Holsey Turner, aka Hozey-T, is Kansas City's newest unknown rapper on the rise

On his debut, Who's the New Guy?, Turner sounds like a cockier version of Lupe Fiasco. The lyrics are complex but not forced, tumbling out easily thanks to Turner's fine-tuned enunciation and unhurried pace. If there's one thing that's lacking, it's his beats, which are mostly simple keyboard-synth loops and tic-tic-tic, snare-bass affairs. Because of his spoken-word background, Turner sometimes prefers rapping a cappella, and the beats he gets from producers make all the difference. A track not on the album, called "I'm Made," produced by Krush Groove, is already getting spins in clubs such as Zen by DJs who are digging the lyricism backed by a danceable beat. He'll also get some beats from D/Will soon.

Turner is shopping his debut around town — you might call it a "soft" release. He's been selling copies and collecting feedback in order to tweak things here and there before pushing the album for real. But with CD sales lagging on a national level, Turner knows it's a shaky time to be getting into the business.

"We need to protect what we got, or we ain't gonna have it," he says of the hip-hop industry. "One day I woke up and pondered whether or not I really wanted to be associated with the culture, because there's so much shit going on. To grind in hip-hop, you gotta deal with some scumbags. Do I want to put myself through that? Every artist gotta sit down and think about that sometime."

If "Rise" is any indication, Hozey-T won't be hanging up his pen anytime soon: I'm not venting on my soapbox/I'm in the mood, like, writin' us a life without the roadblocks/I'll keep writin' til my soul stops/And leave a thick trail of flames on the stage when my show stops.

Get to know Hozey-T at MySpace.com/HozeyWho