Lupe's spitting on some of the tracks here like on 'Mural' is one of the reasons why I love hip hop. The lines and content Lupe is talking about is also going to take further listens to completely understand everything the dude is talking about, which is rare for anything remotely mainstream in hip hop these days. The other side of this is the production which I can't say I love. Pop-rap could almost be a primary genre here. I was really worried after the first half a dozen or so songs with the "soft shit" as Lupe referred to such songs in a recent interview with Sway. The 'Dots Lines' beat... yuck. It evens itself out as the album ventures on but all in all I'd take Lupe over the beats on the much maligned 'F&L2' over these. Other criticisms: I don't like Ab Soul's voice; the song would probably be my favourite without him, 'Choppers' is too long, and the beat isn't A1. Although I didn't understand the hate for the aforementioned album, it is good to see Lupe receiving the critical acclaim again that his talent deserves. It will be interesting to see what Lupe can bring in the future with complete creative control because judging by his comments in the interview I mentioned earlier even this seemed to be compromised. 3.5-3/5 Best Tracks: Mural, Madonna (And Other Mothers in the Hood), They.Resurrect.Over.New

Once upon a time I'd checked out every single English rap album in the top 200 hip hop charts here, so I thought I'd go back to it and see what I've been missing out on in recent times. In this album's case, not a lot. I don't like anything here much. As a rapper, Denzel isn't vocally distinctive or powerful, his anger doesn't feel authentic and it's full of cliche trap adlibs that he himself seems to hypocritically criticize on 'Percs'. I can play this without hating life and only get the urge to hit skip a couple of times due to some repetitiveness in the tracks and when Zel is annoying, but there is nothing I'll go back to.

This has been given a fairly good rep by many people the last week or so, but I don't think most of it compares to some other R&B we have heard this year. It starts well and finishes well with 'Neighbours Know My Name' and 'Yo Side of the Bed' (which reminds me of 'Purple Rain'), but there are quite a few average tracks in between. When these tracks do reach the climax it's not enough, and if they do, getting there isn't enjoyable enough. The good tracks provide entertainment though that are mentioned below. It's definitely worth a listen if you like his past material but I would recommend Ginuwine's, J. Holiday's, Chrisette Michele's and Joe's 2009 R&B albums to name a few before 'Ready'. Best Tracks: Neighbors Know My Name, Be Where You Are, Love Lost, Yo Side of the Bed, Black Roses

Better than his last album and one of the best real gangster rap albums I've heard in a while. I'm not calling Daz the most talented lyricist, as most of his songs are just about being a G,-but he does have a flow, voice and style which I've always enjoyed and that separates him from others. Coming off the chorus' on certain songs he sounds great. You won't love every song, but I recommend it for the best ones if you're into this/his type of music. The final track, 'Dat's Dat Nigga' goes particularly hard! Beats: ★★★★☆ Bars: ★★★☆ Best Tracks: Rat a Tat Tat, Strizap, Dangerous, Dat's Dat Nigga

Everyone knows 'Regulate', it is probably a track that got many people into hip hop, and is as much Nate's song as it is Warren G's. Apart from not having quite as big an influence on the genre, the same can be said for the following song. From there though, apart from 'This D.J.', (the three singles from this album were appropriately chosen) that is another classic, the album never reaches great heights. Another issue is that although he produced the whole thing, vocally I don't think Warren put his stamp on it. There are a lot of features and 'Super Soul Sis' doesn't feature Warren at all. Nevertheless, while I have been torn between 3.5 and 4 more so than with many other albums, the three classics and that the quality is never too low, means that this '94 release just scrapes in for four outta five. Best Tracks: Regulate, Do You See, This D.J.