Welcome back, Bishop. Good to hear new stuff from dude, he kinda dropped off the radar for a while. Those drums are enormous sounding – nice work, ghost co–producers! Why doesn’t X kick a verse on this though? Also: Bishop, can we have the fucking album already, please? DOWNLOAD: Bishop..

Bright, upbeat and two-steppable. It seems Kanye has finally put Auto-Tune behind him for good. Off Cons TV. Update: video here.

Blaq Poet’s anthem for all the ladies with inner beauty. Also check “Hate” which features Nore. Tha Blaqprint is almost entirely produced by DJ Premier and an obvious must-have. Check  back in a day or two for our interview with Blaq Poet. Download: Blaq Poet – Stretch Marks and Cigarette..

There are definite standouts on Chemical Warfare and Alch has a distinct sound, but the album inevitably suffers from producer-compilation-syndrome toward the end. Maybe a few more listens will change my mind. “ALC Theme,” which samples A Clockwork Orange (I think) is my favorite and the title track with Eminem..

This track from the Exchange Bureau Music compilation “Assorted Good vol. 1” has that swanky jazz lounge sound. Detroit’s Magestik Legend raps about his lady and Genevive sings a sultry hook. Snowman Jack probably doesn’t sound familiar, but he produced a few tracks on Shawn Jackson’s album First of All..

Q-Tip’s second solo album Kamaal The Abstract, was recorded in 2001, and was supposed to be released in 2002 as the follow up to Amplified. Kamaal was shelved for its apparent lack of commercial appeal but it’s finally coming out on September 15th, via Battery Records (home of “Stanky Legg”!)..