It may be that the only constant on Chemical Warfare IS Alchemist's beats, but that's enough to make it work--and like the futuristic battle it implies the album is filled with hits you'll never see coming.

It is an album that pushes boundaries and yet is always listenable and relatable, even at its most intricate and complex.

Mac’s sixth studio album is a surreal experience that’s filled with opaque contemplation and tragic connotations. ... Loneliness may be our greatest fear other than death. Mac was able to explicitly re-establish this idea through reflective songwriting and gentle crooning. His genius and thoughtfulness will always be remembered. “Circles” is a stark reminder of that.

Even at its most mundane (like on the painfully repetitive title track), “uknowhatimsayin¿” represents an artist at his most polished and enthusiastic.

Us is uplifting, thought-provoking, funny, heartbreaking, and bootyshaking.

Being bold and different for Lupe pays off right from the jump.

"U N Or U Out", "Marcberg" and "Reloaded" means he has the three outstanding records in the bag, but his recent work hasn't quite reached those heady heights of uber-braggodocio.

Brown's self-awareness of his situation doesn't seem to have made him alter his intake. At least it has allowed him to make an incredible album.

There are plenty of unexpected surprises to be found.

Konnichiwa is proof of not only Skepta's skill on the mic, but also of his ability to put together a strong, solid album. As Grime continues to rise, its leaders are well worth watching.

There are no phony builds, no bass dropping, no obvious patterns. Faith in Strangers keeps listeners on their toes, and keeps their head nodding the whole time.

Until The Quiet Comes is another excellent album by one of the most interesting producers out there.

Positives of “The Goat” — it’s 47 minutes long, it’s slickly produced, and even when Polo’s voice is Tuned up it’s not to cover up him being mumble mouthed or syrup addled. Negatives — well there aren’t too many.

While most of the album is concerned with asserting that YG is still a G despite his fame, it closes with a trio of protest songs.

Don't go looking for the hidden meaning behind Hot Sauce Committee Part Two -- the Beastie Boys are just here to fight for their right to party.

Ill Manors, depressing, blunt and provocative, fulfills one of rap music's most noble tasks--to touch the sore spots.

This more cerebral music is interesting and challenging, but it is missing some of immediacy of his earlier work.

On “It’s Almost Dry”, Pusha T proves that while he is fixated on selling drugs (almost to an obsessive extent), he is also a truly creative and, yes, original artist.

A true original not to the game, but to rap music at its best.

In short, it is one of the best albums of the year, and could be one of the best albums of the decade.

Reloaded is a brilliant album but it is one that requires a certain mood.

Common's naturally smooth flowing voice is a pleasure to listen to, making even the times when he is overreaching his grasp that much more tolerable in comparison to lesser peers.

Neither artist disappoints on the LP and Quik continues to progress and go beyond the boundaries of traditional west coast hip-hop. Although I'm not sure if fans will ride down Crenshaw bumping a few of the songs on the album, I salute Quik and Kurupt for trying something new.

Overall, “Voir Dire” isn’t bad. But to speak the truth, in the spirit of the album, both men have had more superior output. Plus, The Alchemist’s beats are usually better suited for rappers with gangsta motifs, because it sounds more like shared vision then.

Pusha is more thoughtful and Malice is more cocksure. Through the alchemy of Pharrell Williams the result is their finest work to date.

Live Love A$AP is compelling but wildly uneven in execution.

It is, really and truly, an experience.

Extended Play has the comfortable feel of a mid-to-late 1990's DJ Premier P-P-P-Premier mixtape though so I'm not mad at it--I just want Statik to knock his next one out of the stratosphere.

There are those who employ cheat codes just for the hell of it. Lyrically and musically, Black Thought and Danger Mouse used theirs here to get one up on their peers in their respective mediums.

Shabazz Palaces created an album that is deep, dense, cryptic, hypnotic, and beautiful in its own freaky way.

XXX is another excellent release from the man who is one of the best rappers out there, proving that you can be lyrical and street at the same time, and that hip-hop doesn't have to be one dimensional.

With Chill, dummy, P.O.S. manages a difficult balancing act between alternative music and hip-hop, the personal and the political, and being impassioned without being self-righteous. It's a strong album that is a welcome return from the Minnesota rapper.

He's versatile enough in writing ability to cover any topic from somber to silly, he's clever enough to make what he has to say worth rewinding to catch, and he's not that bad behind the boards as a producer either

It's the depth of lyricism that continues to impress, months after release.

There is a fair amount of glitchy electronica, but there are also more straightforward loops. They compliment Open Mike's melodic delivery and the wistful yet angry mood of the album. Sammus and Has-lo also offer verses.

On paper it sounds all over the place, but it somehow works. There is method to this madness and Gang Signs & Prayer owes much to how serious Stormzy considers the album format in 2017. Grime LPs are few and far between.

By Janelle Monae's lofty standards, this is still very good, but not quite as great as her previous offering.

slowthai gained notoriety for being unvarnished in his lyrics over his country’s politics, but that isn’t shown much on the album except for its title. He says there’s “Nothing Great About Britain“, but the same can be said about his debut album, even with the bright spots.

If there’s any album to compare this to, it would have to be The Clipse’s recently released “Let God Sort Em Out”, as both are similar and uncompromisingly raw in sound and content. But “Alfredo 2” differs in style and tone. The album’s edge? It has a narcotic swagger with flash and no polish, as well as being a very welcome and well-timed contemporary follow-up.

While “Everybody Can’t Go” is mostly good, Benny will need to push some boundaries if he’s ever going to top his classic albums.

It's [the] beats by Danger Mouse that make "Demon Days" a winner, even when the Gorillaz concept threatens to overwhelm itself with pretentious twaddle.

Once you listen, you'll never be able to look at rap's landscape the same way again.

Whilst not quite a true Renaissance for hip hop, it certainly is a rebirth for Q-Tip--and fans of A Tribe Called Quest will dine out on this album for the next nine years too.

Lyrically, Jay-Z still has his gift for wordplay and flow. For what he does not display in terms of technical emceeing ability on this album, he makes up for it by dropping clever gems filled with knowledge.

Doris may not get the party started, but it's still an inspiring album.

At times the production teeters back and forth between cohesive and monotonous, but after repeated listens, the tracks stand out apart from each other more as you unravel the heavily layered production.

Madlib produced albums tend to only get better with age, and I don't expect Pinata to be an exception.

Despite the album having a few filler tracks, Machine may just end up with the crown on the album cover if he continues the route he’s currently on.

Royce Da 5'9" is a well rounded beast throughout; and it's similar to the Bad Meets Evil EP in tone, but more expansive in ambition.

After three decades in the music business, it's inspiring to see him deliver an excellent album: overseeing it, driving his guests/writers/producers onto greater things and delivering it in an interesting way is no mean feat. His voice has matured.

With II Trill Bun B's ensured the legacy of U.G.K. will exist for decades to come, but more importantly he's created the album that every hip-hop head from North to South with have rattling out of their trunk all summer long.

7 Days is certainly the record to go for if you want that core Krept & Konan experience, and with strong showings from the three big names in UK rap (Stormzy, J Hus and Skepta)--it's definitely worth checking out.

His artistic ambition still lags behind profit objective and pursuit of happiness, but he also manages to be the kind of wordsmith that doesn’t have to spell everything out for you. But when he does, he gives a fairly balanced overview of the subject, see his thoughts on taxes in “Sam”. There’s still a cunning street edge to Chainz twelve years after “Supply & Demand”.

I’m confident is his best work since his return in 2017. ... Roc Marciano isn’t likely to win over those who aren’t into this style of hip hop, but it certainly feels more accessible than the DJ Muggs record “KAOS” or even the “Rosebudd’s Revenge” albums.

Rather than trying to please the club, the ladies, the hardcore 30+ crowd, the younger fans, and everyone in between, Jadakiss has released a cohesive, satisfying album that is easily one of his best efforts. More of this, please.

The chemistry is undeniable and “The Elephant Man’s Bones” is the culmination of this partnership. This is an album that gets better with each listen and yet, despite capturing everything great about previous Roc Marciano albums, sounds remarkably fresh and current.

Both the length and the effort he put into it justify why it took over three years for it to come out and all the bases are covered here. ... It’s hard to find anything to complain about.

For the most part, the sound palette on “God Don’t Make Mistakes” is painted as dark and grimy which suits Conway’s visceral crime details. Though he isn’t from New York City, he’s got the grit to match it. Many of the tracks show off his penchant for detailed street life depictions with polysyllabic rhymes delivered in a veteran’s flow.

Influenced by many but perhaps literally fathered by none, ScHoolboy Q remains an intriguing enigma whose ambitions presently know less limits than Percy Miller.

Sullivan herself is certainly an artist that doesn’t follow the rules, which is why it’s mildly disappointing to hear her sound like Post Malone or Juice WRLD on tracks. For a woman with as much power and agency as she clearly has, she let too much of this release be shaped by what other people sound like in terms of the production of her vocals and her instrumentals.

His delivery is just as smooth and his lyrics are as slyly clever as before. Shad continues to grow as an artist and has adjusted well to his newfound success. While the old prince no longer has to live at home, he shows true leadership skills in the ability to connect with listeners.

It's an excellent album if you're in on the joke.

If you even have the least inkling of how funky giving Oh No "unlimited access" to the archives of Rudy Ray Moore would be, I think you realize how enjoyable it would be to let him loop these beats and cherry pick his favorite emcees to flow over them.

It's not as consistently good as "The Salvation", or as instantly satisfying as his work with Torae, but with recent months slowing down on the incredible start we've had in 2015 for albums, this is certainly worth checking out.

“Unlocked” is a blast. It is a highly-enjoyable snapshot of an otherworldly dimension traversed by the superbly-skilled rapper Denzel Curry and the fantastic Kenny Beats. This EP delivers loads of strong bars and beats alike and is most definitely worth the listen.

Apart from these misgivings [middle-core sequencing issues and "Nasty" not making the grade], it must be said that Nas has truly delivered.

Overall, And I Love H.E.R. is as good of a conceptual album as hip-hop has ever seen.

It's accessible enough to be listenable, challenging enough to be interesting, and has many layers for the listener to unfold and decipher.

The album is fun for that amount of time but doesn’t chart a new course for women in rap or rappers as a whole. Not every album needs to or should. “Fever” is our Trina for 2019. She won’t change the world but she will get you to talk about sex, baby.

Tech has done everything in his power to reach out to the broadest fan base on All 6's and 7's by keeping it real and giving you something you can feel at the same time.

So Far Gone is unquestionably one of the most cohesive, atmospheric hip hop records in recent memory--which is almost the antithesis of what one expects from a mixtape.

I Don't Like S#%! sees Earl continuing to mature and grow as an artist.

This feels indulgent without MD being committed to any of his whims, and that exposes Mos Def as an artist that no longer seems to know what he wants to do.

Overall this album has some definite stand out tracks: "Not the Only One," "2 Phones," "La Familia" and "Time For That." The rest of the project is not bad, it's just generally underwhelming.

This is not RJD2's best work, but this record contains several stunning creations and very few disappointments. Aceyalone settles for too little, allowing his natural skill to carry him in the absence of true purpose, but his voice still weaves deftly throughout most of the album.

Ego Death is the perfect summer record. Breezy, smooth, lazy, and meant for warm nights.

This is gritty, grimy, hardcore hip-hop, as nasty as it wants to be.

The resulting album is an intense, visceral experience. It manages to combine the aggression of both punk and hip-hop.

Still all things considered and given the obscurity of the original release it's hard to knock "Ruff Drafts" for what it is, especially given the bonus disc.

I’m glad he found a lane, stuck to it, and rode the hell out of it until he had to go to the clinic for a shot. On the other hand “Play Cash Cobain” is nearly one straight hour of listening to another dude read me the letters he wrote to Playboy. I prefer that to a rapper bragging about how many people they’ve killed, but an hour straight of either one with no variance is monotonous. He’s a solid producer, and while pitch corrected rap singing isn’t my favorite thing, he’s better than average at that too.

Years of being disregarded, underrated and criticized may have hurt Dilla's feelings but those who would regret that will feel no shame now knowing every barb thrown his way only made Dilla that much doper as a producer--to the point his posthumous albums are now better than what most living cats make today.

A strange and unique album that is more rock and pop than anything most rap fans are used to.

The 44 minutes of this album could exist without Mr. Freeman, but they couldn’t exist without Metro Boomin. ... [21 Savage's] a solid RAPPER through and through and in an era of singers I’m always going to appreciate that, but if I said I could ignore the banality of “Savage Mode II” lyrically I’d be lying.

This is certainly a fine album, pretty much throughout.

A quality contemporary UK rap album with equal shares of bleepy, futuristic and poppy, everyday music and plenty of singing to support a rapper that clearly isn't just rapping because everyone else is. Still, there's room for improvement.

Akrobatik and Lif are the ideal lyrical yin and yang.

Alias's production merely compounds the record's dense and oppressive aesthetic. The tracks tend to bleed into each other musically, one grainy backing indistinguishable from the next.

He traverses the well-trodden avenues of gun and drug rap, reinterpreting redundant rhetoric into remarkable displays of comic genius, all while sticking firmly to a food motif.

What makes this record successful, is exactly what Lupe refused to do on "The Great American Rap Album:" make enjoyable songs first and spread a message second.

It's easily among the best of his work in his entire career.

With All the Beauty in This Whole Life, he created not just an album that represents an arranged amalgamation of his own experiences, but also a hip-hop album with so much soul that Rakim would blush.

The album is still a must-have any true hip-hop head, and it is certainly a promising release from the young emcee, but just don't go in expecting an easy, feel-good listen.

As disappointing as Bleeds is at points, it is still a Roots Manuva album. The man can weave an intricate rhyme like few others, and his message of searching for righteousness and forgiveness is one that resonates.

It hurts me to say different choices in terms of the production would have made it more accessible, because I respect his intent to be inaccessible here. If I have to sum it up and put a bow on it, I think “UGLY” is an album that will probably be appreciated more 25 years from now than it is today.

This album makes up for substance with slickness.

The order of the songs in the end seems carefully chosen, not unlike a play or movie where the emotional resonance from each piece is meant to build you up, bring you down, and build anticipation through each movement towards the climactic ending.

It is a meticulously crafted album that goes down smooth and leaves you with something to think about.

This EP cannot be recommended for who I consider our core group of readers unless you are familiar with his previous material and know you enjoy it, but the level of talent is undeniable.