Although his anticipated second album El Che still remains without a release date, Rhymefest continues to maintain his optimism. From books, to race and gender relations, few artists seem happier to be involved in Hip Hop and more active in carrying out its once golden intentions.

In an interview with HipHopDX, Rhymefest speaks on his latest mixtape The Manual, [click to listen] explains why J Records may not be his home for much longer, and how Twitter has united artists and their fans.

HipHopDX: Your mixtape The Manual has been on a number of blogs and websites this entire week. What has the feedback been for that so far?

Rhymefest: The feedback has been astronomically great. One of the best things about is that a lot of fans have written reviews for [it]. The fans have really shown their power by like saying