03 Greedo’s lack of depth and highly AutoTuned delivery along with Mustard’s highly listenable production are a Icee for a hot summer day — something cool and refreshing that quickly melts and is easily forgotten.

The biggest problem with Wale's debut LP is that sure, the music is good, some of the concepts are interesting...But it is all very middle of the road, and Wale himself is an MC desperately in need of charisma.

His bitterness about that fate may be the only black mark against this album--there's a tinge of resignation here and little effort to make himself more palatable to the masses.

Long-time MF Doom fans and relative newcomers to his innovative beats and flows will both be satisfied by this release.

While it may be a little on the long side, the quality never lets up and you'd have a hard time deciding which tracks, if any, should have been left on the cutting room floor.

On the whole the batting average is much higher than even the best MLB players when it comes to hits on "Day Shift" so E-40 supporters should be kicking themselves if they didn't pick this up.

Vadim manages to mix hip-hop, dancehall, dubstep, soul, and electronic dance music into a concoction that works.

Though Bronson does try new things on his first major-label outing, he still includes his characteristic lyrical qualities along with elements from past releases. In a sense, he's re-introducing himself.

While Mac Miller’s latest posthumous release does accomplish something interesting and worthy of accolades, and is ultimately a strong album, it should be held to its own limits.

As action-packed as beats and rhymes are, CZARFACE was a quick read I soon found myself putting back on the shelf.

Everybody Down may try to tackle too much in its 48-minute run time, but even if the story isn't always coherent, the emotions of the characters shine through.

Even with Black Milk's limits as a rapper, If There's a Hell Below is a solid album. Black Milk nails the line between being retro and forward-thinking, between street and backpack, between nostalgia and honesty.

As tracks like the apt Andre Harris produced finale “Wings” show, EarthGang can fly on their own without any comparisons. They are as much R&B as hip-hop and for them it’s an ideal match.

The end result sure looks promising from the moment you hit play, with over an hour of music and 18 tracks to look forward to, the kind of full length project all those [Kickstarter] backers have demanded.

Even his non-album singles are bangers, which is what makes it more insulting that we had to wait all these years for them to be compiled together into one “package” for our perusal. Better late than never though.

Her debut is musically brilliant--if a bit samey.

Knxwledge really knows how to bring the best out of Brandon. “HereIAm” swells with organs that make you feel like you’re at church for Sunday service. .... “Why Lawd?” proves it’s possible to remain true to your vision and bring the haters to you instead of the other way around.

Mozzy’s greatest strength as a writer is clear intimacy. Every time he spits a verse, I feel like he’s talking to me one-on-one with a cigar in hand and his posse surrounding him. There’s wisdom attached to his words because he’s been through it all. ... Mozzy still carries demons, but there are indeed shimmers of happiness percolating throughout some of these passages.

The first overwhelmingly happy Atmosphere record.

Maybe the highest praise one can bestow on Pilot Talk is that it is a real album, not really fit for phone speakers or headphones but best enjoyed on a home or car system, where Ski's warm beats and Spitta's hazy vocals can fill the space.

This is The Roots band, jamming their way through the wealth of protest soul that rocks and rolls, and obviously a crooner like the Grammy award winning John Legend is far more important to capture that soul and make it his own.

Even the weaker of Ghost albums tend to be relatively strong compared to some of his peers, both in and outside of the Wu, and The Big Doe Rehab is no exception.

If you felt Roc's previous albums were too Roc-heavy, this is the ideal album to ease you in to his brand of excess rap. Yet for somebody that held his previous two albums in such high regard, it's a little bit disjointed, unpolished and dare I say it, scruffy

It is the right combination of introspective and funky. It makes these long, endless days and weeks much more manageable. If you need something both banging and relaxing, Shabazz Palaces got you covered.

The problem here is that not only is no progress made, Weekend at Burnie's might just be an artistic regress.

Francis is on a level where even next shit is two steps behind.

It is just so much plain fun to bump loud, sing-a-long to and back it up on various people. Wicked.

No Love Deep Web continues Death Grips' death trip, and is another solid 47 minutes of artistic aggro.