Def Jam, still delivering the heat.

Very recently, the legendary rap label Def Jam released two major albums, both for their authors and for the evolution of Black music.
After taking the web by storm with non-music related matters, Frank Ocean, member of the Odd Future posse, launched his real debut (let's do like Def Jam and consider "Nostalgia, Ultra" not to be an album, even if I think its quality could earn it the title), "Channel Orange". Filled with modern pop and really interesting instrumentations and experimentations, Ocean's album instantly placed him as a new heavyweight in nowadays r&b. 

When you mention in the same sentence "modern pop" and "experimentations", it is quite obvious to think about Pharrell Williams and the Neptunes. By taking a look at the credits, it is a confirmation that Pharrell might be responsible for a big part of the atmosphere of this well-crafted album. 

All in all, "Channel Orange" is the album of a newly revealed musician, who is good at songwriting and setting a mood. 

The other essential album is "Life Is Good" by Nas. Needless to say, the rap giant can never escape from the reference to "Illmatic", arguably the best rap album of all time. He sometimes came close to the quality displayed in "Illmatic" but also disappointed a lot of people with other efforts. But his abilities stayed untouched. With the help of Salaam Remi, Nas crafted good songs and albums. "Life Is Good" saw Chicago-based (and Kanye West's mentor) No I.D. helping Remi to give Nas a cohesive album. That's what "Life Is Good" is : a cohesive effort, made to stay. 

With this album, Nas tried to adapt to the evolution of the music market, by releasing songs way before the official release of the album. "Nasty" dropped first, followed by "The Don", "Daughters", "Loco-motive" etc. Easily one third of the album was known before the release. Still, these tracks blew a lot of fans' mind, and created enough buzz to make this album a must-have on the day of its release. 

After 20 years of career, Nas looks back and gives interesting interviews, like he did for NPR. His status also earns him the headlines of major publications, like the NY Times.