How this doesn't get cited as the time when Wayne fell off instead of his next album is beyond me. The rumours of Curren$y and others ghostwriting his rhymes before this album seem rational because he went downhill around the same time. The lyrics are more unfocused/random/bad, whatever you want to call them than before, and even the beats and hooks are weak. How in God's name 'Lollipop' did what it did, is again, beyond me. It's an embarrassing song. This sold a lot and the singles did well, but that doesn't make the album a classic in my eyes. Critically it's not good enough. A couple of alright tunes, but all in all it's a poor pop rap album. Best Tracks: 3 Peat

I'm not a big fan of Lil Wayne. How C3 won a Grammy and sold so many copies I'll never know, but this album is fairly solid. It's before he became more arrogant and being more abstract/stoopid with his rhymes/voice.. He flows better than he does these days as well. I'm not saying he has lost ability, but tracks like 'Bring It Back', where he does flow well, for someone who hasn't heard much pre-2008 Lil Wayne, it feels like I haven't heard him do that. The beats mostly by Mannie Fresh are quality, with some having some southern soul to 'em. I don't think there is a five star song here, which stops it getting a higher rating, but it's solid pretty much from beginning to end. Worth a listen. Best Tracks: Walk In, BM J.R., Inside, Bring It Back, Walk Out

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