Five Summer Releases to get Excited About. Now.

Big Boi – Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

This album has been in the works since 2007, has been pushed back three times, and already has had a number of critically acclaimed leaks and singles to its name. So why haven’t we seen this album yet? Because Big Boi is a major label artist without a traditional major label sound.

His early releases from the album—“Something’s Gotta Give”, “Royal Flush”, “Shine Blockas”—sound exactly like we want a Big Boi album to sound like, with none of the crossover attempts à la “The Way You Move”, which helped 2003’s Speakerboxxx (one half of the Outkast release, along with Andre 3000’s The Love Below) get a speedy release. Despite a handful of top-notch guests, including Andre 3000, Mary J. Blige, Raekwon, and Ice Cube, Jive wanted to wait to release the album until it spawned a hit single.

As a result, Big Boi has taken his project over to Def Jam, where it will be released this coming July, and dropped the Scott Storch-produced “Shutterbugg”, which is as close to a pop single as the rapper is going to give. With three years in the making, and production from Andre 3000, Organized Noise, Boi-1da, and DJ Toomp, this album is not going to stay under wraps for long.

Kanye West – Good Ass Job

We haven’t heard too much from Kanye since the Taylor Swift incident and its prolonged presence in pop culture. He appeared on the Jay Leno show soon after to apologize, hiding back tears when talking about his mother’s death, and how she would have responded. His response was to take some time off, get out of the spotlight and truly recover, which his fans would surely welcome as to avoid another 808’s and Heartbreak.

Instead, while taking time off in his private Diamond Head, Hawaii estate/studio, Kanye got back to music, returning to his rap roots, and enlisted the help of some legendary underground hip-hop producers like DJ Premier, the RZA, and Pete Rock. Good Ass Job is the fourth installment in Kanye’s school-based theme, following 2004’s The College Dropout, 2005’s Late Registration, and 2007’s Graduation.

Speaking on the new album, hip-hop pioneer DJ Premier explained that it is “strictly hard beats and rhyme. He’s totally done with electro.” Other high-profile artists who have expressed involvement in the project include Q-Tip, Drake, and longtime mentor No I.D., while Kanye has cited Maya Angelou, Gil Scott-Heron, and Nina Simone as the project’s main influences. While few details are being released about the music, sources close to Kanye claim that it will be released in June.

Lupe Fiasco – Lasers

It was a little over a year ago when Lupe first announced that his upcoming three-part album, tentatively titled LupE.N.D., would be his last. It seems he spoke too soon, as his recording contract with Atlantic Records prevented him from retiring with this agenda. Thus, Lupe postponed the project indefinitely, beginning work on what we now know as Lasers, an acronym for “Love Always Shines Everytime Remember to Smile”).

The first single is the Matthew Santos-assisted “Shining Down”, which followed suit to his last hit single, “Superstar”, off of 2007’s The Cool, which also featured Santos’ vocals. The track, also produced by Soundtrakk, features a grinding guitar riff and bright synths, while Lupe spits three fiery verses—“Well, well, is there a little author / Comin’ back, humming his hymns a little altered /Your attention put back on the flow like the Department of Water”. However, the track did not meet the same popular success, only reaching #93 on the Billboard pop charts, compared to “Superstar”, a top ten hit.

In January, Lupe premiered a second single, “I’m Beamin”, which features a synth-heavy Neptunes beat and the chorus, “They said my future was dark/ See me now/ Just look around/ I’m beamin”. While the single generated a large amount of internet buzz, it failed to chart, causing Atlantic to hesitate on a release date. Lupe has since confirmed the project’s completion, and that he hopes it will see the light this summer. Confirming additional production on the album from the likes of Danja and Kanye West, Lupe has already begun his nationwide “Lasers” tour, premiering a number of new songs at select shows.

Eminem – Recovery

After waiting five years for Relapse, what we got was an album full of Slim Shady at his most maniacal, filling his sixth studio album with dark, often disturbing material. This was after a silence lasting practically half of a decade, a result of a serious drug addiction following his failed marriage to wife Kim and the death of his best friend, fellow D12 rapper Proof.

After recording well over two albums worth of material during the Relapse sessions, Em originally promised a follow up, Relapse 2, with similarly dark material, to be released last fall. Instead, he stayed in the studio, and as the new music began to take the place of the Relapse leftovers, he released them alongside his Drake-collaboration “Forever” as Relapse: Refill back in December. Over the past few months Em kept quiet about the new project, although he did disclose that he had been working with new producers, including Just Blaze and D12’s Denaun Porter. Then last week, via Twitter, he created a world of confusion after disclosing, “there is no Relapse 2”. That same afternoon in a press release, he declared that the new music is an entirely different sound than that of Relapse, and thus deserves its own title, Recovery.

Those close to the project have confirmed that it is very emotionally driven, with Just Blaze claiming, “He is really back spitting…. He had his ups, he had his downs, he’s back way, way, way, up.” Along with Blaze and Porter, production is expected to come from The Alchemist, Dr. Dre, and Eminem himself, with a release date already set for June 22.

Drake – Thank Me Later

I have to admit, I was actually a bigger Drake fan before he went mainstream. As much as I love “Best I Ever Had” and all the post-signing-to-Young Money releases, I appreciated him more as a rapper on his old mixtapes when his sound was more raw. But nonetheless, Drake is blowing up quick, working with the best of the best, and has sky-high expectations for his upcoming debut album Thank Me Later, due out June 15.

Doing much of the writing and recording following the breakout success of “Best I Ever Had”, originally a mixtape single, the album’s content largely deals with the Toronto artist coming to terms with his new life and fame. Unlike his last release, the mixtape-turned-EP, So Far Gone, which had a sound compared to that of Kanye’s 808’s & Heartbreak, Drake has stated that his major label debut will be a “solid hip-hop album”. The album’s lead single, the triumphant “Over”, has a kind of dark vibe, with Drake reflecting on the last year of his life, with the opening lines, “I know way too many people here right now that I didn’t know last year/ Who the f*ck are y’all?/ I swear it feels like the last few nights we been everywhere and back/ But, I just can’t remember at all, what am I doing?”

The production comes from Canadian producer Boi-1da (who is behind much of his success, producing “Replacement Girl”, “Best I Ever Had”, and “Forever” to name a few) and newcomer Al-Khaaliq, full of vibrant synths and hard-hitting drums.

With much of the album still under wraps, Drake promises further production from A-listers Timbaland, Swizz Beatz, Crada, and Tricky Stewart, with the video for his second single, the Kanye West-produced “Find Your Love” currently being shot in Jamaica. Confirmed tracks include the leaked “Shut It Down”, a smooth R&B jam featuring The-Dream, and the Lil Wayne-assisted “Miss Me”, with guest appearances from Jay-Z, Kings of Leon, and k-os in the mix as well.

Honorable Mentions:

Nas & Damian Marley – Distant Relatives

The highly-anticipated collaboration between the Jamaican reggae artist and Queensbridge rapper. We first heard these two together back in 2005 on the excellent “Road to Zion” from Marley’s debut album, and four years later we have a full-length release. If singles “As We Enter” and “Strong Will Continue” are any indication, these artists are going to blend wonderfully, fusing signature New York hip-hop with authentic Jamaican reggae and dialect. Guests include K’naan, Lil Wayne, Stephen Marley, and the late reggae musician Dennis Brown.

Reflection Eternal – Revolutions Per Minute

Finally, a follow up to Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek’s terrific Train of Thought, which was released back in 2000. Ten years later, both musicians have well-established themselves within the underground hip-hop scene, collaborating frequently over the years, with many of Kweli’s best album cuts being the work of the Cincinnati native. Therefore, a full Reflection Eternal reunion was long overdue, and from the way the first batch of songs sound, they are not going to disappoint. Not quite a summer release, it drops May 11. Great study break? Buy and listen to this album, through and through.

The Roots – How I Got Over

Believe me, this has no business being in the “honorable mentions” section, but the Roots are so damn good at keeping everything hidden that I have too little to write about. If you haven’t heard the single yet, with the same name as the album’s title, go check it out right now. It’s not nearly enough to hold us off until June, but alongside watching them every night on Jimmy Fallon, it’ll have to do.