featured rap albums
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- Game
- Jesus Piece
- With a long list of guest artists, the rapper skillfully explores the divine and the devilish, and how they both feed the soul.
- T.I.
- Trouble Man: Heavy Is…
- Inspired by Marvin Gaye's 1972 film soundtrack work, the Atlanta MC's eighth album is a small step forward from his seventh.
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- A$AP Rocky
- Long.Live.A$AP
- It's druggy, dark, and dangerous, but this official debut is still stunning and attractive as A$AP comes off as rap's Jim Morrison.
- Nas
- Playlist: The Very Best…
- A 14-song overview of the Queensbridge MC's Columbia years, 1994-2004, featuring all seven of his Top 20 R&B;/Hip-Hop singles.
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- Paul Wall
- No Sleep Til Houston
- With help from Bun B and others, the rapper celebrates his hometown of Houston on this back-to-basics winner of a mixtape.
- Aleister X
- Half-Speed Mastered
- This mysterious New York rapper/producer/sound wizard builds a world too strange to ignore on his proper full-length debut.
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- Joe Budden
- No Love Lost
- The Slaughterhouse member delivers a solo album that's somewhat jumbled, but literate and thoughtful as well.
- Cappadonna
- Eyrth, Wynd & Fyre/Love…
- There's an accomplished album to carve out of it, but the Wu-Tang Clan affiliate's double-disc release is too cumbersome to call classic.
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- Wiz Khalifa
- O.N.I.F.C.
- The follow-up to this stoner MC's 2011 breakout Rolling Papers narrowly avoids becoming the dreaded sophomore slump, but still feels uninspired.
- Nicki Minaj
- Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded,…
- The superstar rapper adds eight tracks to her second album on this worthwhile improvement or "re-up."
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- Twenty One Pilots
- Vessel
- The major-label debut of this Ohio-based duo offers up a nonstop party of Top 40-leaning glossy pop, mixing in rap breakdowns and classic rock flair.
- Daz Dillinger
- Witit Witit
- Those looking to add that veteran feel to their grown folks' weekend are going to find Daz is Witit Witit and thensome thensome.
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- 9th Wonder / Murs
- The Final Adventure
- Rapper Murs and producer 9th Wonder end their streak of collaborative albums with one of their best.
- Masta Killa
- Selling My Soul
- The Wu-Tang member's third solo album is filled with soul and R&B;, coming off as a worthy companion to Ghostface's retro effort Ghostdini.
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- Various Artists
- Stones Throw and Leaving…
- A wonderfully weird comp of washy lo-fi, pooled from Stones Throw and Leaving Records cassettes.
- Roc Marciano
- Reloaded
- The plain title and quantity of outside productions notwithstanding, the Long Island MC's second album is nearly the equal of his first.
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- Brokencyde
- The Best of BC13
- Combining slick beats, screaming vocals, and sleazy lyrics, parents shudder in horror as the crunkcore group offer 17 of their best.
- Travis Barker / Yelawo …
- Psycho White
- Blink-182 drummer meets Eminem affiliate for an EP of rebellious rap-rock that's equally fun and frantic.
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about rap
Rap's germination is sometimes attributed to the righteous street poetry of the Last Poets and the Watts Prophets, but it didn't begin to take full shape -- and earn its tag -- until after the Sugarhill Gang released "Rapper's Delight" in 1979. Since then, rap spread from its New York epicenter throughout the remainder of the U.S. (with each region taking on its own specific flavor) and then to countless countries. Rap's core components are beats and rhymes, but that simplicity belies the wide range of sounds that have sprung from them. Instrumentalists, a sampled breakbeat, or a drum machine can form the backbone of a track, while an arrangement can be spaciously spare or chaotically dense, and a chorus can range from atonal shouting to a sweet melody. Detractors were still calling rap a fad in 1985, when LL Cool J released his first single. They were doing the same thing when, roughly 20 years later, the same MC released his tenth album, and they'll probably continue to do so as long as the genre exists. Should rap ever die, which isn't likely, it would be far too late to prevent its effect on most other music forms, from R&B; to rock to jazz.