by Chris Chavez Daily Lobo On her fourth album, The Naked Truth, Lil' Kim abandons her sexually explicit lyrics and bares her soul. Kimberly "Lil' Kim" Jones, who is serving a year-long sentence in federal prison stemming from a perjury conviction, uses her legal and personal troubles to create a quality rap album.
by Chris Chavez Daily Lobo A year after dropping out of college, Chi-town rapper Kanye West returns to school with his new album Late Registration. In a little over a year since his debut album, West has been established as rap's premier artist, producer and lyricist.
by Chris Chavez Daily Lobo With his first album in seven years, Fugee member Prakazrel "Pras" Michel continues to add to the argument that he is the weakest link in the Fugee chain. The Fugees, started by Pras in 1987, were initially known as the Tranzlator Crew.
Line of Fire: Armageddon is an album for any hip-hop fan, regardless of religion. Local rap group The Alumni offer a throwback to rap music's early roots with its latest album. The religious trio creates music free of the guns, drugs and stereotypes that have become a staple in popular rap music.
R. Kelly and Jay-Z's new album is a compilation of unfinished business. Their second collaborative effort, Unfinished Business, is tired. Kelly and Jay-Z - Robert Kelly and Sean Carter - first teamed up on 2000's "Guilty Until Proven Innocent" from Carter's The Dynasty album.
In his latest album, Wyclef Jean offers an introduction course to his homeland of Haiti. Welcome to Haiti: Creole 101 is Wyclef's fifth solo effort and his most genre-mixing work to date. The album opens with a sound clip from slain Haitian national hero and freedom fighter Jean Dominique.
One of the year's best action films is led by a cast of puppets. "Team America: World Police," directed by "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, combines the duo's humor with Hollywood's big-budget action movie formula, along with an all-marionette puppet cast.
Members of Funeral for a Friend may have performed in front of a packed Journal Pavilion on Tuesday, but all they could talk about was the weather. The band from Wales was one of many performers to take the stage at the Projekt Revolution Tour, which included Ghostface, Korn, Snoop Dogg, Less Than Jake and founders Linkin Park.
The title "Tupac: Resurrection" suggests controversial rapper Tupac Shakur is back, when in fact, he never left. The movie offers a complete story of Tupac's life as told by the rapper himself. In the seven years after his death, Tupac became the number one selling rap artist in pop music history, according to Billboard Music charts.
Three and a half stars Less philosophy, more action and unexpected plot twists make "Matrix Revolutions" an excellent finale to "The Matrix" trilogy. The original "Matrix" was released in March of 1999 and revolutionized the way action movies are made.
Solutions by The State News
