Photographers: Darien Smith; Marvin Adams.

Six years off for the mega-platinum DMX meant that his 2012 release, Undisputed, was dubbed "comeback album" the day it was announced, but don't unleash the dogs on account of that. Granted, superstar producer Swizz Beats is here with the ...

Arriving just a few months after Most of My Heroes Still Don't Appear on No Stamp, Public Enemy's The Evil Empire of Everything is a decidedly different album than their other 2012 album. It's leaner and harder, stripped down to ...

Kicking off with R. Kelly doing vocal gymnastics over the most polished and professional of Pop Wansel beats, Cruel Summer is a mistitled fireworks show from Kanye West and his G.O.O.D. Music label/roster/empire, one that comes off as mixtape-minded follow-up ...

Additional personnel includes: Kerry King (guitar). Personnel: Kerry King (guitar). Audio Mixer: Joe Blaney. Photographer: Sunny Bak. The Beastie Boys: Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz, Adam "MCA" Yauch, Mike "Mike D" Diamond (rap vocals).

This 1965 compilation is the perfect introduction to the soulful pop of Sam Cooke. It contains all of his best-loved songs in their original versions and represents the wide variety of moods the man conjured with his music. His unique ...

"What It's Like" was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. The former frontman for House of Pain sheds the hip-hop-only mode and steps out into the world of rock with this release. Tapping into the ...

NEVER SAY NEVER was nominated for a 1999 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. "The Boy Is Mine" won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal, and was nominated for Record Of ...

The Cleveland, Ohio collective Bone Thugs-N-Harmony began as Eazy-E proteges and early signees to his Ruthless Records. For a brief time, the five-member rap trio eclipsed the always-controversial Eazy, scoring huge crossover hits with its knack for intricate harmonies and ...

In the history of rap music, there are few artists who can be labeled as pioneers. One such artist is Slick Rick who, along with partner Doug E. Fresh, is the rapper responsible for such long-standing hip-hop classics as "The ...

As big a hit as it was -- and it was a multi-platinum blockbuster, spinning off several chart-toppers -- it's not easy to think of Whitney Houston's 1985 debut as the dawning of a new era, but it was. Arriving ...

For the soundtrack to the sequel of his hit film DIARY OF A MAD BLACK WOMAN, director/screenwriter/star Tyler Perry once again opts for a well-selected set of gospel and R&B. While the DIARY soundtrack focused primarily on contemporary artists, MADEA'S ...

After the end of Aretha Franklin's five year stint on Columbia Records (who tried marketing her as a jazz vocalist), she signed on with Atlantic Records. Produced by music biz veteran Jerry Wexler, Franklin's Atlantic debut found her flexing creative ...

"Because I Got High" was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. Contains the hidden track "Because I Got High," with alternate lyrics, which follows "The American Dream." Straight out of Hattiesburg, Mississippi comes Afroman, (AKA Joseph Foreman), ...

The Isley Brothers are one of the most important groups in R&B history. They modernized the concept of the black singing group, and broke new ground with hits that were either influenced by or borrowed from a variety of musical ...

Enchantment were one of the very last "sweet soul" groups of the '70s to reach fruition and chart success. Not slick enough to be dubbed "urban contemporary," they offered a polished take on the early '70s soul of Motown (especially ...

Digitally remastered by Joe Tarantino (1986, Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California). Of the many Staple Singers compilations, the 1986 set on the Stax label is the most concise overview of the brief period where the family group weren't just gospel superstars, but ...

Kansas City rapper Aaron Yates, otherwise known as Tech N9ne, emerges with an ambitious debut full of conceptual structure, vivid depiction of harsh urban realities, and innovative vocal delivery. Nominally, the album is structured in three sections, depicting heaven, purgatory, ...

Whitney Houston's second album sported a flirtier, sexier album cover and a shortened title, and, somewhat improbably, it became an even bigger hit than her 1985 debut. WHITNEY featured an impressive four Number One hits ("I Wanna Dance with Somebody ...

This slick, comprehensive package (it comes complete with bonus DVD, videos, seven unreleased songs, behind-the-scenes footage, supersized Coke and extra fries) packs quite a punch. The erstwhile Aaron Yates A.K.A. Kansas City rapper Tech N9ne speed-raps and rails against the ...

There are a number of excellent Bobby "Blue" Bland collections on the market, but MCA's ANTHOLOGY may outdistance them all. A beautifully compiled and packaged set, ANTHOLOGY covers three decades of the singer's career. Bland's work from the 1980s and ...

Digitally remastered by Suha Gur (Universal Music Studios East). This is part of MCA's 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection series. Includes liner notes by A. Scott Galloway. 20th Century Masters The Commodores: Thomas McClary (vocals, guitar); Lionel Richie (vocals, saxophone, piano); William King ...

A remarkably versatile singer, Lou Rawls distinguished himself in soul, but was also adept at performing pop, blues, and jazz. This excellent 21-track Capitol compilation forgoes the latter two styles and draws from his 1960s/'70s recordings, presenting listeners with the ...

Arguably the most anticipated hip-hop album of 2011, Tha Carter IV was originally planned to be released as a double album, coupled with Wayne's rock effort Rebirth. After completing some tracks he felt were especially strong, Weezy changed his mind ...

Originally released in 1999 featuring Don Juan, Rock Money and Paul Law. 15 tracks including Planet Rock (down south mix), Spend The Night, Flipside (rough version).