M.I.A. - Maya
The stylization of the title (/\/\ /\ Y /\) and the cover art of Maya, M.I.A.’s third studio album, both give accurate representations of the music that you will find inside. All of her efforts seem like a deliberate attempt to make it more difficult to appreciate her work.
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Kidd Russell - Backyard Heroes
Backyard Heroes is a full-length album from Kidd Russell, a college football player that has started making hip-hop influenced alternative music. His Facebook page says: Kidd Russell sounds like the midwest, fall leaves, flannels, hoodies, love, football, Friday Night Lights, snowy mornings, wine on a summer night, friends and hard times.
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Ludacris - Battle of the Sexes
Battle of the Sexes, the seventh full-length from southern rapper Ludacris, is roughly on the same level as his last release, but Theater of the Mind was actually a step down from anything that had come before and, coincidentally, was his first album without a platinum certification. The original premise for Battle of the Sexes, obviously, was supposed to be guys vs.
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Flobots - Survival Story
Now that Flobots have released their sophomore album, Survival Story, we are left to wonder: how does this new album compare to their first? Fight With Tools, the 2007/2008 debut album from Flobots, was a fairly successful album, reaching number 15 on the Billboard 200, number 7 on the Heatseekers chart and number 3 on both the Rap and Alternative charts.
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k-os - The Trill: A Journey So Far
The Trill: A Journey So Far is a compilation album from k-os, the Canadian singer-songwriter/rapper that already put out two other albums this year.
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50 Cent - Before I Self-Destruct
50 Cent is the stage name of Curtis Jackson, a rapper whose claim to fame seems to be selling crack, getting arrested, getting shot nine times and releasing a mixtape that somehow got in the hands of Eminem’s lawyer. (At least we know that he’s not frontin’ when he raps about being a gangsta.
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People Under the Stairs - Carried Away
Do you feel that pot and pills and assorted academics aren’t enough anymore? Do you need something more? …more than a pill or a pipe or a poem? Well, I’m not sure if the new album from People Under the Stairs will help, but at least you can relate to the first sample on Carried Away, the seventh album from People Under the Stairs. Wait a second…the seventh album? …Ferreal?
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Street Sweeper Social Club
Tom Morello is back in the rock rap game with Street Sweeper Social Club, this time teaming up with Boots Riley, a self-proclaimed communist and member of The Coup, a Marxist hip-hop group.
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K’naan is a Troubadour
K’naan was born in Mogadishu, Somalia and spent almost the entirety of his pre-teen years there, only learning English after he moved to New York and then Toronto. K’naan’s voice and delivery are frequently compared to Eminem, but his subject matter is completely different.
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MC Lars - This Gigantic Robot that Kills
This Gigantic Robot Kills is the new nerdcore album from MC Lars, the self-proclaimed originator of “post-punk laptop rap.” The title of the album is based on a sample of Wesley Willis saying “Lars Horris, I like your song, I'm gonna write a song about you.
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