. Ella is a 20-track concept album that tells the story of a romance between himself and a woman named Ella, from their initial meeting to a full-blown love affair and breakup—and what comes next. The beats and rhymes are extremely mellow, laid-back, and drenched in soul-jazz samples; they're clearly inspired by the likes of A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Slum Village, and Black Star. Solid features come courtesy of Blu, Lord Quest, Sene, Maffew Regazino, Rebecca Rose, Fresh Daily, and more. The perfect antidote to remorseless crime/drugs/mayhem music, this is something you could easily play for your girl (or mom) who's generally not into hip-hop. It's midtempo romance rap for the next generation; check out"The Call,""The Real,""Charlie Brown," and"The Letter."