Madlib and Freddie Gibbs are both total pros who knew exactly what they wanted out of Piñata, went out, and did it.

There’s no desire to transcend West Coast inner-city values, and YG does traverse the hyphy and nighttime sounds with aplomb. But the thrills do have a comedown at some point. For the album as a whole, it’s the potentially ephemeral replay value because of its on-the-nose focus on 20-somethings mayhem.

Mastermind is a powerful album, an album with an identity, and one that has some solid songs and a handful of hits. Ross delivers just what he promised.

Satellite Flight captures Cudi’s adventure back home to the moon and does it brilliantly.

G I R L not only represents a proper representation of his creativity, but, with high-profile guest spots (Timberlake, Cyrus, Daft Punk) and a number of radio-ready singles, it should also be a success on the charts and further his reputation as a pop icon.

ScHoolboy’s presence on Oxymoron is poised and confident.

No song strays too far from the narrative or the occupied soundspace, and with each passing breath, Isaiah Rashad becomes a viable threat to leave an indelible mark similar to the one’s left by the southern rap Gods he follows so devoutly.

Lord Steppington has it’s fair share of bright moments and even stronger swaths of production.

There aren’t many who can effortlessly make the transition from mixtape rapper to hitmaker. For Kid Ink, it is proving to be an incredibly smooth one.

Marciano adroitly finesses Marci Beaucoup, with the sort of smug, witty, stream of conscious brilliance that is one of his more endearing attributes on the mic. Couple that with his own tremendous production, and the bevy of talented guest-spots on here, and Marci Beaucoup is the perfect gift for any hi-hop connoisseur.

Because The Internet shows off his full array of talent (writer, musician, comedian) and makes him stand out from the rest.

7 Days of Funk is a fun and refreshing experience--one of Snoop’s most enjoyable projects since Tha Blue Carpet Treatment. George Clinton would be proud of this fresh take on funk music.

Knock Madness is indeed a stepping stone album, one that can only produce even better music in the future.

The emotion and power is not missing from MMLP2--but you’re getting one with more perspective, a version which has seen 13 more years and has a different outlook on some of the same topics that he first visited in 2000.

Pusha T accomplishes a lot here, crafting a record that is big in concept but is still rooted in the longstanding hip-hop tradition that lyricism is king.

Brown displays real bravery in his willingness to merge the sacred with the profane, the independent with the arena-ready, the old with the new.

With the themes, moods and issues displayed here, Drizzy has shared another moment of his life, and now the only thing left to prove is if his crossover powers can last him a decade from now.

Despite the numerous false starts for a release date, Hall Of Fame has finally arrived and it’s well worth the wait.

Stay Trippy is a record that knows to stay within the lane that it’s carved for itself. Big-budget stripper rap has rarely sounded so fresh.

It’s not always focused, and it’s not always perfect, but that’s what real freedom feels like.

Whether Tech wants the bigger fame or not is unclear, but it’s safe to say the growth he displays here is one step nearer. He’s strange, he’s provocative, but the lesser shock value on this album marks it as his true debut to a larger audience.

Fraud’s production matches his laconic delivery in a way that other producers’ work just hasn’t. This makes Saaab Stories a much more cohesive mixtape than it would have been otherwise.

Summer Knights is for the hip-hip heads and less for the kids that are Joey’s usual teenaged fanbase.

He may be coming to grips with the fact that there are limits to what you can do at the top, as his clash with Billboard regarding his Samsung deal showed, but that doesn’t stop him--lyrically, promotionally, or otherwise--from trying to push the boundaries out a little further.

Matching his lyrical abilities with polished production and radio-ready hooks, The Gifted sees Wale inching towards hip-hop’s upper echelon, while still exhibiting the hunger of a young MC on the rise.

With Yeezus clocking in at a short 40 minutes, Kanye achieves his goal of creating a stripped-down, minimalist project; there’s nothing extra or out of place here. More importantly, Kanye makes it abundantly clear that he’s still got a lot to say, and a lot of new ways to say it.

Mac Miller’s sophomore effort is a surprising and focused album from an artist fed up with his public perception. He does enough here to prove his point.

Ultimately, Acid Rap’s biggest victory is living up to it’s own hype and Chance’s careful packaging of his artistry.