Pros: Sounds like a mix of Andre 3000, Kid Cudi and T.I.
Cons: B.o.B is still figuring out what he wants to say.
Bottom Line: A promising debut album from a young rapper with unlimited potential.
Recommended Tracks:
Airplanes, Part II
The Kids
Most rappers' first albums revolve around their lives before music. They usually don't become disillusioned with the fame until albums two or three. The Adventures of Bobby Ray accelerates this process; it's the debut of a 21-year old rapper who somehow already sounds jaded and world-weary.
An Atlanta rapper named for the Outkast single "Bombs over Baghdad", he was signed to a record label soon after finishing high school at age 17. He made a name for himself on the mix-tape circuit and landed a cover of XXL, but remained in label purgatory for years. This despite frequent comparisons to Andre 3000, with whom he shares a similar eclectic musical taste and the ability to carry a tune.
But, as he laments, it takes more than talent to succeed: "Somebody take me back to the days / Back when I was rapping for the hell of it / Can I get a wish to end the politics / and get back to the music that started this." While the existential angst of stardom is hardly a new topic for musicians, it's rather rare for a musician not yet a star.
The Adventures of Bobby Ray, with the #1 single "Nothing on You", could change that. It's similar to Andre 3000's The Love Below, with B.o.B going back forth smoothly between singing and rapping over a diverse array of instruments, from guitars to pianos and synthesizers. He has both a natural ear for melodies and the ability to rap with big-name guests like Lupe Fiasco ("Past My Shades"), Eminem ("Airplanes, Part II") and label boss T.I. ("Bet I").
Throughout, he showcases a layer of introspection and self-doubt unusual for a rapper. He pleads on the intro "that what comes up must come down/ so don't let me fall." On "Airplanes", he compares airplanes to shooting stars and wishes upon them that "everyone know my name / and everywhere I go people want to hear me sing / And I just dropped my new album / on my first week did 500,000."
In this climate, no rapper is guaranteed even a second album anymore, not even someone as talented as B.o.B.
Pro: The best-produced album since his comeback, BP3 is Jay's triumphant return to the throne.
Con: Jay's self-absorption and navel-gazing can wear over an entire album.
Bottom Line: A worthy heir to the original Blueprint.
Recommended Tracks:
Hate
Empire State of Mind
On BP3, Jay-Z boasts he's gone "from Brooklyn to down in Tribeca next to DeNiro." He's gone from bragging about how many bricks he moved out the back of his trunk to bragging about how good his seats were at the Pacquaio fight. But no matter the change in lifestyle, the underlying message remains the same: Jay-Z is still pretty damn impressed with Jay-Z.
Dubbing himself "the new Sinatra," he raps over a series of glossy, high-budget beats full of live instrumentation -- strings, trumpets and hand-claps. It's the best production he's gotten since his comeback from retirement in 2006.
BP3 follows in the vein of his first 10 solo albums -- all of which, he reminds us, have "gone No. 1"; all morphing his life (teenage drug dealer "called a camel" to multi-millionaire CEO married to the world's biggest pop star) into a Charles Dickens story. On "Empire State of Mind" he takes a contemplative ride in his new Lexus through the McDonald's parking lot in Harlem where he bought drugs to an old apartment where he stashed them.
There's no hint of the actual person behind the narrative he has constructed, nothing separating Sean Carter from Jay-Z. He only gets emotional when discussing his career, addressing the fans and critics "who want [Jay] to fall from the top" on song ("Hate") after song ("What We Talking About") after song ("Already Home") after song ("Reminder").
He notes he's "in the hall already, people compare me to Biggie and Pac already, like I'm gone already." The guest list is another glimpse at his mortality: Where the first Blueprint had only one guest appearance, the third is filled with big-name artists (Alicia Keyes, Kanye, Jeezy and Rihanna) and newcomers like Drake and Kid Cudi. His first attempt at a comeback single -- the bombastic "DOA" which called for an end to the auto-tune phenomenon a year after it had already peaked -- was met with shrugs. Kanye and Rihanna overshadow him on the first single "Run This Town", a drastic role reversal from only five years ago, when he was the biggest name on their debut albums.
The album closes with a melodramatic sample of an 80's glam-rock synthesizer balled called "Young Forever." But no one actually does, not even Jay-Z.
Pros: The eclectic mash-up of T-Pain and Phil Collins works.
Cons: When does the auto-tune backlash begin? Bottom Line: Kanye's creative gamble pays off in a big way.
Recommended Tracks:
Love Lockdown
So Amazing
After defeating 50 Cent during last-year's same-day album "showdown", Kanye West was at the top of his game. Graduation pulled off a delicate balancing act -- on critic's top 10 lists while producing top 10 hits.
But after a tumultuous year personally, his latest album 808's & Heartbreaks differs drastically from his previous work. While Graduation and Later Registration re-used songs and concepts from his days as an underground rapper, 808's was completed within the span of a few weeks. It's the rare album from a rapper released sooner than expected, perhaps because Kanye isn't rapping anymore.
For someone who rapped before he produced, his Andre 3000-like turn towards musical experimentation is surprising. As is his decision to make a break-up album that sounds like a mash-up of Phil Collins and T-Pain. Most surprising of all, he manages to pull it off.
Lately Auto-Tune, the computerized synthesization of vocal melodies, has become inescapable. So if you've become weary of it, be forewarned. 808's is an Auto-Tune overload, with the vast majority of Kanye's lyrics sung through it. It's a good decision -- Andre 3000 can carry a tune while Kanye largely can't.
The album beautifully merges the main song archetypes of modern R&B -- the up-tempo club songs and the melodramatic personal ones. He varies the instrumentals, moving seamlessly from the violin ("RoboCop") to the piano ("Welcome to Heartbreak"). Instantly catchy melodies abound; singles "Love Lockdown" and "Heartless" have several different refrains.
The one lesson he learned from his previous work is brevity; 808's clocks in at only 11 songs. It's aiming to be larger-than-life, with music meant to be blared from stadium speakers. As Kanye noted in an interview, he spends the majority of his time touring the world in stadiums and auditoriums.
He's become one of the rare rap stars -- like Eminem, Jay-Z and Snoop -- so successful they're bigger than rap. 808's is a reaction to the absurdity of pop stardom: "Chased the "Good Life" my whole life long / Looked back on my life and my life gone." It echoes many of the same themes of Britney Spears prescient hit "Lucky", where she bemoans how unsatisfying fame is and how it overwhelmed her previous identity.
His lyrical meltdown was triggered by personal tragedy -- the untimely death of his mother and a broken engagement. The result is a string of break-up songs that wouldn't be out-of-place on an emo album, as Kanye swings from triumph ("I'm not loving you the way I wanted too / Where I'm going I don't need you") to heartbreak ("lost his soul to a women so heartless"). Such vulnerability is unusual in the macho world of rap, where the perils of fame and heartbreak are often ignored.The genre’s roots in the lower class make it harder for rappers to complain about their success.And while Kanye’s raps on a bonus track don’t vary lyrically from the rest of the album; they come across as more petulant and self-absorbed.
Where he goes musically after 808’s is unclear, but the album ensures the spotlight won’t be leaving him anytime soon.
Pros: T.I. and his producers are at the top of their game.
Cons: First three gangsta rap songs don't fit with rest of album. Bottom Line: T.I. finds creative inspiration from stark legal trouble.
Recommended Tracks:
No Matter What
On Top of the World
Four hours before he was supposed to perform at the 2007 BET Hip-Hop Awards, T.I. was arrested trying to buy machine guns. A convicted felon caught violating multiple federal laws, his life was basically over. He went from sitting "On Top of the World" to possible being "in jail until 2027." His new album Paper Trail tells how he got there.
He established his artistic identity on his breakthrough 2003 album Trap Muzik. The fiery swagger he brought from his time as a drug-dealer fueled his anthemic singles, while his introspective lyrics dissected the downsides of that lifestyle.
His combination of star-power and lyrical ability made him an industry superstar. But as his fame grew he faced a dilemma of many successful gangsta rappers -- his best came music came from the contradictions of the gangster lifestyle, a lifestyle increasingly incompatible with the success his music brought. So he began staying "in trouble just to let these suckers know I was serious."
On one hand, he was rap royalty (see "Swagger Like Us" with features from Jay-Z, Kanye West and Lil' Wayne) starring in Hollywood movies. On the other, he was constantly violating probation, culminating in a 2006 shoot-out after a club performance that left his best friend dead.
He tried to square the circle with 2007's "TI vs. TIP". There were two sides to his personality: TI (the mature businessman) and TIP (the hot-headed gangster). Throughout the album, they had to accept that they needed each other. But as he found out, the resolution to his existential conflict ended up being quite a bit messier.
Recorded during house arrest, Paper Trail is a sober reflection of the consequences of his decisions. He defiantly defends his need for protection while recognizing "how much better life would have been if I had slowed down / Maybe I'd have been Kanye / instead of seeing gunplay."
The album's title refers to his return to writing down his lyrics, instead of just putting them together in his head. By his own admission, writing helped him "concentrate" and the improvement is dramatic -- every song has a clear concept and each line pushes it forward.
Another welcome return is DJ Toomp, his longtime producer whose absence was sorely felt on TI vs. TIP. Paper Trail is chock full of big-budget faux-epic synthesizer jams ("Whatever You Like", "Live Your Life") modeled after the Toomp-produced "What You Know".
Several times in the album, T.I. compares himself to Tupac -- another superstar rapper whose reckless lifestyle fueled his rise and contributed to his fall. Soon after he released Paper Trail, T.I. will go to jail for a year, a situation Tupac faced after Me Against The World. But after he got out, Tupac doubled-down on his behavior -- joining Death Row Records and recording two legendary albums that cemented his legend. If T.I. really is a "changed man" than Paper Trail may be his last great album.
Pros: His most-consistent and best-produced album since Stillmatic.
Cons: Political talk occasionally veers into pseudo-intellectual and ill-informed ramblings. Bottom Line: Album lives up to its controversial title.
Recommended Tracks:
Hero
NI**ER (Slave and the Master)
With “Hip Hop is Dead,” Nas cynically used a controversial title to sell an inconsistent album. So when he named his new album the “N” word, many were skeptical. He was eventually forced to leave it untitled, but the challenge of living up to such a bold title clearly motivated Nas. “Untitled” is one of the best and most cohesive concept albums in years.
A meditation on his life as a successful black man in 21rst century America, it traces the history of racism to the psychic burdens of today’s ghettos. It’s better than the sum of its parts - almost every song pushes the album forward, musically and lyrically.
As much poet as musician, Nas never lets the beats overshadow his lyrics. But since mainstream rap is made primarily for cars and clubs, he has often struggled to find producers who can make brilliant and understated beats.
His debut Illmatic managed this balancing act perfectly; it’s arguably the greatest rap album of all-time. While nothing could live up to that standard, “Untitled” is his best work since Stillmatic. It’s no coincidence the album’s best moments feature two of rap’s best up-and-coming producers - Polow da Don ("Hero") and DJ Toomp ("Slave and the Master").
In the cutthroat and fickle world of rap, where careers age in dog years, Nas’ 14-year and nine-album career is astonishing. In that time, he has simultaneously become a legendary figure while also squandering much of the goodwill he generated with Illmatic.
And after a lifetime’s worth of accomplishments and setbacks, Untitled has a valedictory feeling: “Nas the only true rebel since the beginning / Still in musical prison, in jail for the flow / Try telling Bob Dylan, Bruce or Billy Joel / They can’t sing what’s in their soul!”
It’s a tribute to the album that these comparisons don’t seem too ridiculous.
Pros: He continues surprising late-career improvement.
Cons: He has been making the same album for over a decade. Bottom Line: Possibly Fat Joe's best album.
Recommended Tracks:
300
That White
During the mid-'90s, New York produced a legion of rappers who had come of age during the crack cocaine epidemic. In that context, Fat Joe's forgettable 1993 debut Represent hardly foretold greatness. There was already one fat Puerto Rican rapper from the Bronx, Big Pun, a gifted lyricists with all-time great talent.
Joe achieved some success with 1998's Don Cartagena, but Pun's death soon afterward cast a shadow over his career, while the violent shootings of Biggie and Tupac chastened the rap community. The market for crack rap quickly dried up. As rap shifted South and returned to its party roots, Joe, a consummate survivor, leveraged his industry connections to stay relevant, a relic of a bygone era.
The Murder Inc-assisted "What's Luv" made him a mainstream star in 2001. Three years later "Lean Back", a No. 1 record with stunningly low album sales, ushered in the era of the ringtone rapper. Recently he has survived independent label banishment and a running WWE-style feud with 50 Cent to appear on hit after hit — from "Make It Rain" to "We Takin Over."
Elephant in The Room stays strictly within his wheelhouse: a refreshingly concise mix of 12 tracks of unrepentant gangsta lyrics over hard-hitting commercial beats. His brand of lyrics hasn't changed much: "I done did some things that made some killers drop they jaws / I done been on boats in Colombia shipping raw (cocaine)."
What keeps them fresh is his steadily improving flow, sharper and more on-beat than ever before. As a result, he has rightly started calling himself one of the most improved rappers ever.
The production is pitch-perfect for his style — featuring both rejuvenated old-school producers like Gangstarr's DJ Premier ("That White") and Puff Daddy's Hitmen ("I Won't Tell") and a roster of modern-day hit makers (Cool & Dre, Scott Storch).
Throughout his career, Joe has made the same album over and over again, each time improving from the same formula. Elephant in the Room sounds like the best album of 1998. Will anyone still care ten years later?
Pros: Snoop and production team dabble successfully in wide range of genres.
Cons: Bloated tracklist could be shortened significantly. Bottom Line: Snoop displays star-power and charisma that made him a star.
Recommended Tracks:
Sensual Seduction
Can't Say Goodbye
In the opening scene of the "Sensual Seduction"video, Snoop wails on talk box under flashing disco lights while shimmying in flamboyant 70's-era outfit. It's a classic Snoop moment -- ridiculous yet still captivating. He called it a mix of Prince, Roger Troutman, Rick James and Michael Jackson. Add some rapping and you have a good description of his new album Ego Trippin.
And while his trademark laid-back rapping is still sharp, Snoop is more entertainer than rapper these days. Freely admitting to no longer writing his own lyrics, he's a rapper whose transcended rap. Ego Trippin is a fearless album that finds Snoop signing over a remake of the 80's hit "Cool" and dedicating "My Medicine", a country song about a dope fiend, to his "main man Johnny Cash".
He has reason to celebrate, as he explains on the darkly nostalgic "Never Have to Worry": "15 years in the game and I'm still relevant, it's a blessing." There's been enough drama for 5 careers -- from debuting on Death Row, the 'most dangerous label in rap' through a widely publicized murder trial, a stint with Master P and a long-running feud with Suge Knight.
His care-free attitude extends to the genre-bending production, masterminded by 80's maestro Teddy Riley. It blurs the line between rap, soul, g-funk and 80's pop, while still leaving room for gems like the Irish-melody "Why Did You Leave Me" and the gospel-tinged "Can't Say Goodbye".
At over 80 minutes long with 20 skit-free songs, Ego Trippin could have tightened significantly. It's a credit to Snoop's mic presence and the album's cohesiveness that you don't really mind.
Pros: Movie tie-in gives Jay-Z excuse to rap about drug dealing again.
Cons: Lyrical versatility he tried for on Kingdome Come is out the window. Bottom Line: Proves Jay-Z hasn't lost his fastball after widely-panned comeback.
Recommended Tracks:
Ignorant Sh*t
Success
Boil down nine albums’ worth of lyrics and Jay-Z’s career can be summarized in one line: “I sold kilos of coke, so I’m guessing I can sell CDs.” The Armani suits and corporate image gloss over the fact that today’s more violent “hustler/rappers” (50 Cent, Jeezy) merely take his blueprint to its logical conclusion.
He attempted to distance himself from that persona on last year’s comeback album Kingdom Come, only to be met with critical derision and lackluster sales.
So American Gangster is an almost spiteful return to his roots: “Y’all got me really confused out there. I make Big Pimpin … you hail me as the greatest writer of the 21st century. I make some thought-provoking (stuff), you say I fallen off. I’m going to really confuse y’all on this one.”
The more commercial stylings of Kingdom Come are absent. Instead it’s the type of old-school East Coast rap album rarely seen anymore — soul samples on top of hard-hitting bass and dramatic instrumentation. Diddy even brings back the Hitmen (the production team for many of Bad Boy’s early hits) for five songs.
While lines of movie dialogue are occasionally interspersed, American Gangster is really a Jay-Z album with some Frank Lucas packaging. He uses the concept to embrace his inner “bad guy” and vividly detail the rise and fall of a hustler: from the bottom (American Dreamin) to the top (Party Life) and back again (Fallin).
Yet even as he mesmerizes with stories from a life he left a lifetime ago, he can’t resist noting the absurdity of it all: “Don’t fear no rappers / They’re all weirdos, DeNiros and actors / So don’t believe everything your earlobe captures / None of what you hear, even if it’s spat by me / and with that said, I will kill (expletive) dead.” It’s his true genius: in a game where authenticity is everything, he’s made a career out of acting.
Pros: Well-produced merging of rap, techno, R&B and house music.
Cons: Lyrical content what you'd expect from Black Eyed Peas front-man. Bottom Line: Great party CD full of lyrics meant to be sung along with, not thought about.
Recommended Tracks:
Heartbreaker
Invisible
Over the last few years, will.i.am has aimed for a difficult balance — maintaining artistic credibility while churning out some of the crassest, lowest-common-denominator hits in pop music.
The front man and producer of the Black Eyed Peas, he’s responsible for My Humps, Fergalicious and Let's Get Retarded. Yet he has also produced critically-praised songs for Nas, the Game and Sergio Mendes. This creative flexibility is on full display on his solo album Songs About Girls.
The inane-sounding title belies a surprisingly coherent concept album. It follows the painful dissolution of a long-term relationship — from denial (She's A Star) to pleading (One More Chance) to anger (Fantastic) and finally acceptance. There is some BEP-esque absurdity, with one song comparing a girl's butt to a Donque.
Free from the compromise inherent in the group dynamic, Songs About Girls is the unleashing of his creative id.He merges hip-hop, house, techno and R&B for a distinct sound that feels both futuristic and nostalgic. Conventional song structure is abandoned — raps merge abruptly into melodies, choruses flow on endlessly and beats meander for minutes on end.
But his decision to forgo lyrical structure was probably unavoidable. While he remains nominally a rapper, without the rest of the Peas, his lyrical ability is often so deficient it's distracting. Lead single I Got It From My Mama features gems like "If the girl real pretty, nine times out of 10, she pretty like her mama / And if her mama real ugly, I guarantee ya she goin be ugly like her mama."
At his best he makes irresistibly catchy music like Heartbreaker, the album's high point. There’s no denying his talent; any producer who can make Fergie a superstar is not someone to be taken lightly.
Pros: Good balance of social commentary and gangsta rap.
Cons: No obvious single means album will probably be overlooked. Bottom Line: Chamillionaire establishes himself as the best of Houston's new generation of rappers.
Recommended Tracks:
Morning News
Ultimate Victory
Combining a plain beat with lyrics about racial profiling, Ridin was an unlikely No. 1 single. Instead of following a radio formula, it was a song so good, radio had to play it. Chamillionaire became an uncommon rap star — famous not for a big name association or a memorable gimmick but his music.
His follow-up Ultimate Victory is unwilling to chase success. "Tell the world that I'm more than just a grill/If that's all you hearing, then let me just be for real/Take your contract, to hell with a record deal." Eschewing big-name producers and forced collaborations, Chamillionaire sticks with the classic Houston sound: heavy bass lines, dramatic instrumentation and slowed-down beats.
As a result, its the rare mainstream rap album that flows easily from start to finish. It doesn't hurt that he's an incredibly gifted rapper, with a smooth flow that effortlessly harmonizes within the beat. Where rappers often sound silly merging singing and rapping (Ja Rule), his vocal range makes it seem natural on Standing Ovation.
Most impressively, he has the lyrical versatility to rap about hoes (Industry Groupie) and haters (Welcome to the South) while also offering biting social commentary: "Every time I talk about Katrina, they look at me like it's a misdemeanor/Anyways, there's way more important stuff that we can discuss/'N Sync, Makin da Band and Milli Vanilli have broken up." He's so lyrically talented you'll never notice that he doesn't curse once on the entire album.
And though Ultimate Victory might not have another Ridin, it's the type of album that builds a long-term fan base. Blindly following the hottest trends won’t reverse rap’s sales decline. After all, while Still Tippin made his Houston contemporaries (Mike Jones, Paul Wall and Slim Thug) stars first, Chamillionaire seems to be the last one standing.
Pros: New minimalist sound keeps album sounding fresh.
Cons: His self-absorption and egotism are becoming increasingly hard to take. Bottom Line: Graduation makes strong case for album of the year.
Recommended Tracks:
Good Life Everything I Am
Album: 50 Cent Curtis
Rating: 3/5 stars
Pros: Consistent album with very few misses.
Cons: Uninspired work breaks no new ground lyrically or musically.
Bottom Line: How many times can 50 remake Get Rich or Die Tryin?
Recommended Tracks:
I Get Money
Ayo Technology
The Kanye West/50 Cent showdown is finally here. From the Rolling Stone cover to 50's conditional retirement (if Kanye outsold him) announcement, the rappers have masterfully hyped today's releases of Graduation and Curtis for months.
But they face a challenge bigger than outselling each other. Not only are they being counted on to reverse rap's nosedive on the charts (2006 saw a 21 percent drop in album sales), but also to breathe new life into a genre that Nas famously declared "dead" a year ago.
And although they reside on opposite sides of the hip-hop spectrum, their rise to the top is similar. As gangsta rap exploded in popularity in the '90s, it no longer became enough to deal drugs on wax; to rap required a rap sheet. The entire industry became obsessed with keeping it as real as possible — with 50 and his nine bullet holes the logical conclusion. Less than a year later, Kanye rose to super-stardom by flipping "realness" on its head — reveling in his insecurities and not-so-subtly positioning himself as the antidote to 50's macho posturing.
"Realness" was the selling point for their groundbreaking debuts — Kanye's College Dropout and 50's Get Rich or Die Tryin. Two albums later, they're no longer lovable underdogs, but international mega-stars. Fame has dramatically altered their lives, how would it affect their music?
Curtis high point is the aptly titled I Get Money. Over a blistering beat that combines a retro '80s rap sample with menacing synthesizers, he reminds us that: "I take quarter water and sold it in bottles for two bucks / then Coca-Cola came and bought it for billions, what the f*ck?"
An earlier single is even more explicit, as 50 and Tony Yayo laugh Straight to the Bank: "I ain't even got to rap now, life is made / Said I ain't even got to rap, I'm filthy made." OK, he's rich, now what? It's a question Curtis never really answers.
Lyrically, he hasn't progressed at all, recycling the same themes from his first two albums. He's either a killer still walking the streets (see: My Gun, Man Down, I'll Still Kill) or a thug with a soft side (see: duets with Mary J. Blige and Robin Thicke). Things bottom out with the failed first single Amusement Park, a remake of the already heavily recycled Candy Shop.
But songwriting, not lyricism, made 50 who he is. That's Curtis’sbiggest surprise — there aren't many hits. Before The Massacre was released, he had four songs in the Billboard Top 10; only Ayo Technology is likely to make much such noise on the charts. And that has more to do with the Timberlake/Timbaland tandem than 50's superfluous verses.
The production, farmed out to a roster of no-names, is functional — the melodies won't stick in your head, but they'll keep it nodding. Curtis, essentially a less-inspired remake of Get Rich, is an unrepentant New York gangsta rap album. It should satisfy his fans, but even a salesman as good as 50 can't resell the same product forever.
While 50 steadfastly refuses to acknowledge that his life has changed ("I ain't fresh out the hood / I'm still in the hood"), Kanye can't stop talking about it. Graduation is his most personal album yet, in the sense that Kanye West is the only real subject.
The social commentary of his earlier works is markedly absent: "Say goodbye to the NAACP award / I'd rather get the 'I got a lot of cheese' award." Whether he's rubbing his success in his doubter's faces (Can't Tell Me Nothing) or exulting in the Good Life with T-Pain, Graduation is a defiant celebration of his career.
Kanye has never been afraid to take risks musically, and Graduation is no exception. While many songs are still rooted in familiar samples (Michael Jackson on Good Life, Daft Punk on Stronger), he opts for a minimalist approach around them — light synthesizers, airy drums and soulful piano chords — instead of the grand hip-hop orchestrations of Late Registration. The result is a futuristic sound that, befitting the album’s celebratory feel, is almost impossibly cheerful.
This accentuates Kanye the MC, for better or worse. More than ever, he sounds like a star: charismatic enough to remain likeable as he delivers increasingly absurd raps: "I had a dream I could buy my way to heaven / When I awoke I spent that on a necklace / I told God I'd be back in a second / I feel the pressure, under more scrutiny / And what I do? Act more stupidly." Yet his technical skills are still barely passable — flowing like an older roller-coaster picking up speed as it barrels downhill, just barely staying on top of the beat and the edge of disaster.
50 and Kanye aren't just rappers anymore; they're celebrities. Ignore that celebrity in your raps too much and you become a self-parody (Snoop Dogg), but embrace its insanity too fully and you become an uninteresting bore (see Eminem's appearance on 50's Peep Show). At times in their third albums, both fail to manage that balancing act.
If they want to stay relevant, they had better learn how.
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