June 18, 2013 Release Date

June 14th is Flag Day, that bright brassy brag that day, when every American whose heartbeat is true yells "cheers" to the colors, the red, white, and blue. But June 18th will be a day of reckoning in Hip-Hop. With four highly anticipated albums due to release:

J. Cole | Born Sinner
Kanye West | Yeezus
Mac Miller | Watching Movies With the Sound Off
Kelly Rowland | Talk A Good Game

All participants excluding the beautiful Ms. Kelly Rowland has played down the simultaneous release date, but we all know neither would not mind being victor in this heavyweight bout. J. Cole has proclaimed this summer would be a "Cole Summer" and accepts the battle with arguably one the most talented controversial artist of this generation, Kanye West.

Myself being an ad man at heart, I have to pay homage when its due to Mr. West with the brilliant guerrilla marketing campaign of projecting his track "New Slaves" all over buildings and neighborhoods in major U.S. cities. If the album title (Yeezus) and the allegedly controversial album art work were not enough. Kanye has added even more anticipation to his sixth solo release, that by the way cannot be pre-ordered. Kanye has all the weight going in, being 1-0 in his previous epic battle with 50 Cent with the release of Graduation in 2007. If I was a betting man, odds seem favorable going with Ye, but let us not stop there.

Mr. Cole Summer, took the Justin Timberlake approach of streaming his album free online before release, and who can blame him! Let us not forget JT's 20/20 Experience went damn near platinum the first week reminiscent of his N'Sync days. The only difference is JT's return was highly anticipated after his long hiatus from the industry, while J. Cole has to find a cure for the contagious sophomore slump. From listening to the stream, let me just say look forward to my review.

As for Kelly Rowland and Mac Miller, they are in the safe zone, where no matter what the outcome is as long as there top 5, its a win. Kelly Rowland has been EVERYWHERE, and I honestly believe its her time to shine. After hearing  "Dirty Laundry" I nodded in agreement with myself, like she has arrived. I would not be surprised at all if Miss Rowland reigns over all. Mac Miller buzz has only been getting louder with some proclaiming his album to be a sleeper on Tuesday, June 18th.

Only time will tell, but either way, fans and lovers of music please enjoy. It isn't every day that we get an array such as this one, please listen responsibly.