Kid Cudi's Debut 'Ridiculously Intriguing'

(NEWSER) - Jay-Z's new Blueprint 3 seems to have critics divided. Some see flashes of brilliance showing the rap veteran at his best, while others see a mediocre effort that relies too much on celebrity.

• Jay-Z sounds "hungrier than he has in years on about half the tracks, while sharing time with guest stars or grappling with undercooked production on the rest," writes Greg Kot for the Los Angeles Times. "Yet even at three-quarters speed, Jay-Z can still be formidable."

Sure, her life wasn't all hard, but don't write her off as a rapper

(NEWSER) - “Even in a ‘post-race’ world, street sells,” writes Amy Granzin for Pitchfork. That would explain why some looked at Speech Debelle—the once-homeless UK rapper turned Mercury Prize nominee and "hip-hop's next big thing"—and spun “a tiny bit of flash into blinding bling.” The truth is, Debelle had a middle-class, “girl-next-door” upbringing—but don’t write her off. Her debut, Speech Therapy, is “fine, fresh, serious (yet never dour),” and it “speaks for itself.” More»

Rapper can't quite nail a return to his glory days on new album

(NEWSER) - 50 Cent, once at the forefront of rap music, returns with Before I Self Destruct—but his fourth solo effort isn’t impressing the critics. “Though packed with tough beats, dense production and 50's most ferocious delivery in years, the gloats about shootings, drugs and bloody 'hoods feel about as fresh as a Saw sequel,” writes Edna Gundersen in USA Today . The album “isn't likely to renew 50 Cent's currency.” More»

Says his generation 'disarmed' the N-word

(NEWSER) - Becoming a teen drug dealer was “natural” for Jay-Z, and it didn’t scare him a bit, given his environment in the projects, he tells Oprah in her O Magazine. “At some point, you become addicted to the feeling. The uncertainty and adrenaline and danger of that lifestyle,” the rapper says. He was shot at once, but made it through: “When you're a kid, with little bony arms—no wonder nobody could aim.” More»

Kanye, record execs come to hear buzzed-about rapper

(NEWSER) - Child-actor-turned-rapper Drake had fans and luminaries like Kanye West enthralled at a small New York show Tuesday, where the as-yet-unsigned artist tried to live up to the buzz.

• “Drake's greatest gift is his ability to translate his love of rap's many styles into his own music,” Chris Ryan writes of the Lil Wayne protégé in the Village Voice. “His stage presence had a degree of effortless charm and showmanship that suggested a real star quality at work.”