Intuition

When an Alaska-raised, Brooks Institute-educated dude named Intuition dropped his Stories About Nothing LP in March 2007, the lyrically rich, intensely personal, and mostly winning album brought hope that Santa Barbara might actually be home to one of the better white rappers on the planet. Of course, former photo tech Lee Shaner (his birth name) eventually had to head to the hip-hop-friendlier streets of L.A.. Still, the move definitely did him some good. Intuition’s second album, Girls Like Me, doesn’t miss a single beat. He keeps the introspective stories flowing, but this time keeps ‘em more light-hearted and lays them down over tracks that are much more approachable to both hip-hop fanatics and mere dabblers in the genre. It recalls the golden age of indie rap, circa the early 1990s, and even boasts an anthem in “I Love California” that’s likely to be playing on ghetto blasters from the ‘hood to the suburbs all summer long. To score a copy, visit intuition.bandcamp.com.