Despite occasional bouts of underwhelming songwriting, Ephorize is a standout showcase of emphatic cuts laid over a wide variety of sound beds, perfect for pervs and prudes alike to bang.

Invasion Of Privacy sounds incredibly well thought-out. The beats were strategically chosen, the lyrics and hooks carefully constructed. Invasion Of Privacy was not slapped together, yet punches anyone in the face for doubting Cardi B. The odds were stacked against her, and she won.

With the exception of a few fillers, Legends Never Die is a truly compelling entry in the two-decade discography of R.A. the Rugged Man.

What makes this album so great is Statik’s ability to coagulate the old with the new.

Fashawn’s lyrical assaults are just as potent as his moving commentary and his core fans would like to hear more.

Prima Donna doesn’t have one single track that carries the project and this is obviously done on purpose. It’s an effort better experienced as a whole rather than its parts.

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.

In his most recent solo endeavor, Control System, Soul craftily proves that he is indeed a potent weapon on a team full of heavy artillery.

While HSC2 is a solid and enjoyable album, we hope that our favorite scientists will tinker with a slightly different, more exciting formula moving forward.

Truly, a thrilling upgrade of signature East Coast delivery in the new age and one of the best albums of the year to date.

Although the music is undeniably the most exciting part of the tape, A$AP does little to get in the way, oftentimes, enhancing the beats with his Bone Thugs-N-Harmony inspired flows.

Despite a few redundant tracks and a lack of cohesion, Honkey Kong paints a good picture of the impressive output Apathy is capable of in 2011.

Pretty Girls Like Trap Music is an explosive collection of songs that showcases the colorful rhyme animal at the top of his game.

Bravely, Boogie has given us something true, something we can feel. Even if it hurts.

Of course, he isn’t breaking totally new ground but still manages to make Captain California one of his best projects to date. At no point on this 45-minute rap fest does Murs ever come across as unsure, unauthentic or unaware of who is he is as a rapper or man.

While this project falls short of his more seminal offerings, 4:44 is among JAY-Z’s more meaningful bodies of work to date and showcases another dimension of the greatest rapper alive.

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

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.

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

Maybe influenced by Marshall himself, Royce has learned to channel his loquacious voracity into a controlled rage, and the end result is perhaps his most complete body of work.

Regardless of whether or not the album will spawn a generation of imitators like his previous releases, Compton is a proper capstone to Dre’s legendary career.

With honesty, fiery cadence and a flow more commonly heard on a shock jock or rock star, Haze holds nothing back. Free from features, the listener can fully follow along with Haze’s journey uninterrupted.

With all of its paper-and skirt-chasing, The Last Rocket may not be a giant leap for mankind but it’s more than a small step for establishing Takeoff as something other than the Migo left off of “Bad and Boujee.”

Blank Face LP isn’t Schoolboy Q’s first great album, but it’s the first one where he lives up to his utmost potential.

Overall, Music For My Friends is another solid offering from Skyzoo that hip-hop purists will appreciate.

Don’t Smoke Rock is another great entry into Smoke DZA’s ever-expansive discography.

This might is his best effort after a string of uneven post-Paper Trail albums. It's probably not as much of an evolution of T.I.'s style as he claims, but it's a more-than-worthy addition to the rapper's canon.

Life Is Good is arguably Nas's best album since Stillmatic.