Formed at Virginia State University, this eminently likable foursome based in New York follows in the footsteps of the Native Tongues (De La Soul, Jungle Brothers and A Tribe Called Quest). Lowdown, muted grooves provide the backdrop as Yodared (Al Myers), Myntric (Sean Myers), Mondo McCann and Vex (Sean Pollard) seek to transcend troublesome reality, offering lamentations for Mother Earth (“Mark of the Beast”) and reflecting on everyday insanity (“Recognized Thresholds of Negative Stress”). The quartet’s spacey, artfully offhand approach produces deceptively powerful mood music that may lack the brassy urgency of more commercial MCs, but repays repeated listenings with provocative mind excursions.