A Philadelphia producer/emcee, Lushlife (real name: Raj Haldar) has been around for a while now. He dropped his first project, the Beach Boys-meet-Kanye mashup West Sounds, back in 2005 and more recently put out Cassette City and No More Golden Days. On Plateau Vision, he gives listeners a unique and unpredictable mix of styles, merging street-centric rap with unexpected references (Joy Division and Burt Bacharach?), South Philly pride, and disparate guest features from the likes of Styles P, Neem from Das Racist, and indie rocker Andrew Cedermark. Production-wise, the beats range from throwback boom-bap (the excellent jump-off "Magnolia") to moody piano loops ("Glistening" with STS), 8-bit effects ("Still I Hear the Word Progress"), and silky soul chops ("She's a Buddhist, I'm a Cubist"). His wordy and hectic rhyme style is reminiscent of a young, Nasty-era Nas or even fellow City of Brotherly Love resident Black Thought. Wildly different from almost any other contemporary hip-hop release, this is a quality record from an artist unafraid to push the boundaries of conventional rap.