Rap Is In the Air

Rappers Lil Jon and Fat Joe are set to get back in the game, as both have albums ready for release in the next few weeks. Both have had lapses in their careers which they hope will be rectified by their new offerings.

“Crunk Rock” from Lil Jon is the first in six years. His 2004 album “Crunk Juice” has sold over 2.5 million copies. In the intervening time period Lil Jon has had many issues including a dispute with his label TVT. The label eventually shut down and so did Lil Jon’s career, for a while. The artist went back to his roots of DJ-ing for many years before heading back to the studio to produce, what he hopes, will be a chartbuster. The album features several prominent names in the rap industry including Soulja Boy, Elephant man, Ice Cube, Pitbull and the Marley brothers.

Fat Joe’s 2002 “J.O.S.E.: Jealous Ones Still Envy” was a personal record setter for the artist, as it sold 945,000 copies. Since then his output hasn’t been very well received. “J.O.S.E. 2” sold only a meager 20,000. Fat Joe puts the blame for that one squarely on his previous label, Capitol. For the new album he has gone over to E1 music and spent six months in recording “The Dark Side”. The album may be aptly named as the rapper does not hold back with what he has to say about other artists. The album also features collaborations with prominent artists like Young Jeezy, Cam’ron, Trey Songz and R. Kelly.