HIP-HOP: Young Jeezy, "TM: 103 Hustlerz Ambition" (CTE/Def Jam)
The Atlanta that Young Jeezy returns to with his fourth album isn't like the one he left behind on his last album, three years ago, or the one he helped to define on his 2005 debut record. Once was a time when his grisly tales of the cocaine seller's life felt shocking and new, but hip-hop, and Atlanta, have moved past that to new things. At this point, Young Jeezy is an eminence grise, the village elder.
To his credit, he's not mired in old modes on this album, which shows off a more mature Young Jeezy while not quite aging him. The changes are thematic, in part, but also technical. He's also a better, more accessible rapper than he has been, but this is actually a step backward. Early in his career he relied on catchy vocal gimmicks and a range of signature exultations to get his point across; now he's leaning mainly on words, which serve him less well, even if they're better organized.
To fully update himself, Young Jeezy is wise enough to include contributions by Atlanta's two most popular rappers, a flat Future on "Way Too Gone" and an energized 2 Chainz on "SupaFreak." And much of the production on this album is by young Memphis comer Lil Lody, who proves adept at a range of post-Lex Luger styles. All in all it's a step forward for Young Jeezy, even if everyone around him is walking much faster.
- JON CARAMANICA, New York Times
HIP-HOP: Common, "The Dreamer, the Believer" (Warner Bros.)
Nearly 20 years after his debut album, Common has a burgeoning screen career (most recently as a hip-hop penguin in "Happy Feet 2," and also a role in the AMC series "Hell on Wheels") and a new autobiography, "One Day It Will All Make Sense." And now a new album, "The Dreamer, the Believer," his ninth and his first in three years. It's a back-to-basics move that finds Common juggling roles he's played throughout his hip-hop career.
Produced exclusively by No I.D., who worked on 1994's "Resurrection," the album opens with "The Dreamer," an autobiographical statement from the "hip-hop romantic" that features Maya Angelou reading a new poem. That socially conscious moment segues into the insistent first single, "Ghetto Life," a Parliament-sampling, tough-talking, hard-edge street-life story with a Nas cameo. The album bounces through ELO and Curtis Mayfield samples and a John Legend guest appearance, through joyful party tracks ("Celebrate") and edgier rhymes ("Raw"). It's not Common's most consistent or focused album, but it's the best representation of his wide-ranging talent.
- STEVE KLINGE, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
JAZZ: Geri Allen, "A Child Is Born" (Motema)
