THE GIFT Kanye West aces 'A Dream' which was one of the first Jay-Z songs I heard with Jay using Biggie's verse from 'Juicy'. I'm surprised that so many people dislike it. After the bad 'Hovi Baby' he then uses Dre's 'The Watcher' beat that anyone would sound great over. Add Rakim to the mix and you've got another strong song. He then jacks Eminem's title and 2pac's song with '03 Bonnie & Clyde'. Have you noticed a pattern so far? The Neptunes, from when they were hitting more than they missed provide the beat for 'Excuse Me Miss' that isn't a bad chick/pop rap tune. Big Boi steals the show on 'Poppin' Tags' and this is a song that is a perfect example as to why Jay-Z is overrated. All of the featuring rappers are so much more engaging with more uniqueness as a rapper than Jay. The beat isn't brilliant from Kanye, but the rapping carries it. Again The Neptunes provide a nice funky tune for 'F*** All Nite'. ''The Bounce' then features a very early uncredited Kanye verse over a signature electro-hop Timbaland beat. Overall, with Jay stealing ideas, verses and beats from the past, the production holds up well, and there is easily less stuff that I find straight up boring or dislike compared to many of Jay's albums. 'What They Gonna Do' is the only thing I find to be really poor. 3.45/5 Best Tracks: A Dream, The Watcher 2, '03 Bonnie & Clyde, Poppin' Tags THE CURSE I could change the chorus, but the backing vocals from Michelle Rosario and the eerie beat ain't a bad way to begin with 'Diamond Is Forever'. Following that is a remix of 'U Don't Know' from The Blueprint. So on disc one he was jacking, and on disc two he is remixing his own songs from his previous album... I like M.O.P., but I've never loved the Just Blaze beat to be honest. 'Some People Hate' is the first song to really catch my attention with Kanye West in the zone providing the beat. The brag rap gets a bit tiring from Jay, but the following 'Blueprint²', that includes lines at Nas, also has good production from the lesser known Charlemagne. I could've done without the, "I got my mojo back baby, oh behave," line though. Really Jay? It's another case of a wack hook like the previous Blueprint had. The production on 'Nigga Please' and 'to a greater extent '2 Many Hoes' doesn't grab me and except for 'Bitches & Sisters', that bangs, the disk never reaches any high moments again as it concludes with 'What They Gonna Do Part II'. 3.03/5 Best Tracks: Diamond Is Forever, Some People Hate, Blueprint², Bitches & Sisters Overall, the storytelling on tracks like 'Meet the Parents' are better on D2, but like with most of Jay's albums the production fails to impress me enough. I seem to have the reverse feelings on Jay's projects. I hate some of what people rate highly and enjoy albums such as this and 'The Dynaasty' that are among his worst rated albums. 3-3.5/5

Firstly to the singles, 'Suit & Tie' is lackluster; Jay offers nothing. There is a dearth of effort in some of his features and he doesn't 'rap' enough anymore instead just saying some rhymes that anyone with a voice could. Even without Jay though, I don't think that the song has anything going for it and he certainly doesn't ruin it. I've said this before in reviews as well, but despite being a hip hop fan first and foremost, often a quick 16 on an R&B or pop record is unmemorable. 'Mirrors' is better, and the best song here, but it is very much a 'Cry Me a River' clone. Elsewhere, one of the other stronger cuts, 'Tunnel Vision', really sounds like something that could have been on 'FutureSex/LoveSounds' as do a couple songs here. Others like 'That Girl' are more ol' school/throwback neo-soul influenced. On JT, I'm sure he thinks that he creates music better than it actually is. He goes for these epic eight minute songs, but they are too long and they don't change up as much as they do on 'FutureSex/LoveSounds' that worked better. Reviewer Jon Caramanica summed it up well - "seven-minute songs that masquerade as artistry". 'Mirrors' is the perfect example. 5:24 is where it should end and all it needs to be. (I find 'FutureSex/LoveSounds' to have a similar problem where the interludes connected to the end of songs are better than what comes before). 10 songs looks good and concise, but the length of the songs ruin the fluency. 'Strawberry Bubblegum' is the worst offender in this case, and probably the worst song here as well, with 'Let the Groove Get In' suffering the same fate. All in all if you love JT you'll enjoy this. I've never been much of a fan. I don't think that his voice offers much compared to the best in R&B/Pop. While I don't think he is a poor vocalist, there is something about it that I don't rate. He seems to stay within the same range for too long and it sounds a bit more forced/unnatural than it should. Almost like it's all falsetto. Elsewhere, as touched on already, some songs are too long, lacking buildup and get boring or are lyrically corny. Timbaland does a fine job with the production, but he isn't the inventive producer he once was. I don't feel like I haven't heard a lot of this before, and some of his ad-libbing can get tiresome. It would've been much better as a 50-55 minute album as opposed to a 70 minute one. Best Tracks: Don't Hold the Wall, Tunnel Vision, Mirrors

This album is more laidback and less hardcore than Snoop's previous album, 'No Limit Top Dogg', and like it, is better than the two that followed 'Doggystyle', but I feel this is still a step down from 'No Limit'. The second half of the album particularly really falls away and there isn't a lot to make you want to keep listening. As with 'No Limit' also, the Dre produced tracks ('Hennesey n Buddah', 'True Lies' & 'Lay Low') are among the best here and continue their good chemistry together. Meech Wells does well here also with his two beats ('Go Away' & 'Issues'), making for good songs. Overall, it's far too inconsistent like most of Snoop's albums, but there are a few tracks which may provide some longer term enjoyment. Best Tracks: Snoop Dogg (What's My Name Pt. 2), True Lies, Wrong Idea, Go Away, Set It Off, Lay Low, Issues, Y'All Gone Miss Me

There was a lot of hype around Drake before the release of this album, and with the little I'd heard from him I couldn't understand why. I found him fairly annoying and the whole 'hashtag rap' way of rapping that Drake seems to do more than most, eg "And I just say I wrote it for your girlfriends....... Kelsey Grammer" is likewise. If you don't like pop rap you ain't going to enjoy this album one bit. A lot of it is very soft, not only in the beats but lyrically as well. However, having not much positive to say about Drake vocally, some of the beats and features really work and save this album for me. Take my favourite 'Unforgettable' for example. The Aaliyah sample works great and I'm feeling Jeezy on the track also which add to the track considerable. Definitely not for everyone, but surprisingly I've found enough I like for a reasonable score despite not liking Drake. Best Tracks: Fireworks, Over, Unforgettable, Light Up

The first song is too long with the beat not being interesting enough. From there, it's pretty solid until 'Mo Fire' which is a turn off, but thankfully you don't have to wait long for another good track, with 'Best Rapper Alive' being one of the better songs here, allbeit being titled very inaccurately. 'Lock & Load' is filler, 'Oh No' is a touch better with 'Grown Man' being likewise. 'Hit 'Em Up' drops it back again with the album following a bit a pattern. We get some more stand-outs toward the back end though, and the album finishes well, with 'Shooter' offering a nice change up to what is a bit of a same sounding album. In terms of consistency, I find it fairly similar to his previous album, Tha Carter II, however, this does contain a few more standouts to go back to which gives it a slightly better rating from me. I could understand loving this if you dig Lil Wayne more than I do. 3.5-3/5 Best Tracks: Fly In, Best Rapper Alive, Grown Man, Carter II, Hustler Musik, Shooter, I'm a D-Boy, Feel Me, Fly Out