50 Cent, Kanye West, Tego Calderón and Ben Harper.

the music press

tue 9/11/2007

Who will prevail? A collage of 50 Cent, Kanye West, Tego Calderón and Ben Harper.

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Curtis James Jackson III, aka 50 Cent, is back with his third album, Curtis. Billboard.com isn't satisfied: "[F]or an artist of 50 Cent’s caliber, it’s not great … [Curtis] doesn't offer enough of the old slick-talking, charismatic 50 Cent.” AllHipHop.com gives Curtis seven-and-a-half stars out of 10 because “it lacks a true consistency, where his previous work flowed seamlessly and almost every record worked.”
Chicago's Kanye West completes his three-album trilogy with Graduation, one of the most anticipated hip hop albums of the year. Sputnikmusic considers it “his worst effort to date” since it's missing something "as vital or as fun as tracks like ‘Jesus Walks’ or ‘Gold Digger.’" For Britain's The Guardian, Graduation “offers several instances of brilliant, questing pop” as West “undercuts rap cliches with wit and ambivalence.”
Tego Calderón returns with El Abayarde Contra-Ataca, his fourth studio album. Dusted Magazine finds some faults, among them “the near-abandoning of the revved up folklorico interludes that have always broken up Tego’s beat-heavy repertoire," but what he gets right "outweighs most of the album’s shortcomings.” La Onda Tropical considers it a disappointing follow-up to his previous release: "Let's hope he uses his talents to the fullest again for his next album."
Folk-rocker Ben Harper releases his ninth studio album, Lifeline. The Boston Globe praises Harper for making "music that matters,” underscoring that Lifeline "may be shy of hit singles, but it's shy of nothing else." For Allmusic.com, “The music is a seamless meld of soulful folk, gospel, countryish rock, and blues.” Now Magazine warns that Harper's music “occasionally slip[s] into derivative territory, Beggars Banquet-era Stones in particular, but strong solo material saves Lifeline near the end.”