Back catalogue: Hip Hop/R&B

Review: We can't believe it's been 10 years since the king of hip-hop first laid his claim to the coveted crown and title. 'Good Kid, M.a.a.d City', a deeply personal reflection by Compton, CA-born rapper Kendrick Lamar about, well, life, has grown to command a much wider gravitas today than it did upon its first release. Back then, it had enough pop appeal to hype up the mass of its listeners, while also intelligently working enough ironic political commentary about the nature of American hood experience into the lyrics, to have the effect of wisely 'nudging' the average popular international music consumer to wake up and listen up. This is an album about deep and open psychic wounds gashed across the social fabric of the USA, told through the isolated perspective of just one kid. A kid who, as a result of his own predicament, was compelled to embark on a quest of mastery over vernacular, flow, cadence, and rhyme, to give an unlikely yet loud voice to a deeply mistreated people.

Review: Kendrick Lamarr has always been one of hip-hop's most thoughtful and thought-provoking MCs, with a passion for utilising beats and backing tracks that often sidestep hackneyed rap tropes and lazy samples. Even so, Mr Morale & The Big Steppers, Lamarr's first solo album for five years, is an arresting listen from start to finish. Impeccably produced, with countless musical twists and turns, spellbinding instrumentation (including jazz pianos, orchestration, intriguing electronics, sparkling synths and punchy rhythms aplenty), it sees Lamarr lyrically signposting his own failings (something not enough rappers of his profile are comfortable doing) within a wider framework of accountability. It's brave but brilliant, with some of the topics covered including his relationship with money, white women and his father, gender and generational trauma. A genuinely landmark album all told.

Review: Now legendary American rapper Lil Wayne dropped his sixth studio album Tha Carter III back in 2008. On the occasion of its 15th birthday it is getting this special reissue featuring appearances from dons like Jay-Z, Fabolous, Robin Thicke, Busta Rhymes, Babyface and Kanye West, among others. The album came after a series of strong mixtapes and Lil Wayne features on other seminal hip hop and r&b records but served as a fine reminder that he is never better than when in full creative control. The beats and bars have all aged remarkably well and very much stand up in 2023.