Through thick and thin, Tribe embodies the fully fleshed out idea of the Hip Hop their impassioned audience clamors for: work that’s soulful, thought provoking, and gripping enough to transport minds away from strife to another world sonically.

There are some run-of-the-mill features from Lil Wayne (“Bout That”), French Montana (“Going Crazy”) and Chris Brown (“Pretty Diamonds”), but the rest of the supporting cast help elevate below-average tracks.

Big Baby D.R.A.M. is presented as a playlist of D.R.A.M.’s best conceptual songs rather than achieve the glory of playing a perfect album from front to back.

It’s a restlessly inventive work that adds a uniquely soulful layer to underground Hip Hop 3.0’s resurgent, evolving sound.

Although he’s far from a punk, the caricature we’ve come to know as Gucci Mane has shed a chunk of his unrepentant hood mentality in favor of a wiser narrator of the trap. Once he fully discovers how to convincingly put that into the music, the world had better brace itself.

As with so many projects with Prince Paul at the helm, it’s a genuinely intriguing sonic excursion.

Keith’s magnetism is absurd yet inspirational to think different.

A Seat at the Table is her strongest work to date.

The most rewarding aspect of Atrocity Exhibition is the ease with which Danny Brown conducts this freakshow.

His highly anticipated debut album The Healing Component serves as a 15-track showcase of youthful positivity.

Taking steps to advance his career without compromise, Michael Christmas uses Fudge’s Lady Parts to make what’s arguably the greatest showing off his talent to date.

The listenability is at an all-time high, but the writing itself is still lackluster.

There isn’t a ton of lyrical progression for La Flame on this album. ... But he soothing digitized finish and woven through the most polished contemporary drums in Hip Hop, it’s truly hard to hate. That puzzling beauty is the best part about Scott’s music.

Tirade is a refined exercise in Spottie’s advancement as an artist.

And the Anonymous Nobody is an album that, though lacking in congruence, displays De La’s staying power.

From the jamming intro to the sublime closer, Jeffery is a testament to the rapper’s carefree spirit.

Prima Donna is his most challenging work to date.

Fishing Blues may not be your bag due to its pacing and down-trodden tempo but in between the suburban man bars should lay some appreciation for storytelling.

Much of Blonde sounds more like a minimalist soft rock record with its sparse, isolationist guitars and pianos; little to no drums; and choruses that fade into the rest of Frank’s dense, congested lyrics.

Sremmlife 2 is worthwhile (and much needed) bid for album of the summer. It’s top heavy, “By Chance,” “Look Alive,” and “Black Beatles” feeling a lot like one of the best three song stretches of the year, but Swae brings a promising sense of experimentation to the entire project.

P3 doesn’t totally live up to the hype due to the excess sadness rendering it a tad boring but at the very least it gives us an explicit snapshot of where OVO’s second-in-command is at emotionally.

Some faults of Dreezy’s album is that it sounds like a combination of the current trends in Hip Hop.

A crossover single aside, LILDURK2X, at its core, really lacks any unique personality. From song to song we just get served disappointingly mediocre aggressive rap music that is hard to hate but also challenging to love.

There are instances on this album that do prove Khaled’s worth as a Hip Hop orchestrator in terms of matching high profile rappers with quality beats but unfortunately, they come too few and far between.

Mike WiLL Made-It and Zaytoven construct a cinematic backdrop, but Gucci’s execution is a bit wanting. Regardless, it’s a clear step in the right direction, a completely different beast than the b-side littered mixtapes he’s sanctioned from behind bars over the past three years, and begs for repeat listens.

Blank Face LP could’ve cut some fat from its 72-plus minutes and 17 tracks, especially since some songs cover the same ground. However, as a whole, Blank Face LP is a victory not only for ScHoolboy Q, but for a T.D.E. crew that had seemed to lose momentum outside of its star player.

Casting such a wide net over the span of 20 songs ends up being a gift and a curse as the brighter moments risk getting dimmed out by extremely ambitious attempts that fall short. Running so long ensures filler and repetitive topic material, but overall Snoop makes a strong case against ageism as he fuses the adult contemporary and Gangsta Rap genres.

MFH2 frequently chooses to forgo these extremes that make Gates riveting, opting for something more middle-of-the-road.