Eight long years. Eight long years. Released during his current incarceration for gun possession and tax evasion, PIL 2 was Ja Rule’s first album since 2004’s R.U.L.E. Damn, that’s hard to believe. Ja decided to stick to the old script and re-connect with producer Aurelius Seven who handled the entire project. Too bad this beatmaker has lost his touch. Even the somewhat enjoyable opener “Real Life Fantasty”, where Ja laments the loss of fellow Murder Inc. artists, sounds too choppy. […]

Nas’ seed is a big girl now. And for his single “Daughters”, he reflects on his own child’s growth and development. Backed by No I.D.’s soul samples, Esco  evaluates his parenting skills with honesty (“Plus she’s seen me switching women, pops was on some pimp shit”), confusion (“One day she’s ya little princess, next day she talking boy business”) and even a lil’ regret (“I’m too loose, I’m too cool with her”). Carmen would disagree, but hey, father knows best.

French Montana isn’t the best rapper. But when grouped with others, the results can be promising. Such is the case with his single, “Pop That”. Propelled by Luke’s “I Wanna Rock” and a funky drum pattern, French and his affiliates update a rump shaking classic. If the sample wasn’t memorable enough, Weezy’s “Suck a nigga dick for some Trukfit” line probably was.

Azealia Banks kept it short on 1991. But depending on who you ask, she probably could’ve kept it to herself. Azealia’s efforts are admirable, but her EP is a messy integration of dance and hip-hop. Filling the void of Snap! and Crystal Waters is tough, but unlike her predecessors, Azealia’s lyrics are convoluted and shielded behind mindless instrumentals. 1991 was a good year, but we’ll leave this one in 2012.

Diggy’s my nigga, I hate it had to be him. But Unexpected Arrival was dead on arrival. Run’s son showed great potential on his “Made You Look” debut but his first album fails to ignite. He stumbles out the gate on “Hello World”, loses our interest on “I Need To Know” and guest Jadakiss can’t save the painful “88.” Young Simmons asserts himself better on “Two Up” and “4 Letter Word” and even adds some singing in the mix. But […]

Ace Hood’s still hungry and returns with the second installment of his Starvation series. Guests include French Montana, Meek Mill, Plies as well as Young Chop, The Renegades and more on the production side.

Truth be told, 2 Chainz made no mistake to push his duet with Drake as his debut’s lead single. Over Mike Will Made It’s smooth production, 2 Chainz keeps his boisterous tone, but slow walks through his unorthodox flow (“I take ya girl and kidnap her/Feed her to my mattress/A skeleton in my closet, it’s probably one of these dead ass rappers”). Champagne Papi’s guest verse may be the center of attention, but it’s his infectious hook that’s truly irresistible. […]

Papoose is gearing up to release his long-delayed album Nacriema Dream on March 5th. Here’s the video to his single featuring the Gully God, Mavado.

These days, posse cuts may seem oversaturated and underwhelming, but Cruel Summer‘s lead single was the complete opposite. Over a chopped up hook and a Fuzzy Jones soundbwoy-sample, Yeezy’s collective individually delivered. Big Sean takes off from the starting line with his repetitive flow while the metaphors from Pusha T soon followed behind (“I’m red leather, I’m cocaine, I’m Rick James, ho”). As the Scarface theme music slowly creeps in, Kanye pulls up with his boastful raps. However, it’s 2 Chainz’ closing verse that’s the […]

Big K.R.I.T. and Mike Will Made It hooked up for the first time down at Tree Sound Studios in Atlanta. K.R.I.T. says that he plans to feature him on his next album, but before then he’s releasing his next mixtape, K.R.I.T.