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While it was
Akon who famously sang,
“I’m locked up/ They won’t let me out,” his miniature stint in the pen is nothing in comparison to many other sentences handed out in the hip-hop community. With bigger incarcerations coming in the form of
Chi-Ali, who has just come home after a 12-year bid for manslaughter; and ex-
Bad Boy rapper
Shyne, who was released in 2009 after serving a nine-year sentence for attempted murder, assault, and reckless endangerment; it seems as if jail time and hip-hop, at times, go hand in hand.
Enter Tab Virgil, Jr., better known by his stage name
Turk.
A
Cash Money Records ex-signee, the New Orleans rhymer was a member of the highly successful group the
Hot Boys. Alongside
Lil’ Wayne,
B.G. and
Juvenile, with
Baby aka
Birdman,
Slim, and
Mannie Fresh overseeing things, Turk and the crew quite literally took over the airwaves between the years of 1998 and 2002. Selling records in their millions as a label, Turk’s only solo effort with Cash Money came in the form of the Gold selling 2001 release
Young & Thuggin’.
After leaving the label disputing financial differences, Turk’s world would evidently be turned upside down in 2005 when he was convicted on federal charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, a fugitive from justice in possession of a firearm, and an unlawful user addicted to a controlled substance in possession of a firearm. With all of these charges stemming from the shooting of a police officer early 2004, it was obvious that Turk was in hot water and there was no way of cooling it down.
Serving his time whilst also releasing a few albums in the process, Turk was finally released in October 2012 and
Soul Culture were granted some time with the unsung Hot Boy.
The arrogance associated with calling yourself the last King is enough to attract the haters, - Tyga’s second album was titled Careless World: Rise Of The Last King - and donning a fur coat and hat whilst commanding an actual life-sized pet tiger in the courtyard of an expensive seaside mansion on his latest album cover is sure to send the hating in to overdrive. But if you strip away the flashiness and the Young Money facade, what are you left with?
Once regarded by fans and critics alike as one of the best to ever do it, they say that actions speak louder than words - and the Lil Wayne headlines of late have definitely been more about his actions and less about his words. From vocally chastising the Miami Heat basketball team to being rushed to hospital in a reported near-fatal condition, the self-proclaimed best rapper alive now gives fans the follow-up to his 2010 volume one release of the same name, I Am Not A Human Being II.
With less substance than his 2010 effort, the stories told on IANAHB2 concentrate more on being a spoilt brat with unlimited access to pussy, cars, clothes, drink, and drugs. However, the thing that sets Wayne apart from the rest of the competition, which is also something noticeable throughout the entire album, is his flawless ability to continuously muster up punchlines out of thin air. Now whether or not it has anything to do with his so-called extraterrestrial mindset, some of the bars featured are seriously out of this world. 
Throughout his career Joe Budden has been considered many things - an outcast, a drunk, very much up himself, and more recently a sucker for love. While he may admit to being, or having been, one or some of these things, something has been missed. How about survivor? Judging from his recent verse on "Want You Back" with Fabolous and Cassie, as well as a few older joints, and his Slaughterhouse entries of course, Joey has physically, mentally, and emotionally been through the wars.
Bringing to the table his first official solo project since the conception of hip-hop supergroup Slaughterhouse, of which he is a part alongside Crooked I, Royce Da 5'9", and Joell Ortiz, Budden might have finally silenced his critics. 
Consistency is key, and as far as the rap game goes there are a handful of individuals who deliver time after time after time. While an unlikely source of such consistency, mainly due to his endless array of sidetracking lyrical and street beefs - there have been a few embarrassing secrets dug up too - Jayceon Taylor, aka Game, seems to be a rhymer that the hustlers ride with, the girls scream for, and his peers unquestionably admire. Much of his music has proved timeless, if slightly repetitive occasionally, and his level of sales has maintained a respectable level during a declining climate that sees the Compton representative’s total sales sit close to the ten million mark.
With new album Jesus Piece marking his fifth major label release, Game has put together a conceptually stellar project that features near perfect production and cinematic tales of a road less travelled, unless of course you perceive yourself as a gangster. After switching album titles at least three times [two of them being Soundtrack To Chaos and F.I.V.E. (Fear Is Victory’s Evolution)] the decision to run with Jesus Piece was more to do with the conceptual split screen that glorifies street life whilst worshipping faith in a higher being than anything else. 
Previously on The Adventures of B.o.B aka Bobby Ray, Atlanta rapper/singer B.o.B was busy claiming the many plaudits for what was a superb year for him back in 2010. Emerging from under the tutorship of DJ Drama and southern kingpin T.I., Bobby Ray broke away from the limited expectations many had of his career and became a household name thanks to a charming persona plus a clutch of monumental Hip Hop records that tugged at the hearts of daytime radio's core audience.
Now a name which the masses instantly gravitate to, B.o.B's next adventure finds him tackling the much dreaded second album, which has claimed many careers due to the difficulty of matching the lofty heights of one's previous efforts. How will his sophomore effort Strange Clouds fare in the challenge? 
With the subcategory of 'teen rap' now bursting with numerous young talents, the question now remains as to which of the 21-and-under prodigies has the potential to go beyond their adolescent fanbase and appeal to the grown folk. Already making huge movements for a youngster who only graduated from High school not too long ago Pittsburgh's Mac Miller has already shown promise, in that his current musical teen fodder still carries enough weight for older heads to dig. 
We saw the slow demise of Auto-Tune after it’s over use on almost every club song played in 2008 - 2010 but that hasn’t stopped Grammy Award winning Florida born rapper T-Pain working on music with his precious pitch-correcting machine. Having released a string of promotional tracks to lukewarm reception [including “Rap Song” featuring Rick Ross, “Take Your Shirt Off” and “Reverse Cowgirl” featuring Young Jeezy] following the disbanding of Jive Records, the Auto-Tune connoisseur is back as a new signee to Young Money with his fourth studio album rEVOLVEr.