At 16 tracks, 20 on the deluxe version, this album manages to work in more than a couple joints featuring some of the vicious rap hardcore fans were hoping for.

Future’s influence might not ever reach the same height as that famous duo’s, but efforts like Honest certainly dispel his consistent-hit-man-of-little-substance status (a la T-Pain).

He understands what a casual, top of the iTunes chart browsing fan is looking for, and what his dedicated fans who have been there since his bluesy beginnings are looking for. Blurred Lines mostly hits its mark when aiming for these two very different audiences, but the interspersing of slimy, pop songs with smooth as butter, tasteful ones comes off as awkward.

While I suspect 4 was made in large part to sound more natural and real, it doesn't succeed entirely. The album is a refreshingly understated change from the constantly banging and bumping sound of modern R&B, but it doesn't really bring us closer to the Queen B.

This is a good album by all accounts, but it's just not enough to free Joey from rap purgatory.

While everyone else is solid, there are no epiphanies, no "that artist is the next to blow!" moment that particularly deserves mention.

Knock Madness works best when Hopsin is either angrily fighting or humorously poking fun at some sort of ludicrosity.

O.N.I.F.C. isn't a great album, but it isn't lazy either.

There's frankly very little chance I'd ever listen to this album again if I wasn't obligated to revisit it in a month via "1 Listen" rules, but Nicki's got her own lane and it's not a lane I'm going to roadblock.

Nothing on the album is groundbreaking and it won't go on to sell millions of copies, but that doesn't mean that it isn't a worthy piece of musical art.

Weekend at Burnie's has earned a regular spot in my iPod rotation. I may not be a full-ledged jet but I when I do fly I've got no problem letting Curren$y be my pilot.

Beyond his mic skills, King also hints at Tyga's more seriously minded side, a side that surfaces again and again throughout the album.

In and of itself, Self Made 2 is a decent album that should find relative success.

IV Play finds Dream delving into more sounds and styles than ever before.

Though at times she panders to the club a bit much, and doesn’t provide quite the depth that is expected of a self-titled album and an artist on her fifth go around, Ciara is filled with a fun batch of songs.

9th's created an album that slowly backs away from the bigger, heavily soulful tracks he's best known for and delivers some more subtle, softer work.

I don't think My Life II in and of itself will go down as one of Mary's best albums; for all its quality it just doesn't have the focus and vision of a classic and occasionally seems to pander to the hot house/techno/club trend.

Lupe seems to have accepted that Lasers is not the masterpiece he originally set out to make and is prepared to move on. Maybe we should follow his lead.

Whatever, the point is that instead of snare hits and cymbal crashes Barker's real contribution came from behind the boards--he's got a production credit on every one of the album's tracks. By the same token he's often paired with other producers, and when it works, like on the RZA influenced Carry It, it really works. Unfortunately, when it doesn't work, it really doesn't.

After Rolling Papers Wiz' fan base should expand significantly, as should the number of rap purists angry about his lack of rhyme skills, but complaining about his "rap" skills completely misses the point.

W.A.R. is only his third project in over ten years. If you're going to pursue quality over quantity you better deliver quality, and thankfully W.A.R. is nothing but quality.

Maintaining the same "burn down the building" energy that your most loyal fans demand while not actually burning down the building is no easy task, but it's a fine line that MGK mostly manages to walk with success on Lace Up.

Thankfully we finally have some more new Quik in our lives in the form of his eighth solo album, The Book of David, an album that finds the legendary DJ going back to his roots, and creating some nice music in the process.

You may not love this album, and I'm not sure I do, but you do have to respect it.

At first listen, you'll think this album is a disappointment and didn't live up to the hype. And maybe it didn't, but this isn't Bastard--it's an album with a much deeper theme and message, with just enough blood-thirsty lines and misogyny to hold the kids over.

If he was hoping to prime his artists for individual success, he's got a long way to go. But if he was simply looking to keep Maybach's name on everyone mind via a loosely defined collection of bangers, well then it looks like Rick Ross still can't do wrong.

While Tinie's obviously talented, I honestly can't hear what all the excitement is over. Sure something will get lost in translation, but even on mega hit Written in the Stars I'm just not catching any lyricism that stands out. Then again, maybe that's what makes Tinie so popular.

If every album from here on sounds like Planet Pit the public will begin to forget just what made him so special in the first place, but right here, right now, it's Pitbull's world and we're just living partying in it.