Z-Ro the Crooked is one of the better artists going round in the hip hop genre these days and usually puts out quality stuff. 'The Rain' features some of that but not really near past Z-Ro material and a fair bit of this album is just so-so. Overall, the production reminds me of past Ro material, maybe not so much 'Crack', but stuff before that. It's fairly raw with lots of slow/emotional vibe type beats. The majority of the subject matter is your normal Z-Ro topics about the hood and the bad things that come with it. The collab artist Chill is fine, can't really complain, never heard much from him before I don't think. You'd rather a solo Z-Ro album though. For fans of Z-Ro I'd still recommend this as there will probably be something you'll find. It's a listenable album with that Z-Ro style given to it but it's not near other album's he has released. Still though, nothing too bad and some good. Best Tracks: Mama’s Lil Boy, Mama Don’t Cry, Soulja, False Profits, Rain or Die

Most of the hardcore hip hop here is pretty bangin' (mentioned below), but again the poppier tracks just ain't anything special from Twista and severely slow the middle of the album down. The pop rap single 'Make a Movie' ain't bad, but how many songs have there been about making a sex movie?... You can't blame Twista for trying to earn a couple more bucks making tracks for the radio, but I think if he created an album full of tracks like 'Up to Speed' and 'Darkness', with harder/darker beats and him spitting fire you'd have a great album. Inconsistent, but there are a few tracks to go back to if you enjoy Twista's ferocious tongue. Best Tracks: Darkness, Up to Speed, I Do, 3 Minute Murder.

From the jump, the production is an improvement over Em's debut. 'Kill You' suffers a touch in the lyrics for me. The scribble effect on 'Stan' really should be a few DBs lower, otherwise, it's a unique song that the brilliant Dido adds to. 'Who Knew' is decent, 'The Way I Am' is one of Em's strongest songs with a strong performance from him and good production. The single 'The Real Slim Shady' is a lot more catchy than the lead single and similarly themed 'My Name Is' from his debut. From there it's just a consistently good listen with a strong second half. Eminem sounds like Tim Dog on 'Amityville' with some intense vocals, as we see on 'Kim' as well! 'B**** Please II' is a standout thanks to the amazing production. I think 'The Eminem Show' features the highest number of his greatest songs but this is a level above his debut. 3.5-4. Beats: ★★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★☆ Best Tracks: Stan, The Way I Am, The Real Slim Shady, Marshall Mathers, Amityville, B**** Please II

This and K. Young's 'Free Will' are the best R&B albums that I've heard this year. Q. Parker doesn't go for those dance-pop or hip hop crossover tracks (apart for a feature from Styles P) that many mainstream artists go for, most of these are just smooth contemporary R&B ballads. The best songs are brilliant catchy R&B. Best Tracks: Show You How, All About You, Yes, Cupid (acoustic remake), Just Us.

I remember hearing 'Jesus Walks' on a music video show one weekend and I was immediate hooked. I also recall spending some time on the net afterwards looking for it to listen to it again. While Kanye didn't/doesn't have the best voice or rapping talent, the church/choir influenced production is brilliant which I've always loved and I ended up purchasing the album. Once past the annoying intro and other skits throughout the album, (my advice to anyone who hasn't heard this album would be to delete the skits out of your playlist), you are mostly left with a mix of thirteen great tracks. The skits criticize college, which is fine, but I don't think they are that engaging for repeated listens. The couple of exceptions, and the tracks I'm not infatuated with are, 'The New Workout Plan' which drags on, and the massive hit 'Slow Jamz' which I never got the great deal with. Another Twista hit, 'DJ Play a Love Song' is a better song. Apart from those, everything is pretty-pretty good. It's one of those albums I've been torn between a 4 and a 4.5 out of 5, and have maybe leaned toward the four at times as Kanye ain't a great rapper, but given the amount of brilliant tracks, which most albums would be happy to contain one of them, it gets a 4.5/5. And they DCFS, some of 'em dyslexic / They favourite 50 Cent song '12 Questions' :) Best Tracks: We Don't Care, Jesus Walks, Never Let Me Down, Two Words, Through the Wire, Family Business