Her 2016 release, Miss Direction, was such a triumph of the local scene that the Houston Chronicle deemed it the best album of the year. So much of the album's success, however, is attributable to the intense, personal nature of Lyric Michelle's songs. In a genre dominated by masculine bravado and excess, Lyric Michelle weaves unflinching vulnerability into penetrating bars. Her work flatly confronts a brutal industry (and world) that would rather see her fail. That courage is all the more reason to support this talented artist's success; at HWF and beyond, Lyric Michelle brings rap to a whole new level. KATIE SULLIVAN