Black Milk

From the minimalist soul of "Say Something" and "U" to the shuffling Detroit hip-hop of "Insane," Popular Demand is sparse, lo-fi and sublime, the sort of rainy-day blunted hip-hop that J Dilla and his disciples were synonymous with. Dilla's ex-bandmates in Slum Village even show up for the excellent "Action," while the gruff, tough Detroit emcee Guilty Simpson delivers the goods on "Sound the Alarm." Sometimes the sparseness is too wispy and Milk's flow can grow bland, but at least half of the tracks are good to great, which is a pretty sound ratio for a hip-hop album in 2007.