House, R&B, Soul & Rap > G House, R&B, Soul & Rap > Rap > 2006 onwards > Universal Music

Advantages: Some quality tracks and banging beats.
Disadvantages: formulaic, too many guest appearances.

So, The Game is back. After the initial success of The Documentary and the relative success of the sequel, The Doctors Advocate, Game returns with his third, and supposedly final, LP - LAX, Los Angeles Times, to give it it's full title. After having been pushed back from its July 26th, original release date, I have to admit I was very keen to see what the album had in store for us this time. While it would be true to say that Game doesn't disapoint, ...
...album fulfilled all my expectations. The major flaw seems to be that he just has not grown as an artist - in fact, many of the songs are interchangeable from the previous two albums. There are definitely some classics mixed in, with gentlemans affair, my life, games pain and money being stand out, head nodding tracks. It is fair to say; however, that game has definitely chosen two of the best songs to release as singles, in Games Pain and My life. ... Read review

Advantages: Hip Hop Legend Lyrics
Disadvantages: Not the old ghostface

...bright to be dimmed; The Big Dough Rehab easily picks up where Fishscale left off. "At The Cabana Skit" kicks off The Big Doe Rehab the right way. Ghost has a knack for being a comical tuff guy, via his interludes and skits, and his personality shines bright on this one. After some light-hearted lyricism on the opening skit, Ghost gets down to business. Beanie Sigel stops by on "Toney Sigel AKA The Barrel Brothers," and the lyrical jabs from both ...
...this time around that element is missing. With that factored into the equation, this may be why the ladies aren't loving Ghost this time around. The bottom line is that if you are a fiend for grimy beats and grizzly word play, then check yourself into The Big Doe Rehab. ... Read review

Advantages: no 50cent the game is evolving in to 1 of the best rappers in the world
Disadvantages: no dre beats

...ONE NIGHT 7/10 DOCTOR'S ADVOCATE 9/10 OL' ENGLISH 10/10 CALIFORNIA VACATION 8/10 BANG 9/10 AROUND THE WORLD 8/10 WHY YOU HATE THE GAME 9/10 this is a good album. Dr. Dre and the rest of the Aftermath crew (except for Busta Rhymes) are notably absent, but you don't miss them so much. None of the beats here are as good as the best from the Documentary, but most of it's still pretty good anyway. Meanwhile, the Game has become one hell of a rapper, ... Read review

Advantages: Lots of variety
Disadvantages: A few weaker tracks

"Certified" is the fourth album from the Mississippi rapper David Banner. I thought that I had to go back seeing that I enjoyed his latest 2008 release, "The Greatest Story Ever Told" so much, so I thought that I would see similar quality from this 2005 piece, which has him do both the rapping and a fair proportion of the production. 1. "Lost Souls" To get things going we drive straight into some straight Dirty South rap. I found that he was effective ...
...wislt managing ito integrate his influences of Rock into things with some guitar work too. **Three Stars** 2. "Treat Me Like A" (feat. Jadakiss) I still don't get how Jadakiss keeps thinking he can on some Crunk beats, but he does it once again as Lil' Jon does the production, and aside the parts which Jada takes up, it is a strong Hip Hop cut for the clubs. **Four Stars** 3. "Gangsta Walk" (feat. Three 6 Mafia, Marcus, 8Ball & MJG) On this one ... Read review

Advantages: Consistent quality
Disadvantages: One slip in quality

"Me Against The World" is the third album by the West Coast Rap legend 2Pac who was killed in 1996 as a result of a fatal shooting. The album came a year before this and has him rapping in what has been called a "nothing to lose" persona as he raps during a difficult time in his life as he was shot five times late in 1994, and was in prison for the release of the record. Despite all this, he was able to top the charts with his music, even with him ...
..."Intro" 2. "If I Die 2Nite" Heavy in bitter alliteration, this one has 'Pac's attitude for the whole release summed up as he really just doesn't care what happens to himslef, as he lives each day for what it is, and knows there's no point in pre-planning anything. **Four Stars** 3. "Me Against The World" Giving him a littel sample of G-Funk with a synth-based prodcution to hand, this one has the artist come with adesperate track, where he describes ... Read review