Jay – Z – Blueprint 3:  It’s like they leaked out all the mediocre tracks because the album is surprisingly good. Even leaked tracks like “Venus vs. Mars” and “Reminder” (with it’s annoying ass hook) make more sense when you listen to them in the context of the album. Either my ears are lying to me or the sound engineers turned down the autotune on “Run this Town”  because Rihanna actually sounds human on the album version compared to the early leaked tracks. Solid release.

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Quotable: A small part of the reason why the President is black, I told him I got em when he hit me on the jack

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Kid Cudi – Man on the Moon: Not feeling the sing-rapping thing he’s doing. Some people are going to dig the beats. I could seeing this selling well. I would describe it as similar to “808′s and Heart Break.”  Singy-rapping to minimal elctronica type back drops, but less polished and a bit more grimy. I’m actually pretty surprised someone can get away with “singing” like this on an entire album.

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Un-quotable: You keep me so moist like a towelette.

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Raekwon – Only Built For Cuban Linx 2:  I hate when an artist tries to revisit a classic album, but  this is surprisingly good. Rae is back to form. The subject matter hasn’t changed much, but when it sounds this good, who cares. I gotta say that this is a fitting sequel that stays true to the original sound and subject matter, only straying here and there. Fresh Fresh Fresh!

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Quotable: The whole Ghostface verse on “Gihad”