Much more happened in hip hop music this summer than Ja Rule's screaming. It's time to catch up on some of the rap albums we all missed out over the break. Let's start on the commercial side of things.

Styles P of the Lox and Ruff Ryders dropped his version of a Lox solo album on the coat tails of his more talented partner, Jadakiss. The album, "A Gangster and a Gentlemen," is a surprisingly entertaining listen.

Styles' delivery is the typical east coast laid back, smooth flow, but his lyrical content sometimes leaves more to be desired. His bragging about using and trafficking drugs and guns eventually gets old.

Swizz Beats produces four of the 20 cuts, including the single, "Get High," indicative of his jumping on the chipmunked singing soul sample bandwagon.

The wide variety of musical architects and guest vocalists on the LP breaks what could have otherwise become an incredibly monotonous sound. This album is decent, but better artists exist in the mainstream than Styles P.

Big Moe from Houston's Screwed Up Click released his first nationwide album, "Purple World," as the summer first heated up.

The unique southern sound that Moe and his partners bring on the CD is a breath of fresh air from the recycled, simple keyboard beats and thug lyrics that have recently been the focus of commercial rap.

The album has at least one guest per song, which in this case is appropriate as Moe serves to sing the choruses and kick a verse here and there while he's at it. The album is full of catchy beats and Big Moe's song flow, covering topics like "sippin' purple stuff" and "plexin'." It's a must listen for fans of Texas and other southern hip hop.

On the subterranean side of the game, which was more interesting this summer, the Weathermen crew came to the forefront as major players as a couple members came with impressive solo albums.

In the underground scene, punch line battle rappers come a dime a dozen but Copywrite, of the MHz and the Weathermen, is better than the rest. His album, "The High Exhaulted," has been highly anticipated since his first appearance several years ago.

He even braggingly pokes fun at the tardiness of his album when he says, "My album is like hell, you don't know when it's coming, but you know it's gonna be hot."

Copy's confident delivery is one of the most aggressive of any rapper. He isn't yelling, he just sounds vicious as he cleanly enunciates every single word. Copywrite describes his style of hip hop music best with the syllable rhyme, "I murder beats and turn MCs to hamburger meat." So far, this is one of the best albums of the year, thanks to the beats by RJD2, the brightest up and coming producer in hip hop or electronic music.

Speaking of RJD2, he dropped a mostly instrumental gem in the form of "Deadringer." Upon listening to this album, ?uestlove, drummer for The Roots, was quoted as saying "this is what Moby's new album should have sounded like."

The type of music RJD2 makes is a cross between DJ Shadow and Moby. Hammering drums and esoteric soul samples, vocal and otherwise, round out a nearly perfect album. Some of the underground's newest, freshest talents, including Copywrite, provide excellent verses on their three respective solo vocal tracks.

Do yourself a favor and pick up what you missed out on this summer.
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