Rap Music Vol. 11

I know I've been dropping the ball for over a month so let me give you my thoughts on rap music since the leak of SMWYG...

Diddy's album was a let down. I know, expectations shouldn't have been high in the first place but No Way Out is one of my all time favorite albums so I'll always at least check for what he puts out. Despite the A-List production this shit had not replay value.
Baby/Wayne - Like Father, Like Son...
I had zero expectations for this shit aside from the killer single. This is my most listened to album of the year right now. Fantastic riding music, great beats, Baby is listenable and Wayne is better than he's been since Carter 1. Really fantastic shit, especially the mayhem of Cali Dro. I GUARANTEE that if you pick this CD up and let it play you'll love it.
Gwen Stefani - Wind It Up
Gwen Stefani is absolutely horrid but only Pharrell could flip the Sound of Music shit. Not necessarily good, but worth a listen if only for its novelty.
Hi-Tek's album was another letdown. This shit has been heralded as an album of the year candidate and I have no idea why. These seem like all the throwaway joints he didn't give to G-Unit. Even Music Is For Life was a Jin track like three years ago, but throw Common (you know, that guy from the Gap commercials) and Nas on it and people start creaming their pants. Vol. 1 was so dope two, but this is getting hyped for the sake of hype.
Jim Jones - Hustler's POME
Um, without even going into all the monkeyshit he's thrown at Jay-Z, I've rocked Jimmy's shit in the past. OMWTC had it's share of bangers and H:DOAS was better than it got credit for. This had like 3 songs I still listen to (Pin The Tail On the Donkey, Hot Wax and even We Fly High are all hot tracks), but it seems like he got stuck on the BALLLLLLLLINNNNN gimmick and is now trying to rap like Young Jeezy. Not a good look.
The Game - The Doctor's Advocate
Just because it's better than I thought it would be doesn't make it good. I'll never join the "Game is actually a good rapper now" bandwagon, because he still has nothing to talk about besides what other people do. California Vacation is a top 5 song this year though, and the production is phenomenal.
Jay-Z - Kingdom Come
I REALLY liked the Black Album. This shit just doesn't seem like it'll have the replay value. What the fuck are these stupid tracks? I'd like to pretend the Neptunes/Usher trainwreck doesn't exist and won't even speak on the shit with Beyonce. Even the Dre beats let me down a bit, Trouble was dope but it was like he sent Jay a CD full of loops instead of completed songs. Chronic 2001 was so awesome because everytime you got into a groove Dre would switch it up or add an awesome synth or something, none of these beats even come close to the shit he gave to Busta anyway, and it should have been the other way around.
Snoop Dogg - Tha Blue Carpet Treatment
I still haven't gotten around to listening to this. Does anyone care what Snoop has to say? And he's one of my favorite rappers (Doggystyle, No Limit Top Dogg, Paid The Cost, R&G all still get rotations).
AZ - The Format
This shit is good, obviously the title track is the highlight, but an overall solid album - he didn't even bother to drop the usual garbage club single. Applause.
Clipse - HHNF
FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE

I'll try and come up with some songs to post, stay tuned.