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

Nelly pushes crossover so far on a few of these tracks a few of his more hardcore fans may be turned off, but frankly since this is a concept album songs like "N Dey Say" are what I expected from "Suit."

On the lyrical side of things, 50 seems to have his edge back. Whether he's orchestrating a robbery or bucking (pun intended) shots at his foes, it seems apparent that the criticisms got to him. For the hard core fans, the softer songs are skippable, but I can't hold that against him too much.

So there you have it, a finely produced, polished, and performed album from one of the game's most hated emcees.

Well it’s a better Drake album than “Honestly, Nevermind” so that’s a plus. It’s not a better 21 album than “I Am > I Was” or “Issa” though so that’s a minus. If you split the difference you wind up with an average album. There are a few joints I’d care to play more than once.

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.

As fun as R.O.O.T.S. may be for a short while, artistically, this album is almost without merit, with pointless lyrics and over-sampling.

On the tracks of I Am the West that work the best, he's still got the vintage gruff demeanor, lyrical ferocity and hard hitting beats to claim some significant ownership of the Pacific shoreline. At other times he desperately desires to have a contemporary sound, and that's where things fall apart, but those mistakes can be overlooked or easily skipped compared to the quality of the overall presentation.

Though “Blame It On Baby” is fairly short at only 33 and a half minutes, the bop of songs like the Nils & Wheezy produced “Talk About It” and the title track from DJ Kid and friends prove you can hit skip and land on something good anywhere.

If there had been some big singles, fewer guests and more of Jayceon being himself, this could well have been a real classic.

He can literally sleepwalk his way through a Trap House album. He does here.

Shady XV seems like it was made for: diehard fans of Marshall; and fresh kids who don't know no better. Otherwise, you'll probably have forgotten about the album by 2015, and 95% of the label's energy will soon be diverted to the next Eminem solo LP all over again.

Rick Ross is an entertainer and Black Market is for the most part an entertaining album.

Juice wants to get in touch with his feelings but then drowns them in a gallon of syrup.

It isn't a flawless EP, but it works more often than it doesn't and is proof that there isn't that much difference between genres as we sometimes pretend there is.

Free Weezy Album is on the whole decidedly mixed. Weezy still has his swagger, and with a little more effort he could add some substance to go along with it.

If you like the Cannibal Ox sound, and want to hear 90s NYC grime done 2011 style, then OX 2010 is worth the investment.

If this is the Wu-Tang of the 2010's, we need more albums like it.

Put a little pop in your life and what you'll discover is that underneath the materialistic veneer Nelly's got a good delivery, sharp lyrics and impeccable breath control, which would make him #1 no matter WHERE he was from.

Goodie Mob sounds newly rejuvenated, almost vivified by the tremendous odds they faced coming back instead of impeded by it.

This isn't the album to introduce the uninitiated to his unique and often oddball style and flow, but long time fans will appreciate this slice of history as proof that Dumile really does rap his own concerts and doesn't send out impostors under his famed Metal Face.

Snoop gets the credit he is due and deserves for coming back strong on Malice N Wonderland and managing not to lose his edge despite all his success. It won't go down as the most important album of his career, but it's not one that you should pass on either.

Throughout “Chixtape 5” though I keep finding songs that pay tribute to hits by other people, and in each case Tory Lanez is not the rapper on the track. ... He’s just straight up crooning. He almost raps on “If You Gotta” featuring Fabolous but can’t resist the urge to sing. Unfortunately this leads F-A-B to imitate him instead of vice versa. The album’s slicker than the tile floors behind the counter at Wendy’s though.

He's a hollow rapper with no unique trait or style. He drifts through songs such as "Love You/How I'm On It" and "Young King" with no real concept of flow or knowing when to change tone.

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 is a star studded line-up with Drake ("To the Max"), Future ("I Can't Even Lie"), Nicki Minaj ("Nobody"), and a few of your "grimy" favorites like Fat Joe and Raekwon ("Billy Ocean"). So are you going to enjoy all 80+ minutes of this double album that COULD have been a single disc? Unless you're not a fan of Migos and Travis Scott, yes.

Enough things are right that you can't go wrong with The Last Kiss, but the key is that the album makes you want Jadakiss to stay in the game instead of hanging up his sneakers and walking off the court.

Taking into account the fact that there is probably 15-20 minutes worth of actual Kool Keith verses on this release it is completely unacceptable that this is being passed off as a full album.