Features 56 tracks over 4 discs! CD

The long-teased, finally delivered joint full length from Jay-Z and Kanye West. It's impossible to consider the music purely on its own terms given the outsized personalities and absolutely gigantic presences of both – which makes it pretty fascinating. It's definitely not on the level of the best solo albums by either force, but it's probably a whole lot better than it's being dismissed as in some circles. Bottom line – it's worth picking up. We'll see how history treats it. Includes "No Church In The Wild" feat Frank Ocean, "Lift Off" with Beyonce, "Ni**as In paris", the single "Otis" with that reanimated Otis Redding vocal, "Gotta Have It", "New Day", "That's My B**ch", "Why I Love Yu" feat Mr Hudson and more. The deluxe edition has 4 bonus tracks: "Illest M*****ker Alive" (with an intentional 3 minutes of silence), "HAM", "Primetime" and "The Joy". CD

The electric lady is back again – getting great help on this set from Prince, Erykah Badu, Miguel, and Esperanza Spaulding! The set features further chapters in Janelle's Metropolis story – but apart from that overarching structure, and cool notes that situate the singer as some future cultural criminal, the overall vibe is tight funky soul – at a level that not only lives up to all of Monae's sparkling promise from before, but which also finds a great way to bring out the best elements of all the guests! There's plenty of funky numbers here that stand wonderfully well on their own, but the whole thing works even better as a unified set – with titles that include "Primetime", "Givin Em What They Love", "Queen", "Electric Lady", "Look Into My Eyes", "It's Code", "Ghetto Woman", "Victory", "Dorothy Dandrige Eyes", and "What An Experience". LP, Vinyl record album