Over a 20-year career, Evidence has used metaphor most often as his narrative tool of choice. With his sophomore offering, a follow-up to The Weatherman LP, the prolific rapper has cooked up an auditory hurricane.

Another year has come and gone for the culture and community festival known as the Manifesto. This year for its fifth anniversary the festival’s organizers pulled out all the stops, from headlining hip-hop acts to integrating other events and activities to engage the general public.

Evidence’s long-awaited, highly anticipated sophomore offering Cats and Dogs hit the streets today. “It Wasn’t Me” is the third single and video from what has already been certified a classic underground hip-hop album.

Check out the second single off Swollen Members’ sixth studio album, Dagger Mouth. “Do or Die,” like Dagger Mouth as a whole, is a dark and gritty throwback to classic Swollen Members hip-hop.

Vancouver, British Columbia, hard rockers State of Shock are back at it with the band’s third studio album, Rock N’ Roll Romance, released last week. The first single off the record is the Jeff Dawson-produced “Have a Nice Day.”

By early afternoon, 60 of the nearly 1,000 protestors had been arrested, including Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, who boldly told the crowd: “I’ll be one of the ones crossing the line today.”

Directed by Mark Staubach (Bruna Mars, Lupe Fiasco), the video for Simple Plan’s “Astronaut” is an outer-worldly experience, ripe with space suits. “Astronaut” marks the third single off Simple Plan’s Get Your Heart On! album.

Orillia, ON, four-pack Bleeker Ridge have released the video for “Sick of You,” a song from the band’s 2010 full-length album, Small Town Dead. The second single off Small Town Dead, “Sick of You” was directed by Kingston filmmaker Cody Calahan.

Typical of Daniel Wesley’s style, his new video is a laid back, backyards-and-BBQs kind of affair. Set under sun amid skate ramps and guitar stands, the video for “Head Outta Water” is a nod to the rocker’s West Coast roots.

The band’s latest offering, Better Off, is the first of three Ten Second Epic albums to not be produced by Garth Richardson (Atreyu, Chevelle, Mudvayne). This time around, the band hired 54-40 guitarist Dave Genn to man the boards.