From time to time, I will be posting some music reviews and perhaps some full-length articles if I can twist his arm enough from my boy Yooj. He’s one of the wittiest cats I know and even when I don’t agree with his opinions, I love how he writes about music. Yooj has provided us with a quick rundown on some of the big records to drop in the past week. Adjust your Target trips and/or download plans accordingly.

Nas and Damien Marley-Distant Relatives

Nas is my favorite rapper of all-time. Jay-z is my lord and savior, but Nas, since day one, is the one rapper whose high points I have enjoyed the most during this abusive relationship with Hip-Hop.  Unfortunately, Nas doesn’t care about what I enjoy. He doesn’t care about what you enjoy.  Not to say that Distant Relatives, the album he and Damian Marley (yeah… the “Jamrock” one) have been sooo in love with for the past year isn’t decent.  It actually should be played heavy during the World Cup; it’s heavy on the “AfricaNow” tip…annoyingly heavy. Now don’t get me wrong, there are a couple of nice moments on here. “Count Your Blessings” is a nice little summery joint…plus counting blessings is hot in the streets. Also, the third verse on “Strong Will Continue” just makes you want to give the guy a hug.

Speaking of reasons Nas needs a hug….

Kelis-Flesh Tone

Kelis is back and has decided to start working again now that she doesn’t have to worry about paying bills. Now that the predictable low-blow is out the way…. Kelis might have found her way with this album.  In her first full foray into dance music, Kelis displays a surprising amount of confidence in her writing and tone.  There’s definitely a lot of “relationship angst” and “new mother” zone outs…but its cool.  With will.i.am and David Guetta leading a make-believe line up of hit-maker producers, Flesh Tone is chart ready. Though she might lose some fans stateside with her impersonation of Lady Gaga (who impersonates Grace Jones…which opens a whole new can of worms on why black artists feel the need to bite white artists who bite black artists instead of just cutting out the middle man ….then it could just be called “paying homage”), Kelis should gain even more fans in Bulgaria and Iceland, where this should bang all summer….whenever the summers in Bulgaria and Iceland are.

Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid

Chuck Lightning and the Wondaland camp place Janelle in a much more polished space than her first offering, and this album has about 3 or 4 iPod commercial moments on it. Should be a lot of sweaty bow-ties and scuffed patent leather this summer. I’ll be rocking cargo’s and a v-neck, but i’ll bop my head…and maybe give a shoulder lean or two…maybe three.

Reflection Eternal - Revolutions Per Minute

I like Mos Def more than Talib Kweli. Talib raps funny to me. He kinda over-raps. Like, sometimes he sounds like one of those kids that won the talent show in high school solely based on the fact that he was cast in a locally produced anti-drug commercial as “Rapper 1″.  I do, however, like Hi-Tek production. It’s amazing how this took 10 years to finally come around. He got some good folks on here: Mos Def (thank God), Jay Electronica, j.Cole, Estelle, Bun B, etc.  Solid piece of work from The Greatest College Radio Rapper of All Time.

I clearly have some catching up to do. Kweli’s one of my favorite rappers (you are wrong about him, Yooj!) and I still haven’t gotten a chance to listen to his or any of these records yet. I’ll get it together today. Hope you enjoyed this and have a great weekend!