::New CD Reviews Kanye West: GRADUATION Hell Rell: FOR THE HELL OF IT Jay-Z: AMERICAN GANGSTER

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::2007 Albums everyone should have!

Here is my top 2007 album recommendations (My personal favorites...You have all these in your collection then you have an unbeatable hiphop rotation):

Jay-Z ALBUM: AMERICAN GANGSTER (the best of 2007)

Hell Rell Album: FOR THE HELL OF IT (the hardest album out..dude is no joke!!)

Kanye West Album: GRADUATION (Incomplete album overall but hands down contains the FOUR best songs of 2007)

50 Cent Album: CURTIS(You gotta have this one because 50 is universal..Meaning the average chic is familiar with 50...so good to have this playing in the background as you proceed to ride a chic to your house/hotel)

T.I. Album: T.I. Vs T.I.P.(this is the most COMPLETE album of 2007)

8 Ball & MJG Album: RIDIN HIGH(Classic Down South innovation...These guys are legendary..Album very enjoyable..But that's to be expected when these professionals drop something.)

DIPSET ALBUM: MORE THAN MUSIC VOLUME 2 (Dipset is the deepest hiphop crew in the game and has the best stable of lyricists...The new Wu Tang Clan)

Clipse Album : HELL HATH NO FURY(This album is probably my favorite out of all 2007 albums even though Jay-Z's is the best. The way the Clipse lay it down on this album with supreme confidence is uncanny...I still bump this album HARD!! and that Simple yet funky production by super-producer Pharell really works on this album)

LEX DENERO ALBUM: THE FORMULA, VOL.1(Top 5 album in 2007...A local album that should have easily went gold or platinum nationally..Good luck trying to even get a copy of this album...I'm one of the few who has a copy)

LATE 2006 ALBUMS THAT I STILL ROCKED IN 2007

E-40 ALBUM- MY GHETTO REPORT CARD (Greatest West Coast album to come out in a long time..Go BAY area!!..I can't get enough of Keak de Sneak and that Hyphy sound!)

Nas ALBUM - HIPHOP IS DEAD (Nas reasserts himself as one of the all time greats on this album!!)

40 Cal ALBUM - BROKEN SAFETY VOL 1 (This album goes down as one of my favorite albums OF ALL TIME..A HIPHOP GODSEND IS WHAT THIS ALBUM IS!!!...EVERY HIPHOP FAN SHOULD OWN THIS!!

Young Jeezy - THE INSPIRATION (Jeezy proved that he was in the game for the long haul as his sophomore album lived up to the hype of his previous - Obviously technically Jeezy released earlier albums too but I still consider this his sophomore album from a national perspective..Incredible album overall..)

HONORABLE MENTION Common - FINDING FOREVER (Never got to peep this whole album but certainly his first 2 singles were some of the best he's come out with in quite some time. So I assume this album was pretty solid...Still gotta peep it though)...

By Benz0

::Pete Rock releases first album in four years!

New York, NY - Hip-hop producer/DJ/MC Pete Rock is set to release his first album in four years. Titled NY's Finest, the album will be released in February 2008 in a joint venture between Soul Survivor Records and NY based indie label Nature Sounds.

The record features a roster of cult hip hop artists that includes Wu-Tang's Raekwon and Masta Killa, Dipset's Jim Jones, Papoose, D-Block and Redman amongst others. The first single "We Roll" features Jim Jones and Max B. The track shipped to radio in mid-October and it's already getting spins at mix-shows throughout the Northeast. Other tracks currently available are "914" featuring Styles P and Sheek Louch, "The PJ's" featuring Raekwon and Masta Killa and "Til I Retire" featuring Pete Rock himself.

Born in the Bronx, NY by Jamaican parents, a teenage Pete Rock first hit the scene in the late 80's when he joined legendary DJ/producer Marley Marl on NY station WBLS' show "In Control With Marley Marl." The popularity of the radio show soon led Pete Rock to experiment with production. In 1991, he was joined by up-and-coming rapper CL Smooth and released the debut EP, All Souled Out. In 1992, the duo dropped Mecca And The Soul Brother, one of the most critically acclaimed hip-hop albums of all time. Pete and CL eventually released The Main Ingredient in 1994. Although the album was very well received by critics and fans alike, the project marked the last effort for the duo.

Since then, Pete Rock has lent his production skills to some of the greatest MC's. He crafted and remixed hits for Nas, Biggie, Jeru The Damaja, and, more recently, Jim Jones, Talib Kweli's Ear Drum, Redman's Red's Gone Wild and Ghostface, for whom he produced tracks for Fishscale, one of music critics' favorite hip hop albums of 2006.

Pete Rock is considered by most to be one of the greatest hip-hop producers. Following the split with CL Smooth, Pete has released a number of solo projects. In 1998, Loud Records released Soul Survivor; that was followed in 2001 by a collection of instrumental tracks aptly titled PeteStrumentals. In 2004, he released Soul Survivor II on his own imprint Soul Brother Recordings.

Nature Sounds is quickly becoming the indie home for classic hip-hop. During the last couple of years the label has released critically acclaimed projects by artists that include MF DOOM, Wu-Tang's Masta Killa (Made In Brooklyn), and most recently, Mobb Deep's Havoc (The Kush).

AP