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By Lisa Liang/Berwin Song (thatsbj.com)
Updated: 2008-05-23 10:55

Snoop Dogg
Ego Trippin'

If anyone is deserving of the title "O.G.," it's Snoop Dogg. After helping to lay the foundation of rap’s influential G-funk era at the beginning of what has spanned into a 15-year-long career, he is definitely one who qualifies as an original gangsta. Even after nine albums, his voice is still the same – smooth as ever – and this latest installment fulfills the promise of everything you'd expect from someone with access to the best studios and finest producers in southern California. But there's no trying to pretend that he’s still the Snoop of yesteryear: Ego Trippin' plays like the beginning of the end, another aging rapper with a reality show on MTV, hanging onto the last shreds of his career. "O" may be for original, but "O" is also for old.

Nicolay and Kay
Time: Line

Dutch producer Nicolay of Foreign Exchange fame emerges once again in another international collaboration, this time with Houston MC Kay of The Foundation in Time:Line, a concept album that follows the course of life from birth to death. Nicolay blends an assortment of sounds and instruments together, though most of the tracks are heavy on the synthesizers, while Kay's verses are complemented by different harmonizing vocals – sometimes a lone male or female, sometimes an entire choir's worth – making for either a very rich or very busy combination. While definitely a product of hip-hop tradition, Time:Line plays much more like a throwback to soul music, the kind to get down with at the roller rink, and leaves you feeling warm and full.

Gnarls Barkley
The Odd Couple

We always knew there was a certain one-hit marquee feel to that first monster single, Crazy – and the utter coolness of Cee-lo and Danger Mouse's whole shtick was bound to garner their fair share of detractors. Sure, it was easy to get sick of Crazy, but this second album from Gnarls reminds us nevertheless that there's still sheer musical enjoyment to be found in what they do. While not every track works, the album reveals a more mature (especially in Cee-lo's strong vocals) and far less spastic approach (don't be fooled by the speedy lead single Run). And that neo-'60s soul revelation that hits you right from the start (with the butter-smooth opener, Charity Case) is still pretty cool.