Eminem

50 Cent's ill-conceived follow-up to Get Rich Or Die Tryin'

Debut manifesto from Coalville's best mining rapper. Do not mistake it for a comedy record

The late Tupac Shakur won't lie down, or be allowed to. This documentary (just released in the US) is struggling to get a UK release, but the album's an impressive mix of grave-robbing and creative necrophilia. Over a foundation of greatest hits, there are three new tracks. Eminem produces "Runnin' (Dying To Live)", which fuses 2Pac and Biggle, while the 8 Mile animal himself raps on "One Day At A Time".

Second album from Laurence Fishburne-approved Philadelphia hip hop quartet

Second album of the year, recorded with just a four-track and a healthy dose of vitriol

Compiled singles of Canadian laptop scamp

Dizzee Rascal is the best rapper this country's ever produced, period. His words are as sharp as prime Tricky, his delivery sharper; he's got bags more personality than anybody in the British rap scene. These local comparisons add up to faint praise, though, so how about this: 18-year-old, East London-bred Dizzee Rascal is as good as any MC currently active on Earth. Every UK garage MC brags about how his style's unique, and virtually every MC does it using the same flow and timbre.

Eminem's big-screen rags-to-riches story fails to impress

Veteran Louisiana-born country-soulster runs the gamut of musical styles and moods on her daring and dazzling follow-up to 2001's critically lauded Essence

Third album from Canadian rapper