It can be argued that the final frontier for hip hop, at least from an artistic standpoint, would have to be the expansion of the beats beyond just simple loops that build and break down. What if an artist were to create a hip hop album of actual "songs" - Musical creations that have intros, choruses, bridges, breaks, and the like. XL Middleton seeks to answer this question with his latest, The Hedonistic Album.

Eschewing the electronic techno or stripped down drum beats of today's pop-infused hip hop, XL takes it forward by taking it back. Not only does he revive the smooth midtempo feel of 90's G-Funk, he takes it back to the source by drawing his inspiration directly from the smoky soul of the 70's and the synthesized excess of the 80's. Songs like "Cool (feat. Reality Jonez & Mistah FAB)" borrow from the slow-rolling Cadillac funk of Curtis Mayfield, while the uptempo "You Can't Train Me (feat. Moniquea)" sports a slick brass and s...