Plies third album in 16 months follows a similar production path as his previous two. Possibly this one is a tad rawer though. Lyrically you have your tracks about cash ('Plenty Money', 'I Chase Paper'), your obligatory chick songs ('Want It', 'Need It', 'Spend the Night'), brag rap, gooning and gangsterism ('Me & My Goons', 'Fuck U Gon Do Bout It', 'All Black', 'Pants Hang Low') and then you have the best tracks on the album concerning family and race ('Gotta Be', '2nd Chance', 'Family Straight'). Overall, it's the same old Plies however with a touch more diverse subject matter, a more consistent album and less use of the N-word. It's very easy to hate this guy and I can understand why people do but I enjoy enough of what he does. Best Tracks: Gotta Be, Family Straight, 2nd Chance, Spend the Night, I Chase Paper, Pants Hang Low

This is fairly average until the second half where the songs with lots of features like 'Reverse' and 'Journey Through the Life' up the ante. 'I Don't Wanna Know' version one, 'Best Friend', is also a good track toward the conclusion of the album. Diddy can be a hard rapper to listen to at times, so the features are always a large focus when listening to his work. 'Satisfy You' with R. Kelly goes well enough, the Jay-Z featured 'Do You Like It...Do You Want It...' is very poor, and 'Angels With Dirty Faces' where Bizzy Bone contributes his talent is the most energetic song. On the whole, there are mediocre moments, but I like enough songs to feel like this is a touch hated on. Best Tracks: Satisfy You, Angels With Dirty Faces, Reverse, Real Niggas, Journey Through the Life, Best Friend

It's always nice to enjoy an album when you don't expect anything because you have never heard of the artist. This is an example of that. 'For Your Consideration' is a quality album that I probably would have rated higher if it didn't have some average choruses. Simsimsallabim! has a particularly annoying one. Production-wise, it's mostly soulful beats (a touch Kanye West-ish) which are rapped over with a good flow by P. Casso. Best Tracks: For Your Consideration, Mr Hollywood, Thinkin' A Lot, What You Gonna Do?, One Of These Nights, Ghost Story, I Gotta Be Me

I only got into Apollo Brown] (the producer of this album) recently through 'The Reset', which I thought was banging, and had long-lasting appeal. This album is similar, in that while there may not be any extraordinary tracks, it keeps you going back to it. I think it lacks that two or three more distinctive featured rappers or beats to change up the feeling of the album, but it is a very cohesive release, lyrically largely focusing on the current rap industry. Best Tracks: Frozen, How We Live, The Melody, Desperation

Another few months, another Apollo Brown project. If you have heard The Left's 'Gas Mask' or Apollo Brown's solo albums, the sound this gives off will not surprise you. Boom bap, with some great sampling-along with some rehashed beats-and conscious lyrics from the rappers. This time it's Red Pill and Verbal Kent who aren't extremely engaging vocally, but the lyrics are enjoyable enough. Overall it's easy to play from front to back, with a couple of standouts. One of the most enjoyable albums so far this year. It would be great though to see Apollo work with some bigger rappers. Best Tracks: Good Things Die, Never Go, This Is Life, Impaired Judgement, Push