The Holy Grail Of New Releases! Ciara, Jay Z, Freddy Gibbs + More Drop CDs Today

New Release Tuesday! If you’re like me, you look forward to days like this! There’s so much great music available online and in stores today. Check out which albums dropped today!

Greenhouse Effect – Bend But Don’t Break

Blueprint and Illogic are American indie hip-hop artists from Columbus. Blueprint is a founder of Weightless Recordings. He is currently signed to Rhymesayers Entertainment. Blueprint is one half of the duo Soul Position along with producer RJD2. This album from Greenhouse Effect, which currently consists of himself and Illogic, is their fifth.

Araab Muzik - The Remixes, Vol. 1

Araab Muzik‘s The Remixes, Vol. 1 is his first remix volume he’s ever put out. This album features MPC-heavy remixes similar to his previous album titled Electronic Dreams. The 808s were slick, and the sheer power the album could generate through a good set of speakers was impressive.

Tony Touch - Piece Maker 3: Return Of The 50 MC's

Veteran DJ, producer and mixtape master Tony Touch has been on hiatus for some time from releasing albums. The retail mixtape will pay homage to the Rocksteady Crew member's 1990s works, specifically the Power Cypha series, which was famous for featuring upwards of 50 freestyles from New York hip-hop legends and rising stars. Eminem, M.O.P., Redman & Method Man, The L.O.X. and members of the Wu-Tang Clan will be featured on Piece Maker 3: Return Of The 50 MC's.

Freddie Gibbs – ESGN

Freddie Gibbs‘ ESGN album leaked yesterday after someone hacked into the computers of the project’s distributor, Empire, while they were migrating to a securer network. ESGN was originally slated for a July 9 release. To combat the theft, Gibbs’ camp released the album early, both as a streaming preview and an iTunes download. He’s not dabbling in the cartoonish world of studio gangstas. Instead, Gibbs has composed a set of songs that draw you down to his own eye level; he’s bringing you into the front lines of his own world, and it can be an unapologetically grisly one.

Ciara - Ciara

Ciara released her fifth studio LP, Ciara on Epic Records today.

I started working on this record more than a year ago, and since then, I have found my creative clarity on the direction I wanted to go in. It was a surge of fresh energy, and I pushed myself to be even more creative. I'm more open to change. I'm learning so much of about myself, and I've become really comfortable and free. This album goes beyond my music. It's about my life.

AND NOW, THE HOLY GRAIL OF NEW ALBUM RELEASES...

Jay-Z - Magna Carta Holy Grail

As much as Kanye West might've wanted Yeezus to be the cultural high water mark of the summer, even he can't compete with the sheer magnitude that accompanies every Jay-Z release. And while Yeezus garnered plenty of headlines for its marketing rollout, only Jay could game the system to the point that the RIAA changed their policies, sending his 12th album to platinum status even before it was released on Samsung phones on the Fourth of July. #NewRules indeed. And while Kanye hit a narcissistic high point when deciding on his album title, Jay took his album name from an 800-year-old British document that limited the power of kings over their subjects, a left turn of his own after the opulence that defined so much of Watch The Throne.