Brief Thoughts on 2006's Fourth Quarter
For those not in the know, the fourth quarter of the year is when labels release their biggest albums in hopes of ending the year with a financial bang. It's no coincidence that your favorite acts tend to release projects from October to December. My ratings are on a 10 point scale.

Nas - Hip-Hop Is Dead - He's generally unfocused except when it comes to bigging up the old school. Otherwise he's all over the place, still talking thuggery, black militance and raunchy sex in the same verse. He's pretty contradictory saying Hip-Hop is Dead when some of his labelmates arent progressive enough to advance the culture. How can you say Hip-Hop is Dead and sign a contract to record for Def Jam? Arent they part of the machine? In any case Nas is like the abusive boyfriend who tells a woman he wont hit her again. "I swear I'll change" = "Nasty Nas is back this time" Listens: 2 Rating: 7.5

Snoop Dogg - Tha Blue Carpet Treatment - He's far too old to still be rapping about cripping, pimping and killing. But he makes good music, and "Think About It" is one of the best songs of the year. "Like This" and "Which One (of you bitches like me?)" are undeniable as well. Listens: 1.25 Rating: 8.5

Game - Doctor's Advocate - The gods from up above have blessed this kid with great beats every time out the gate. His entertainment value is strong as you're left guessing if he's truly crazy or just trying to get people to pay attention. His innumerable mentions of Dr. Dre seem stalkerish but the album is great. Listens: 2 Rating: 9.0

Jay-Z - Kingdom Come - We expected a monumental event, and while he fell short of that Jigga came through in the clutch. Almost every song had a concept and a topic, and his rhymes are still strong albeit the grownup route he's taken. A few songs (Trouble, Dig A Hole) sound too futuristic where we'd all prefer an album of vontage bangers like "Oh My God". There's no defending "Anything" so I wont try. Listens: 3 Rating: 8.5

Jim Jones - Hustler's P.O.M.E - If you dont understand street music or have a predisposal towards hating Dipset as a whole, of course you'll lie and convince yourself that this album sucks. The facts remain: Capo can make a good song and Max B's hooks are the perfect blend of comedy and sincerity. Led by strong production, captivating adlibs and a fantastic swagger, the movement moves on. Listens: 1.75 Rating: 8.0

Ghostface - More Fish - If you dont know by know, you never will (btw I cant wait for him to hijack the Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes classic). Ghost has dedicated his career to being as true to the art as he can, with great storytelling matched with creativity, humor and authenticity in his lyricism. Listens: 1 Rating: 8.5

Mos Def - True Magic - What happens when you're pissed off at the music industry and comfortable enough from movies to say "Fuck you"? An album of uninspired music that you dont promote, have artwork or even a cover for. Listens: 1.5 Rating: 6.0

Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury - Four years and two stellar mixtapes between albums later, was it worth the weight (pun intended)? Yes. Pharrell and Chad cooked up all manners of futuristic gumbo for Malice and Pusha T to serve up their swaggerific, well-dressed, conflicted dope boy music. Whether it's classic is up to how it stands the test of time, but it's very strong overall. Listens: 2 Rating: 9.0

Young Jeezy - Thug Motivation 102: The Inspiration - While I havent heard this album yet, he's made me a recent convert. He's proven that you dont need to rap your ass off to have a respectable place in hip-hop. Like Game and Jim Jones he does what he does over strong production and that's how he wins.