Leon The Professional

Joining the growing community of new school hip hop in Dallas, Texas, Leon the Professional is making his own mark with a unique style that combines progressive Eastern European production (handled by AYAN) with the east coast meets the south lyricism. Although, Leon the Professional fits well within the musical landscape painted by artists such as Dustin Cavazos, A.Dd+, and the Sore Losers, his style is in a gallery of its own.

BEAST Reborn, is a reinterpretation of LTP's 2012 (B)east Mixtape, which the Dallas Observer named the top mixtape of that year. Although (B)east, showcased LTP's verbal dexterity over throwback east coast production, the highlight of BEAST Reborn is the sometimes atmospheric and eclectic and sometimes progressive east coast production of Kazakhstan native, Ayan. The pairing of a southern rapper and an Eastern European producer may seem strange, but it is exactly for that reason that BEAST Reborn is able to create a new canvas to paint its own mural. - WhatUpWally.com

The winner of the Dallas Observer music award for Best Mixtape has really been working hard this year, and is starting to make quite a name for himself with his true-school style and B-boy roots. His 2012 project, (B)EAST, is a personal and introspective look at an artist over classic hip-hop instrumentation, with slick delivery. The mixtape has ended up on pretty much every local best-of list, in addition to the DOMA honor, so if you're still sleepin' on Leon, you're running out of excuses. Catch him at the We Are Dallas party this Saturday at Overground Skatepark. - DC9 At Night

Certainly, plenty of Dallas rappers are putting their own spin on overtly Southern influences, taking aesthetic cues from hip-hop schools of thought cultivated largely in Atlanta and Houston. Dallas' Leon the Professional trades that for something far more East Coast. He's spent 2012 carving a successful niche for himself, his (B)east winning the 2012 DOMA for Best Mixtape. "But are you a different animal and the same beast?" we're asked in one of the interludes. Keep an eye out for the next evolution, made all the more interesting coming from an artist clearly rooted in the history of his medium, but still subverting expectation all the same. - DC9 At Night

As we sit on the precipice of yet another new year, we can't help but get a little nostalgic for the year that was.

This is especially true after pouring over dozens of year-end trend pieces and reminiscing about the year of swag, Doritios locos tacos, #YOLO, zombies, bath salts, Honey Boo Boo and all sriracha everything.

Locally, of course, 2012 will be the year Dallas started enjoying the great outdoors. Really: Between the opening of Klyde Warren Park, the addition of ping pong tables outside the AT&T Performing Arts Center, all those bike lanes, the opening of Belo Garden Park, the opening of "Beach Ellum" and the increased number of outdoor music festivals this year, our city looks to be turning a corner in that regard.

Of course, the influx of great local music in 2012 might have had something to do with surplus of local festivals at least.

Seriously: In the course of looking back at our favorite local releases of the year, we realized that so many of the bands that are killing it right now didn't even exist a year ago.

That being said, we can't wait to see what is in store for 2013.

You may remember earlier this month when we released both our national and local albums of the year lists. Today, on this last day of 2012, we'd like to add our ranking of the year's 50 best local songs, too.

Because, honestly, these songs deserve it.

50: Daniel Markham -- "Hexagons"
49: My Name is Moses -- "Summertime"
48: Satans of Soft Rock -- "Satanic Verses"
47: Doom Ghost -- "These Old Shoes"
46: Hate Your Friends -- "Bringing Down The Center House (Ft. Queen Latifah)"
45: Savage and the Big Beat -- "Pretend I'm Someone Else"
44: War Party -- "Different Definition of Love"
43: The Roomsounds -- "Barn Burner"
42: Sealion -- "Vails"
41: Birds of Night -- "Bite"
40: Bad Design -- "Stained Glass"
39: Bethan -- "Vague"
38: Oil Boom -- "The Great American Shakedown"
37: Spookeasy -- "We Don't Sleep in the Night"
36: Nervous Curtains -- "Wired to Make Waves"
35: -topic -- "150 Exp(Smart Shit)"
34: The Longshots -- "Me or California"
33: Pageantry -- "Friends of the Year"
32: Danny Rush and the Designated Drivers -- "Brakeman"
31: Daniel Hart -- "Van Gogh Sher Gil"
30: Will Johnson -- "Scorpion"
29: Blake Panter -- "2x4"
28: Son of Stan -- "Corsica"
27: Leon the Professional -- "Hit 'em in the Head"
26: Neo Safari -- "Coastal Cruise"
25: Ronnie Heart -- "Tasty Destination"
24: Team Tomb -- "Skin and Teeth"
23: Somebody's Darling -- "Cold Hands"
22: Quaker City Night Hawks -- "Lavanderia"
21: Snow tha Product -- "Hola"
20: Cozy Hawks -- "Water Wings"
19: Pinkish Black -- "Tell Her I'm Dead"
18: The Colurs -- "Where We Belong"
17: Sarah Jaffe -- "Talk"
16: John Singer Sergeant w/ Sir Earl Toon -- "Dizzy Joy"
15: Toadies w/ The Honeybears -- "Rattler's Revenge"
14: Blackstone Rangers -- "Sheen Machine"
13: A.Dd+ - "Suitcases"
12: RTB2 -- "Wire to the Walls"
11: Sundress -- "California Dames"
10: Ynfynyt Scroll -- "Butch Queen"
9: Warren Jackson Hearne and Le Leek Electrique -- "Death You're So Cold"
8: Sarah Jaffe -- "Glorified High"
7: Crussia -- "White Gurls"
6: A.Dd+ - "Shit Got Crazy"
5: Analog Rebellion -- "Nothing is Wrong"
4: Skeleton Coast -- "Young"
3: Brain Gang Blue -- "Party On Remix"
2: Mind Spiders -- "Wait For Us"
1: The Colurs -- "Easy to Love" - Central Track

Best Mixtape

Leon the Professional, B(EAST) - The Dallas Observer