Interesting Upcoming Albums...

So there are a bunch of new releases dropping these days, at least a few of which are interesting. There's been stuff I've reviewed like Freestyle Professors, Branesparker and Nutso and Alternate Reality. Plus, I'm still meaning to pick up Themselves' new remix album, and I've got Buck 65's three EPs heading my way in the mail (review coming soon for sure). And there's still a lot on the horizon... some I'm really psyched about, some I'm just curious about. So I thought I'd take a quick look at what's coming up in the near future:

Atmosphere - To All My Friends/ Blood) I think I missed the last Atmosphere album or three. I think it's time to check in on them again. This is apparently two tour CDs combined into one semi-official album. Considering their tour albums are often better than their full-out, heavily promoted albums (Sad Clown Bad Dub 2 might still be their best complete album to date), that could just be all the more reason to give this one a shot.

Big L - 139 & Lenox) Is there anything on here to make this worth picking up? Looks like a repackaging of The Archives: 1996-2000 CD and vinyl EP that dropped in 2006 from the same label, with slight variations (a live version of "Devil's Son?" meh).

Celph Titled & Buckwild - Nineteen Ninety Now) Kinda gimmicky, but at least it's a promising gimmick (if you don't know, the gimmick is that they're using beats Buckwild made in the 90's). I don't know if Celph is really the MC anybody would have selected for this project, though.

Grand Daddy IU - Grown Man B.I.) I'm not sure if IU has ever been off his game, but he's definitely back on it now! He has been dropping some serious heat as free mp3s from his twitter. Even if he did nothing more than package those up and call it a day, he'd have a dope album. So this one's a lock.

Kool G Rap - Riches, Royalty, Respect) I'm already completely sold. Where can I send my money? Put me on a pre-order list for this immediately. Supa Dave is a dope, underrated producer; but Hell, I'd be sold on this album even if he wasn't.

LMNO - James Kelly 10-Pack) LMNO is releasing ten full-length albums all bundled together on 10/10/10. That's freakin' insane. LMNO's output has been very uneven... some singles I've liked a lot, some I think are flat-out wack. So I reckon this'll either be impressive or a last hurrah for his career.

Lord Jamar - Known Associates) You can always count on Jamar for some quality stuff. Whether it will be hot or just cool is yet to be determined, but it's a safe bet it'll at least be decent.

Lyrics Born - As You Were) You have burned me too many times, Lyrics Born! No more blind buys of boring, half-assed albums for me, no sir. I'm going to need concrete proof that this is your long-awaited masterpiece for me to even click on a free mp3 floating across the blogiverse.

Pace Won & Mr. Green - The Only Number That Matters Is Won) The first video ("Liquor and Drugs") is tight; their last album was fresh; I don't see how they can go wrong.

Pharoah Monche - W.A.R.) Is it time for a comeback? I'm not terribly optimistic (I'd like to know who the producers are on this), but my fingers are crossed.

Rah Digga - Classic) Actually, this has been out for the past three weeks or so. It looks like a big step back in the right direction for Digga, but I dunno... she's kinda flat/ boring without the other Outz members around her.

7L & Esoteric - 1212) Sort of a comeback album for 7L & Esoteric after a couple of weird, off-putting side and solo projects. If they do this right, I'm interested.

Skillz - Hip-Hop Confessions or World Needs More Skillz) I should probably know better, but I'm at least curious as to what he's coming with. Also, apparently, this album has two working titles; but that part I'm not really curious about.

2Mex - My Fanbase Will Destroy You) 2Mex is super prolific. What that means in practical terms is: more albums than anyone can keep track of, with no quality control. Will Strange Famous be the label to focus him into one solid, consistent album of pure top-shelf material? Or is 2Mex becoming the next Kool Keith?

Wu-Tang projects...) There's a couple coming, including Hell Razah - Heaven Raiser (stupid title), Masta Killer - Loyalty is Royalty and 9th Prince - One Man Army... Plus a whole bunch have dropped in the past couple months that I haven't paid any attention to yet. I'll basically just wait and see if anything gets overwhelmingly positive reviews before looking into anything... and that'll probably be a long wait. But hey, ya never know.