At times their shared mic duties on this CD seem very forced, but the beats and guests smooth out those rough edges and help you to overlook the fact this unit isn't what it used to be.

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 is not an album that thumps, drips, bangs, or whips. This is a young man with a lot of heavy thoughts on his mind, and to his good fortune he happens to be able to express them through rap over beats that sustain his flow. It may not be "boom it in your Jeep" music but that doesn't make it bad--just different. Earl Sweatshirt is different, and in a day where all rappers sound like the same AutoTuned singer, we need more different raps to appreciate.

This one won't dissapoint Eminem, Shady or G-Unit fans, but it also won't blow them away.

Graduation is neat, tidy, formal, but lacking in personality.

With a few more standout moments, and a bit less filler, the perception could well have matched the reality in a more positive manner.

The album’s sole difference from its predecessor is the length. It’s not lyrically mind-blowing, but its hip-hop for fans in the know and those tired of the vapid mainstream.

Songs like "Glitter Freeze" push that envelope to its furthest extent, where Albarn's sound becomes a plastic trance dance more at home with pulsing dancefloor strobe lights than a booming club with a DJ spinning the hottest rap hits. That may be a step too far for some. Tracks like "White Flag" and "Cloud of Unknowing" walk the line between those extremes.

It doesn't sound like much upon first listen. But after a few spins "In Search of Stoney Jackson" becomes a charming little record that has quite a lot to offer despite its fragmented, uncoordinated appearance.

It's not his greatest work but it's easily one of his most ambitious, which still makes it an album worth celebrating and listening to, though perhaps in smaller doses than an hour and a half at a time.

Last 2 Walk is recommended for those who can get past their banal lyricism, because between the beats and the guest stars on this album they've got a winning combination anyway.

If "Capo" is any indication of where Jones is headed in 2011 it's the first time in a while I can say that I'm looking forward to his next album.

Cole World does end up as a good debut.

Jidenna is good enough as a singer that if he did it full time I'd respect his hustle, but I like his wordplay, breath control, punchlines and swagger as a rapper enough that he'd be just fine only rapping. That he chooses to do both and do them both well shows he won't be defined by you, me, or anyone else.

There’s a clarity in thought behind his bars that makes him stand out. He’s not content to drink cough syrup, AutoTune his vocals, and make up a bunch of nonsense that makes no damn sense but sounds catchy as hell. In fact if I was actually to pinpoint a shortcoming about Kream it would be that he makes “songs” instead of “singles” and that makes it hard for someone with a solid reputation from mixtapes to break out mainstream.

There's a noticeably muted tone to his delivery and a bit of his defiant "proud to be country" attitude has faded away.

I Heard it Today makes me a less reluctant Lif fan since I've come to terms with his vocal style, but I still yearn for the collaborative efforts of Perceptionist days gone by which had incredible rhymes and incredible beats all at the same time.

The Music Scene is a good album, but one that is hard to get excited about.

While it's far from the most important record in hip-hop in 2006, let alone in Diddy's career, it's one that does at least keep your interest the whole way through and is worth listening to more than once.

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

Aside from leaning too hard into the baller and misogynistic cliches “2093” is a solid listen.

The problem here is that the near single-mindedness of his subject matter on Look What You Made Me shows EXACTLY what he's been made by one too many music videos with jiggling booty and coochie--a nymphomaniac.

I cautiously recommend "Distortion" to Run-D.M.C. fans as being a lot better than their unceremonious disaster of a final album "Crown Royal" while openly admitting anybody younger than 18 may not relate to it and pass right on by to something else.

This will hold a bizarre position in his catalogue--Recovery is not his best, nor his worst, but either people will listen incessantly or barely at all. There is no middle ground.

Evolution may not be a cutting edge advancement of hip-hop, but it's no embarrassment to Baatin and Dilla's legacy either. It's a solid album you wouldn't be ashamed to pledge a few dollars toward for a copy.

It's certainly an enjoyable listen, with a few great songs – and at least it actually happened – but with the combined power, money and talent that Carter and West continually brag about, you can't help but feel that Watch the Throne could and should have been better.

Jeezy has a competent flow, good breath control, plenty of hot beats and all-star guests, and yet this album really is a sequel to "101" in all but name because it picks up where the last one left off without even trying to differentiate between the two.

While handling all of the production himself is a valiant effort, it’s evident that Royce had a wobbly experience with it in that it isn’t fully consistent. Even so, “The Allegory” is another solid effort from the Detroit rhyme sayer.