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17 tracks in all, including "Family Affair", "Love", "Steal Away", "No More Drama", "Testimony", "Dance For Me", "Flying Away", and "In The Meantime". CD

Mary J Blige broke through well over a decade ago, but Breakthrough is an apt title for her eighth album – as it not only busts up the morass of mid 00s urban radio fodder – it also breaks through MJB's own creative doldrums – adding up her best work in years! It's certainly not a flawless listen (we could have lived without the U2 appearance) but the production is crisp and sparkling, leaning towards the seamless hip hop soul feel that Mary built her name upon – and remarkably consistent given the long list of contributors – including 9th Wonder, Will I Am, Raphael Saadiq, JUSTICE League, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis and others. Tracks include "No One Will Do", Enough Cryin'" feat Brook, "About You" feat Will I Am, "Be Without You", "Can't Hide From Luv" feat Jay-Z, "MJB Da MVP", "I Found My Everything" feat Raphael Saadiq, "Father In You", "Alone" and more. CD

Common newcomers who buy Electric Circus for the single with Mary J Blige are going to be left with some head scratching – but if you like the spiritual/psychedelic Com that was hinted at on Like Water For Chocolate, this may be the follow up you were waiting for! This is still hip hop – with production by the Neptunes, Jay Dee, ?uestlove and others, but it's definitely a boundary stretcher. The mood runs from Roots style soul bumpers to Hendrix and Eugene McDaniels style feedback heavy freakouts. There's a guest on nearly every track, mostly from the Okayplayer camp and NuSoul titans, including Bilal, Omar, Pharrell Williams, Cee-Lo, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab and others. We won't lie to you, we miss the Chicago hip hop Common that kicked insight over raw and soulful productions, but you can't fault the guy for being an artist, and he really has crafted something original here. A great cover – a kind of rainbow drenched cut and paste photo collage of the contributors and inspirations with Com out front, sort of reminding us of Tribe's Midnight Maurauders, and even Sgt. Pepper. Tracks include "Ferris Wheel", "Soul Power", "The Hustle", the first single "Come Close", "New Wave", "Star *69", "Jimi Was A Rock Star" and more. CD

Lil Kim's showing plenty of herself on the cover, and on the record too – just her second set, but one that has the MC grabbing the title of Notorious at a time when it might have been a bit too sensitive for most – and jumping into the fray with all-star help from Mary J Blige, Redman, Grace Jones, and Junior Mafia! Tracks include "Custom Made", "Suck My D**k", "Revolution", "Notorious Kim", "No Matter What They Say", "Queen Bitch Pt 2", "Don't Mess With Me", "Hold On", "How Many Licks", "Off The Wall", "Right Now", and "Lil Drummer Boy". CD

Includes tracks by Whitney Houston, SWV, Aretha Franklin, Chante Moore, Chaka Khan, Mary J Blige, Faith Evans, Patti LaBelle, and TLC. CD