One would hope that Ghostface could’ve closed out a decade of solid to absolutely classic releases with one more enjoyable listen but the “Back Like That”-styled, deliberately R&B-fueled Wizard of Poetry is weak sauce: the guest stars are b-list at best and while the rhymes are generally strong (this is Ghostface we’re talking about), they have no bite, except for the unquestionable album highlight and stunningly, impressively filthy fuck-jam “Stapleton Sex”. (Which Ghost has dedicated to Natalie Portman, because of course he has)

Rating: 5.5 / 10

September 29, 2009
Def Jam

The long awaited sequel to what is easily one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II delivers about as completely as one could hope for, as evidenced only a few minutes in with the ferocious “House of Flying Daggers” and continually reaffirmed with each track, as Raekwon and a host of Wu-Tang cohorts and guest stars tear through high tension drug narratives atop sweet but undistracting production from the likes of J Dilla, RZA, and many others; while Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II doesn’t sound like a complete throwback, it has the classic energy of Wu-Tang’s best releases, the kind of energy that seems sorely lacking in most hip-hop today.

Rating: 9.3 / 10

September 8, 2009
Icewater Records, EMI

One can imagine that if it hadn’t been 3 years since the now MF-less DOOM’s last release, Born Like This would be more satisfying, but his style of hook-less, stream of consciousness rhymes (“smack the thin grin off the chin for crack smokin’ / DDT the first bar leave the track backbroken / chrome grown men doin’ business with Anglo-Saxan men / lackin’ swing but that banjo so relaxin’ as the wax spin”) and unconventional beats (“That’s That” features a wonderfully corny violin sample) hasn’t changed much in that time, besides a newly strengthened sense of social awareness (the album takes it’s title from a grim Charles Bukowski poem sampled at the beginning of “Cellz”); still, the man is a better MC than most out there and the same old DOOM is better than no DOOM at all.

Deep Fried Frenz: It wouldn’t be a DOOM album without the guest stars. This one most notably features Raekwon and Ghostface Killah, with beats from J Dilla and Madlib. There’s also a remix of “Gazillion Ear” by DOOM fan and Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke, but you’ll have to download the album from iTunes to get it.

8 / 10

Lex Records
March 24, 2009

The sprawling, star-studded music collaboration known as N.A.S.A. is likely to fall somewhat short of the inevitable Gorillaz comparisons and your expectations when you see the list of guest stars (featuring the likes of David Byrne, Chuck D, Method Man, Karen O, Tom Waits, Kanye West, Santogold, M.I.A., George Clinton, and Ghostface Killah, to name a few), but it functions very well as a big, feel-good hip-hop album that runs a gamut of sounds and topics as diverse as its cast of creators.

Grade: 7.5 / 10

Anti-
February 17, 2009