Feist manages to deliver an understated, yet powerful resolution that ultimately defines Metals not so much as a break up album or a make up album, but as a journey to acceptance.

GZA for his part conveys overarching ideas of war with self, the world at large, and pushing oneself artistically to the limit as a coping mechanism--expressing a coherent worldview through top flight craftsmanship.

Fly Lo manages to create an unusually sophiticated and well-produced album with mostly a laptop.

Surely there's despair and persistent uncertainty, but there's an unspoken beauty to the struggle.

If one devotes their time to the music, they'll come away experiencing one of the best Hip-Hop albums released in the last few years.

BlackenedWhite is a refreshingly original album where it counts and it never gets under your skin the way Tyler's albums can.

This is a piece of work that raises the bar for all his contemporaries, and I would not be surprised to see this album at the top of many Best of 2011 lists.

All in all, it's the sound of a bunch of musicians from the top of the game performing at the top of their game. Ruthlessly tight, deeply soulful with tunes to keep you riveted to your stereo until deep into the night.

Once again, he masterfully conveys his understanding of the free jazz form, and yet never duplicates his father in the least. In fact, Spirit Fiction may just be his most forward-thinking album thus far.

Make no mistake about it, most of the instrumentation on the album is just Toro y Moi. More so ‘Moi’.

The sheer ferocity of Monch's rhyming is more than enough to bridge any gaps and plow through any detours.

If I were asked to document the unrest within Detroit, The Left's Gas Mask would be the backdrop. Journalist 103 and Apollo Brown have created a beautifully ugly masterpiece that seethes with urgency and raises the bar considerably for their peers at home and beyond.

With this release, Statik Selektah continues to prove that he one of hip hop's finest beatsmiths. Meanwhile, Action Bronson shows that he will continue to be a force to be reckoned with.

Even though there were a few points at which this album dragged for me, (see back to back six-minute songs), there is no doubt that this is not only a strong debut for Saigon, but a strong album that indicates he'll be a force in hip-hop for years to come.

A celebration of quality rap music, past, present, and future.

Mike and El-P may not have made a lot of sense on paper, but it's clear they have great chemistry and they have pushed each other to make some of the year's best music.

With Cancer4Cure I was gratified on the first spin, but I'm sure it will take many more listens to fully understand El-P's brilliance on both the mic and the boards.

Lushlife's Plateau Vision is arguably the best rap record since My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

For listeners ready to let go of expectations and embark on a musical ride, the journey will be well worth it.

His inexhaustible penmanship coaxes listeners to further sink their ears to the album's abyss, a pull that's hard to defy.

Freed from production duties, she pours herself into her voice and her lyrics, giving a vocal performance that drips feeling and firmly establishes her as a singer to be reckoned with.

Solidarity is a straight up funky, raucous, dancefloor-troubling, riot-provoking monster of an album.

There's not a slacker in the bunch on 21, which is hard enough for many an artist to pull off at 31 – or even 51 – much less at an age when they're still too young to rent a car on their own

All three parties are at the top of their game – Russell is in complete control of her formidable voice, Quantic is in the most verdant part of his career, and the Combo Barbaro? Well, they've been dope for years. The result is a triumph.

The fiery spirit of Africa For Africa certainly carries echos of the immortal Fela, and Femi seems quite comfortable carrying on his father's legacy. But, with another powerful addition to an already stellar catalogue, the son is not so quietly building a legacy all his own.

If A Dream Deferred isn't the best produced album this year, it's gotta be in the top three.

This is the sound of a musician at the top of his game marking his entry into the big time.

He proves every time he's on stage and across this wonderful LP...he's got it.

Nine Types of Light is a damn good place for those of us as yet unfamiliar with TV on the Radio to start investigating one of the most adventurous bands around today. And I can guarantee that if you start here, you won't stop.

All Day offers a departure of sorts from Night Ripper and Feed the Animals, his previous releases. The composition of those two essentially follow the same furious blueprint, whereas All Day allows the musical ideas a bit more time to breathe and evolve.

Overall, in fact, it might feel like a little too much of The Weeknd all at once. But then again the music is so good it might just be what the doctor ordered.

It's good time music written to the sound of heartbreak and everyday affairs, which makes it even more relatable, accessible even.

Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors has a much more electronic feel to it, with a plethora of synthesizers. The brassy street thump of past Big Boi releases is still present, it's just more centralized.

Weather is a beautiful album and the most intimate project we've heard from Ndegeocello in the last few years.

Despite talk of the non-living, one can say more resolutely that The Upsetter is back at it, town crying and rousing the most lively music lovers among us while keeping great reggae alive.

Kiwanuka crafts an opus so insular that it feels like a one-on-one conversation between he and you.

It had that intangible love and passion behind it that so, so many albums these days are essentially lacking. The tone will brighten your day, while the passion will inspire you.

Glasper managed to create a beautiful album from start to finish that will easily be added into conversations with greats like John Coltrane's Blue Train.

Bailey Rae's The Love EP is a short, but great listen with some of the finest love songs ever written.

House of Balloons is a surprisingly strong and confident debut for a new artist.

At just 11 tracks, this record flexes serious range, but what's even more impressive is that it rarely sounds overextended.

This record a solid improvement over the excellent Causers Of This, and I am excited for his continued growth as an artist.

Not only does the duo own the niche that they have established on their EPs, they also break new ground, infusing other elements and genres within the album. Overall, a great listen.

Coming off the digital releases of Funk Man, and Automatik Statik comes Golden Era, the last third of the trilogy, which is, frankly, more of the same. But with Del, that's a good thing.

You won't find much in the way of a message on Mic Tyson (closest thing might be on the driving "Pyrex": "wake up, all that crack and the street talk/is made up like Jack & The Beanstalk"), but you will find a raw rap sound seldom heard in these calloused days

Simply put, tMTMTMK is what music sounds like when it works.

He's found ways to make complexity entertaining and to harness pain in the names of maturity and laughter.

GMB is Pac Div's best and most consistent work to date.

NLP is yet another crowning achievement in his long career.

Overall, Occasion boasts a myriad of sounds and heads may gravitate more toward certain lanes than others but, with nary a weak track, Kidz In The Hall keep it game tight and deliver a dope-ass record.

Vodka & Ayahuasca is a salute to no-bullshit hip-hop done right.

This is sophisticated music for the adult soul.

This album is a violent frenzy maxed out to the “nth” power, so it may not be for everyone; however, most who embrace hardcore hip-hop will undoubtedly love this album.

On Back to Love, Hamilton splits the difference and delivers a carefully calculated amalgam of soulful rawness, after hours sophistication and pop sheen that feels far more organic than it has any right to.

El Rego is solid gold all the way through.

There is an earnestness to Blak & Blu, even in its bumpier moments, that holds your attention, even if it's the testosterone fueled bombast that initially grabs it by the throat.

As the album unfolds you're drawn inexorably into a world of high quality music that deserves to be savoured, devoured, replayed and pored over, and above all, enjoyed.

It does feel like the melding Icebird does of electronic elements with blues, soul, and rock is a progressive move.

Flaunting a smattering of psych rock, glints of fuzz funk, analog tape hiss, and virtually no FFWD moments in sight, it's hard to not warm up to this record.

The music is powerful, but the moods and mental space Channel Orange occupies are often macabre.

If you're willing to open your ears up, you'll be entertained by a high quality MC having a blast on record.

It's a pleasure to listen to, and perhaps its sheer existence (thanks in part to crowdsourcing on Kickstarter) is a fact to be celebrated in itself

Ultimately, Folila fits right into that legacy, while managing to expand it just a little further.

Just as the two's previous solo projects, the music will probably not sit well with most hip-hop heads, but it's the perfect LP for each of their respective fan base.

Gutter Rainbows may not be promoted heavily due to its independent release, but it should be rotated heavily in our MP3's, it's a definite win for the listener/consumer.

The album is a pleasure to listen to, with enough airy energy to fit a summer playlist and angst raw enough to carry it over into the shorter, colder days of winter.

The whole of First Serve is greater than the sum of its parts, and the album's crisp pace, infectious energy and playful humor make it an easy listen and a simple pleasure

Cope makes up for his mediocre (to some) but unique voice with strong, thoughtful songwriting.

At it's best, Reloaded rocks like Evidence liberated from the jungle of Premo beats and given enough space to go believably gangster.

There are some tracks on this record I don't appreciate much now as a college student in my early 20s, but I can guarantee as I get older and more mature, I will find this album more relatable and more enjoyable.

They swing like only the second line can. All in all, it's a cause for celebration (and fifty more years of Preservation Hall).

Murs and Fashawn have done what few collaborative albums do: create a complete and cohesive album, that actually lives up to lofty expectations.

This is a very solid debut release and well worth the wait.

It's a project more likely to fit comfortably into what will likely grow into a large and varied discography than deliver instant lightning in a bottle.

All things considered, Young Krizzle delivers.

Like her fellow countrywomen, Is Your Love Big Enough? has a core of strong songwriting that helps La Havas elbow her way into a field packed with talented women drawing from the deep well of American soul.

The LP's best moments are when Pusha digs deeper.

So Ritual Union may not be a perfect album, but it is charming, intriguing and rewarding enough to ensure that you'll overlook any flaws and keep coming back to give it another spin. And that's something very special indeed.

Enjoyment of Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them will probably be directly correlated to the listener's ability to separate it from Below the Heavens. That in itself is a testament to the talent of the two artists involved, who have more than any flowers that come their way.

Every utterance on the album is packed full of meaning. Listeners will surely be left gleaning new insights from this collection after every rotation.

While this album definitely has its FFWD moments, the Beasties' lighthearted approach still manages to hand the smack down to crab rappers and school the bratty new kids on the block in one fell swoop.

While it might sound more suitable for spins on a clunky, stereophonic hi-fi, this stone soul picnic is a breath of fresh air in the here and now amidst the throng of techno R&B androids scaling the charts.

While this EP is a rather nice progression for Dear, and truly shows the diversity of his music, it also will give listeners something to wait for when his project comes out.

Homeboy Sandman's latest offering is worth a purchase. The style he provides through-out the 6 tracks on Subject: Matter shows off his intelligence–something a lot of Hip-Hop is missing these days. His story-telling abilities and vivid imagery go hand-in-hand on every track.

This time however they gave us a good album, something pleasant, different and raw to vibe on. Definitely give this a spin.

This is perhaps the most danceable "smart" record ever. Or, maybe this is the smartest dance record ever…? ...Whatever it is, it works... beautifully.

The Defamation is one of those records that's just too easy to love; its best moments are simply undeniable.

Perhaps it's best enjoyed as an album of two halves--with funk on the A side, and a more introspective flipside. Either way, Sinkane's trip to the Red Planet is more than worth signing up for.

It's not a perfect album, nor is it always easy listening, but its imperfections make it even more of a human album from a rapper who's at its best at his most personal.

Yet, for all of GaGa's flamboyance, there was a humanity in her most memorable work that inspired a devotion in her legions of fans that went far beyond vigorous dance floor workouts. On Born This Way the quirky vulnerability is often lost behind the massive productions.

While not explicitly a concept or homage album, Endlessly captures a retro American sound reminiscent of sock hops and drive-ins so subtly, that the album could have been called Effortlessly.

Overall Killer Mike and Pl3dge is focused, hard hitting, a little pissed off at the way things are, and overall a breath of fresh air.

Ali touches on every heavy topic under the sun but it's the more personal anecdotes, like flying home from Europe to attend his Dad's funeral or coming off tour to find his son neglected and injured that hit hardest and make Mourning in America worth copping.

The Lonely Island continues to remind us that taking life too seriously isn't nearly as fun as putting bags over our heads during fellatio or shitting our pants during bank robberies.

Ultimately, the collection plays like exactly what it is: a fun side project that re-affirms the core values of vintage hip-hop at a time when the genre too often seems to value everything but vintage fun.

Perhaps his greatest achievement here lies in the construction, an LP that balances the rappers with the beats into a seamless record.

Overall, this is a pretty interesting effort that is very genre-bending in its approach.

Monkeytown is a must for fans of techno, electro, and/or pop.