Welcome back to the Hip-Hop Dojo, everyone. By now we assume you all know the protocol, but in case you need a refresher, the Hip-Hop Dojo is a monthly feature split it up into three distinct components: the artist spotlight, our monthly playlist and our mixtape roundup. May was a busy month for hip-hop, there’s no denying that. Our latest edition of the Hip-Hop Dojo is a little lighter on the playlist side, but it’s definitely not lacking in quality tracks. Meanwhile, our mixtape section is loaded, with about 20 different projects we believe you absolutely need to check out.

The selection process for our monthly spotlight is never easy, and there’s often an internal struggle as we narrow down the list of names we’d like to approach about the opportunity. When we found out that Mayo had re-emerged onto the scene recently though, we couldn’t think of a better choice to be our Spotlight Artist for the month of May. The LA via Chicago transplant recently ended an eight month hiatus with the release of his latest song, “My Girl”, the first in a revolutionary series of singles that will comprise his Summer Story. You may or may not have heard of Mayo, and one look at his SoundCloud will let you know that the man likes to keep his releases tight and his lips even tighter. We had a chance to sit down and chat with Mayo and he opened up to us about everything from long distance relationships to dropping out of college and his breast cancer awareness campaign. After hearing from the man himself, we promise you’ll never forget the name.

Read on to find out what Mayo had to say, and afterwards click over to the next page to listen to this month’s playlist. On our final page you’ll find reviews of all of our favorite projects to drop during the month of May.