2010 New Hip-Hop Releases

The first few months are usually the least active in the New Releases department. With little to no competition, RJD2's The Colossus (released January 19th) emerged as January's highlight. It's worth checking out if you're a fan of RJ's new creative direction.

January's Key Rap Releases:

• DMX - Best of DMX
• KRS-One - Playlist: The Very Best of KRS-One
• Oh No - Dr. No's Ethiopium
• Strong Arm Steady - In Search of Stoney Jackson
• Wizeguys - Guerrilla Warfare

February produced one of the most impressive albums of the 1st quarter -- Jake One and Freeway's Stimulus Package. It also produced an embarassing rap-rock foray dubbed Rebirth. What was Lil Wayne thinking?

February's Key Rap Releases:

• Big Noyd - Queen's Chronicles
• Lil Wayne - The Rebirth CD 
• Madlib - Before The Verdict
• Statik Selektah - 100 Proof: The Hangover CD
• Styles P & Green Lantern - The Green Ghost Project
• Wu-Tang Clan - Return of the Wu & Friends

Jake One and Freeway unintentionally opened the floodgates of collaborations, as everyone seems to have caught the collaboration bug of late. March gave rise to new duets such as 9th Wonder & Murs' ForNever and Freeway & Beanie Sigel's Roc Boys. Other notable albums include Brotha Lynch Hung's Dinner and A Movie, Luda's Battle of The Sexes, and Rae, Meth, and Ghost's Wu-Massacre.

Welcome to the month of April, when every rapper and his weed decides to release an album on 4/20. April 20 is, of course, the counterculture holiday celebrated by consuming copious amounts of ganja. It's no surprise, then, that more than half of this month's Top 10 are scheduled for release on that date. Read on for a list of albums dropping this month.

• Top 10 New Rap Albums for April 2010

May brings us two of the most wanted hip-hop albums of 2010 -- Revolutions Per Minute and Distant Relatives. See what else is scheduled to drop this month below:

There are several reasons why you're going to love this month's Top 10. For starters, it's probably the only place on the web where you'll see hip-hop neophyte Drake and veteran MC Eminem jostling for position. Then there's the 6/22 showdown. That day is something like a hip-hop holiday this year. Plus, it's the last musical hurrah before breezy summer songs eventually overtake the airwaves. B-boys and b-girls, I give you June's Top 10 New Rap Releases.

With summer around the corner, expect some SUV-friendly heat rock from July's top shottas. It's time to check out some sizzling records sure to stay in rotation past this summer.

You won't find this month's hottest rap releases at Best Buy or Target. Rather, you'll have to scour web pages for releases like Wale's More About Nothing , Freddie Gibbs' Str8 Killa and Madlib's Advanced Jazz . That's right, mixtapes and EPs are leading the charge. Who cares about classifications? Good music is good music. Dive in for August's best hip-hop albums (and street albums).

With fall right around the corner, let's explore the albums that will serve as the soundtrack of the season. This month's Top 10 features new albums by Joe Budden, Rah Digga, and Jeezy.

October month features some lyrical gladiators, with Canibus, Masta Killa, and Pharoahe Monch all dropping new CDs. If you're like me and your birthday falls in October, you also have plenty of beats to boogey to, with producers 9th Wonder and Illmind also releasing albums.

Kanye originally scheduled his album for a September release, but it was later postponed to November. With no Jay-Z or T.I. to compete against, this ensures that Kanye will be this year's Mr. November.