The Carters - Everything Is Love

Everything Is Love relies too heavily on its star power to feel anywhere near as consequential as Lemonade or 4:44.

JAY-Z - 4:44

Mr. Carter kills his ego and spills the beans on his most intimate album yet.

Apathy - "The Curse of the Kennedys"

Off a dusty piano sample and a generous Jay-Z vocal cut, Connecticut's Apathy spits a series of bars dealing with the Kennedy family. He muses on various follies and conspiracies that have been following the family for decades, and does it with his usual level of focus and vivid imagery.

Apathy's got a new album on the way titled Connecticut Casual. Pre-order it here.

Just Blaze & Bauuer - "Higher" ft. Jay Z

One of this year's biggest bangers gets some pretty cool visuals thanks for director Nabil. Not much else to say other than I hope this successful single leads to more collaborations from Baauer and Just Blaze in the future. Check a review for "Harlem Shake" here.

Jay-Z - Magna Carta... Holy Grail

Jay-Z returns to putting out rap albums with Maga Carta... Holy Grail, and raps about as well as you'd expect at this point in his career over some pretty fresh production.

WATCH THE REVIEW

Rick Ross- God Forgives, I Don't

On God Forgives, I Don't, Florida rapper Rick Ross drops one drug lord delusion after another against a backdrop of beats that sound as lavash as Ross' persistent fantasies.

WATCH THE REVIEW

J. Cole- Cole World: The Sideline Story

On his first official full-length album on Roc Nation, rapper and producer J. Cole takes the talents he's been perfecting on past mixtapes and goes big time with them. WATCH THE REVIEW

The Throne- Watch the Throne (Kanye West & Jay-Z)

On Watch the Throne, Kanye and Jay-Z team up for a celebration I'm sure their fans are going to love. The heavyweight MCs celebrate their relevancy, fame, and popularity with one track after another--occasionally stopping to make an introspective or societal observation. While the idea of the album is great, not every song is as fantastic as the next. No matter which songs seem appealing on this album, there are about to be some that pale in comparison since this album is a little scatterbrained when it comes to beats and lyrics. Kanye and Jay-Z take this thing in numerous directions, relying on their celebrity status to carry the album forward.

Kanye and Jay-Z relying on their star power isn't necessarily a bad thing, though. I've loved a lot of music these guys have put out in the past, but my love stops there. I'm not in love with these guys as celebs or personalities, and I think--on some level--maybe a listener has to be in order to get complete enjoyment out of this album.

WATCH THE REVIEW