- Qwel & Maker – Owl
- Gza - Liquid Swords 2: The Return of the Shadowboxer
- Michael Franti & Spearhead – The Sound of Sunshine
- Rakaa – Crown of Thorns
- Cymarshall Law & The Beatnikz – Freedom Express Line
- Hell Razah – Heaven Razah
- Pete Rock & Smif-N-Wessun – Monumental
- DJ Muggs vs. Ill Bill – Kill Devil Hills
- Black Milk – Album of the Year
- Rza - The Cure
- Pharoahe Monch – W.A.R. (We Are Renegades)
- ¡MAYDAY! – Stuck on an Island
- Camu Tao – King Of Hearts
- Hezekiah – Conscious Porn
- Kanye West – Good Ass Job
- KRS-One & True Master – Meta-Historical
- Rick Ross – Teflon Don
- The Foreign Exchange – Authenticity
- Moka Only – Airport Four (and the other 10 albums he’ll put out by the end of the year)
- Killah Priest – The 3 Day Theory
- Shawn Lee - Sing a Song
- Madlib (as Yesterday’s New Quintet) – Madlib Medicine Show No. 7: High Jazz
- Juvenile – Beast Mode
- Slum Village – Villa Manifesto
- Method Man - The Crytal Method
- Murs – whatever he manages to put out
- Exile - Radio: AM/FM
- El-P – Weareallgoingtoburninhellmeggamixx3
- Bun B – Trill O.G.
- Game – The R.E.D. Album
- Ice Cube – I am the West
- Capone-N-Noreaga – The War Report 2: Report the War
- Street Sweeper Social Club – The Ghetto Blaster EP
- Q-Unique - Between Heaven & Hell
- MF DOOM – Expektoration
Usually you don’t have to wait until the second half of the year for a new Qwel album. Qwel and Maker took the triple crown with album of the year, emcee of the year, and producer of the year in the 2009 Mechy Awards. Hopefully they’ll do it again this year.
He's taking it a step further than Raekwon. Not only is he trying to make everyone forget about everything he's released since his classic (I'm not sure why...his other albums are dope) by releasing a sequel, but he's also trying to make people forget he already released a sequel (Legend of the Liquid Sword).
Eventually this reggae phase is going to get old, but it should hold up at least for one more album.
Delilah is the best song of the year so far and the rest of the tracklist has potential to be on of the best albums of the year.
Freedom II was a little disappointing, but it was still good. I’m expecting this to return to the standard of quality he set in 2007-08.
I don’t know what’s going on with this album. I haven’t heard any updates on his health so I’m assuming he’s alright but still recovering. It seems like every time I’ve looked at upcoming releases this year, this album is listed as coming out next week, but it never gets released.
This sounds interesting, but the collaboration is coming 15 years too late. I find myself saying that about 5 times a year lately.
The Muggs vs. albums are always good. Ill Bill is a good addition to the series.
I like Black Milk, but his albums are never among my most anticipated albums. I’m pretty excited about this one after his work on the Georgia Anne Muldrow and Dudley Perkins album.
This won't be released this year. I remember there was a little advertisement sticker for Rza’s next album, The Cure on the CD case for Bobby Digital in Stereo. Dr. Dre’s jealous. Detox has nothing on The Cure.
I don’t think he’s described this album as “sexy” so already it has the edge on Desire.
Matching their self-titled album might not seem possible anymore, but they still have a lot of potential.
It’s good that this album wasn’t rushed after his death, but this has been delayed way too long now. How much work could they possibly have to put into a posthumous album?
Hezekiah’s dope, but I’m anticipating this album more because of the awesome title.
If he’s actually going to work with the artists he’s said he’s working with, this could be a great album. I’m not entirely convinced he’s going to follow through.
At least True Master gives KRS-One a chance at putting out a decent album. Meta-Historical definitely sounds like something KRS-One would come up with.
Hopefully this will be even better than Deeper than Rap and I’ll get even more WTFs when I say it’s good. That’s a long shot though.
I’m sure Okayplayer already has a review template ready for this album with a score of 90 or higher.
The good thing about Moka Only is you know he’s going to hit at least once or twice a year. The bad thing is sifting through so much material that’s just ok to find those good albums.
Killah Priest albums are usually killed by boring production. I haven’t seen a producers list but Copywrite, Jakki, iCON, Sabac, Ill Bill, Last Emperor and 2Mex on the features sounds good.
You never know what style of music to expect from Shawn Lee, but you can expect it to be good.
A YNQ album would normally be higher on the list, but it’s part of the Medicine Show, so I’m expecting the worst.
I didn’t know about this until today. It came out today so it should have leaked already.
Half-posthumous albums are difficult to put together. I'm not sure how good this will be.
I don't expect Method Man to ever put out another dope solo album, but he could prove me wrong.
He promised 10 albums this year (not including Fornever). He hasn’t released any of them yet.
I think I’m the only person they didn’t care for Radio. Remixes by Clutchy Hopkins, Free the Robots and Samiyam, plus features from Blu, Grouch & Eligh and Evidence might help.
I don't really care when El-P releases these things, but it's still El-P.
His last album was good.
Game gets less intriguing with each release, but I’ll still listen.
I don’t expect anything much better than Raw Footage, which wasn’t that good.
They’re also capitalizing on the “sequel to my most successful album” fad. That’s a lame subtitle though.
Their debut was one of the biggest disappointments in recent years, but it’s still Boots Riley and Tom Morello.
I'd be more interested in a new Arsonists album...or a D-Stroy solo album.
MF DOOM is a ballsy dude. After being caught numerous times sending impostors to perform his live shows, he has the nerve to release a live album. Between the annual compilation albums, the live albums, and giving the same beats to multiple rappers, MF DOOM puts out a lot of music without making anything new.
