Hip Hop/Rap
Matt Carney
My favorite hip-hop moment from 2011 was when the speed-rap once-superstar Busta Rhymes, now almost 40, resurfaced from the 1990s on Chris Brown’s excellent “Look at Me Now” single, as confident as if he’d been around all this time.

Hip Hop/Rap
Ryan Querbach
Kanye West and his G.O.O.D. Music crew have finally dropped their long-awaited compilation album, Cruel Summer. It has its moments, but overall falls short of the high expectations that come with any Kanye project.

Soundtrack
Ryan Querbach
Legendary Wu-Tang rapper and producer RZA has released the official soundtrack for his upcoming film, The Man with the Iron Fists.