Have you guys been keeping up with the leaks from the new Jeezy album? Do you know how much this album is going to rule? I mean Jesus Christ, this morning's one-two punch of "Welcome Back" and "Circulate" is just pure unalloyed disgusting confidence, Jeezy flexing a much-improved flow over these huge mythic instrumentals. Plus there's "Put On," my favorite single of the year. And looking at the tracklist, this thing is conspicuously low on big-name event-rap. Jeezy's last two albums (Let's Get It especially) are remarkably consistent slabs of evil, and this one has a good chance of being better than either. And if he actually manages to work in that recession-talk theme, which still hasn't happened on any of these tracks, all the better.

Speaking of big-name event-rap, let's talk about "Swagger Like Us." When the song showed up in my inbox Saturday morning, I was pretty sure it was a cobbled-together fake, especially when the M.I.A. sample and the discordant bleating John Carpenter synths first came in, like someone was cruelly manipulating me to get as amped as possible. But no, it's real, the four biggest rappers in the world rapping over an evil-sounding M.I.A. sample. And still it's somehow not that good. How does this happen? As hard as the beat knocks and as happy as I am to see M.I.A. getting this insane marquee look, that sample is really not a workable hook. And three of the four rappers practically fall asleep on the track; T.I.'s the only one who really works up any sort of froth. I mean, I like all the Oceans Eleven movies way more than anyone I know, and even I know that you can't just convince a bunch of famous people to show up and call it a day, you know?

Oh, and Biden? I'm good with that, I guess. Still. Fuck Delaware.