Kanye West, the Chi-town producer/rapper who's crafted hits for Alicia Keys, Ludacris, Jay-Z, and Twista, centers his disc on a familiar rags-to-riches motif, but like Will Smith before him, he adds his own black middle-class sensibility to it. "School Spirit" pokes fun at all the college-educated flunkies who didn't follow their dreams. The College Dropoutis a must-hear lesson in turning personal triumph into banging hip-hop with universal appeal.

2Pac Loyal To The Gameincludes the lead single "Thugs Get Lonely Too" in addition to 11 other previously unreleased songs and 4 bonus tracks. Featured Artists include 50 Cent, Jadakiss, Lloyd Banks, Nate Dogg, Obie Trice, Outlawz, Ron Isley, Sleepy Brown, and Young Buck.

The Black Album, Jay-Z's tenth and final solo disc, features tracks by Pharrell and Dr. Dre. Cross promotional tie-ins to the disc include the simultaneous release of Jay-Z's S. Carter sneaker in black and The Black Book, an intimate view into the rapper's private life.

On Curtis, his third major label album, rapper 50 Centgives no quarter. As hard and brutally honest, yet musical and entertaining, as his first two albums--each of them #1 Pop, #1 R&B/Hip-hop and at least seven times platinum--50 Cent (aka Curtis Jackson) tells it like it is on Curtisand makes the resulting controversy pay as he heads "Straight to the Bank," the title of the album's first street track. Curtis(Shady/Aftermath/Interscope) features guest appearances by Eminem, Akon, Justin Timberlake, Mary J. Blige, Robin Thicke, and Nicole Scherzingerfrom the Pussycat Dolls.