A few days of repeat spins now have revealed the album to have more depth and sustainability than I first suspected.

R.A.P. Music sounds like exactly no other album to come out this year.

Strange Clouds isn't perhaps as thrilling as Adventures, mostly because the thrill of the unknown is gone, but B.o.B.'s second album is superior in almost every respect.

While there's nothing revolutionary here, New Life is undoubtedly the work of a woman who's supremely comfortable in her own skin and own music.

The tracks do not really flow into each other or sound good in sequence, but individually some records do shine.

Here both the production and Nicki's delivery border on absurdist theater, at one point devolving into Nicki literally making noises.

K.R.I.T.'s created another album that will stand the test of time with 4EvaNaDay.

It has to be said though that the places where WZRD struggles most are the places where Dot and Cudi leave their hybrid sweet spot and try to go straight rock.

This is an album you play during a lazy Sunday afternoon, an album you reach for during a long road-trip, and in a way that's far more valuable than the month's new hottest thing.

Chiddy Bang is the sound of the younger generation, which is to say that they sound like whatever they feel like at the time, and their debut album Breakfast proves it.

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

The young Somalian is far from the first artist to have to figure out "their" sound while sweating under the spotlight, and by the sound of Silence he's still figuring things out.

Ultimately V&A is an album that presents a fearlessly original and coherent, if distorted, vision, something that's become an endangered species in the age of the hit single.

It may have its moments of aggression, but ultimately Habits & Contradictions is often a more quiet and thoughtful album.

The point is that despite the delays and false starts and question marks, ultimately Young Jeezy has continued an impressively consistent run of quality albums.

Together the two vets have created a work that's worthy of some serious recognition.

The simple truth is this is the kind of music you're best off not thinking too much about.

Her talent and voice makes up for the fact that Lioness isn't really an album, but more like a collection of unfinished business.

undun clocks in at well under an hour, Questlove said he wants it to be "ADD proof", a running time that also magnifies the importance of the third of the album that's purely instrumental. It's on these vocal-free tracks that The Roots truly show what they're capable of.

Love and Rockets is a chance for hip hop to transform back to its roots; the real, musical, easy to listen to simple beats and lyrics that we all grew to love.

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.

Radioactive [is] simultaneously the most and least mainstream friendly album of the year. It's a seeming contradiction that only someone who was supremely confident in their identity as an artist could pull off.

Gambino's strength is also his weakness. As a TV writer and a comedian he's naturally focused on punchlines and creating moments, which at his best is enormously entertaining and at the worst forced

Talk That Talk is both a sharp departure from her dark, rock-infused last two albums Rated R and Loud and a more easily enjoyable work.

We're still a long way from a classic, but Take Care once again proves that he's just too good to disappear anytime soon.

You know that breathless feeling you had when you ran from the cops after they broke up a house party? This album is that feeling in musical form.

Most of Fear of God feels like detached, competent, common-denominator, major-label hip-hop, which would be fine if we weren't already aware what he's capable of.

The overall result is an album that's easily enjoyable, but not particularly interesting.