 Ashanti
The Declaration
Release: 2008-06-03
On her fourth proper studio album, Ashanti remains with The Inc., but you would not know it unless you checked for the logo. The closest tie is the occasional presence of ex-Irv Gotti associate and longtime Ashanti collaborator Seven Aurelius (who now calls himself Channel 7), followed by a minor assist from Chink Santana. Gotti himself is nowhere to be found. L.T. Hutton (Snoop Dogg, Bone) is beh......more »
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 Usher
Here I Stand
Release: 2008-05-27
After the release of 2004's Confessions, an album that transformed Usher from an R&B star into a pop superstar, the singer became a husband and father. That grants Here I Stand more lyrical depth than the four previous Usher albums, but we're not talking fathoms. There's a two-minute lullaby for his son, and the noticeably increased talk of settling down and turning in his player card ("M......more »
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 Lyfe Jennings
Lyfe Change
Release: 2008-04-29
Lyfe Jennings' third album doesn't involve all that much change, at least not on the surface. He does do a little less of the heavy lifting, seeking out some assistance from the Underdogs, Wyclef Jean, and a couple other associates from his Jesus Swings production house, but Lyfe Change is still very much a Lyfe Jennings album — it's not as if his label directed him away from what came natural thr......more »
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 Mariah Carey
E=mc2
Release: 2008-04-15
Performer and songwriter Mariah Carey has set April 15th as the in-store date for the most eagerly anticipated album of the year, E=MC². The 11th studio album of her career, E=MC² is the follow-up to The Emancipation Of Mimi, Mariah's worldwide 10 million selling #1 album, which generated three Grammy awards (including Best Contemporary R&B Album), 2 #1 singles and countless more industry hono......more »
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 Ray J
All I Feel
Release: 2008-04-08
Whether you know him as the precocious teen who debuted in 1997 with EVERYTHING YOU WANT, or as R&B siren Brandy's brother and costar of her show Moesha, Ray J shows that he's all grown up on ALL I Feel. His fourth album finds him working every angle of contemporary R&B, from the hip-hop-influenced "Sexy Can I" (which includes a guest appearance from rapper Yung Berg) to the refl......more »
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 Day26
Day26
Release: 2008-03-25
America’s favorite boy band - Brian, Will, Q, Mike, and Robert are back for another season of music, drama, and Diddy on MTV’s hit reality series, "Making The Band 4". The new group, hand-picked by Diddy and collectively known as DAY26, is reunited with surprise solo winner, Donnie, to begin their journey into the music industry. But there’s a new twist…This time around platinum recordin......more »
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 Danity Kane
Welcome To The Dollhouse
Release: 2008-03-18
Danity Kane exist in a strange netherworld of pop culture, where you either know everything about the prefabricated girl group or you know nothing about them. Despite debuting at the top of the Billboard charts with their eponymous 2006 debut, on its way to eventual platinum sales, the group didn't seem to make any impact outside of MTV, the place where their construction was meticulously, endless......more »
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 Gnarls Barkley
The Odd Couple
Release: 2008-03-18
It's hard enough to follow up a successful debut album, but try following up a boundary-breaking blockbuster of a debut album. The duo of Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse became a household name as Gnarls Barkley in 2006 with their frothy blend of pop, R&B, and hip-hop. Two years on, THE ODD COUPLE stands up proudly alongside its predecessor. The basic recipe hasn't been drastically altered--Danger Mou......more »
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 Janet Jackson
Discipline
Release: 2008-02-28
A few lines from a couple songs and some suggestive presentation guarantees that a significant amount of the reaction to Discipline, Janet's tenth studio album, will feast upon the singer's lack of judiciousness when it comes to expressing her sexuality. Leave the teasing and explicitness to the teens and younger twenty-somethings — not the grown women — right? Janet should get back to making sunn......more »
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 Erykah Badu
New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)
Release: 2008-02-26
Downplayed and practically disregarded as it was, 2003's Worldwide Underground was an excellent and brave follow-up to 2000's Mama's Gun. Erykah Badu concedes she had nothing to say at the time — the loose 50-minute "EP" was more about sounds than statements — but she evidently holds herself to a high standard. Perhaps that streak was a factor in her protracted silence from its release t......more »
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