"Me And The Boy...

..Pharrell make beautiful music." But he won't make this list - and wouldn't in any case - but it's appropriate Pharrell's CD dropped the last week in July.

As its the first day in the last full-month of a summer that has went by way too fast, I wanted to shoutout and preview what-looks-to-be a very good - and potentially great - month of music. Assuming all of these release dates stay true, which given the Hip-Hop industry isn't likely (in fact most of these albums have already been delayed two/three/four times over), your boy-boy will be hitting up Circuit City or DeepDiscountCd.com to get his purchasing support on.

• Second Round's On Me by Obie Trice (8/15). I've slept before but I've enjoyed all of his recent singles. I'm still not expecting too much here but if I got five quality tracks, I wouldn't be mad. No gimmicks. (No guarantee here.)
• The Shining by J Dilla (Jay Dee) (8/22). The featured artists need to do my man right, posthumously, and given the projected lineup and their respective respect, I'm not worried.
• Idlewild by OutKast (8/22). If you know me, OutKast could probably put out a CD that simply repeated an André 3000 drum-loop and I would find a way to justify why I enjoyed it. They've earned unconditional support from me. Yet and still, just as I was able to purchase their last double-disc album for $9.99 featuring ohhh approximately 35 tracks, the previewed (and interesting) track listing features another 25 for this go-round. Like the current them or not, the Two Dope Boyz put out material. See for yourself at my frequented website friends at spinemagazine.com (July 28 entry).
• Till the Sun Turns Black by Ray LaMontagne (8/29). If you don't know, ask about him.
• Game Theory by The Roots (8/29). Yes, I already have the album. I like it very very very much but I will let the test of time pass. It might be the first Hip-Hop album where I can truly listen from start to finish with no strong impetus to skip a track. ATLiens and Aquemini are close calls, of course, as well as K-Os' Joyful Rebellion (which would probably be a disservice to simply call Hip-Hop). In fact, I don't know how many albums of any genre pass that test...off the top: Eric Clapton's Unplugged, Three Mo' Tenors, disc two of Petals: The Minnie Riperton Collection, and The Sinatra Christmas Album. I'll probably update that list for my own mental satisfaction later.
• Food & Liquor by Lupe Fiasco (Coming Soon...right?). Obviously, Lupe is very bitter about his "original" CD being leaked so I want him to get the album out in whatever form so he can get over it. About.com nicely summed it up by saying, "What Lupe may or may not realize is that album leaks are not necessarily synonymous with lackluster record sales. Jay-Z's Black Album was reportedly leaked two months before its official release, but the album still attained double platinum status. Common's Be was heavily bootlegged, yet the album was certified platinum, and was still brandished as a "must-buy" by various media outlets." Folks will cop your album, playboy. Put it out there. And to keep it real...I listened to both of the aforementioned albums previous to their release and they sit in the "official collection."

Plus, it would be nice to consume some worthwhile media this month after I donated money to AMC and all the other folks that benefit from attending a Miami Vice screening at the end of July. I won't even rail-on-it, it just wasn't a good spend. These things happen.