Sure, Lil Wayne lives up to his self-proclaimed title, “Best Rapper Alive,” but can he rock? The short answer is hell fucking yeah. With his new release, Rebirth, Weezy completely transformed himself from a rap luminary to a rock star.

Unlike his previous multimillion-selling Tha Carter III, which was all over the place, Rebirth is very focused. He either raps or sings (sometimes with the support of Auto-Tune) over hardcore, heavy rock riffs. With his gritty vocals, fluid flows, and lyrical wits, Wayne brings his idiosyncratic skills to a whole new level.

On “One Way Trip,” he once again turns nonsense rambling into genius rhyming: “Woke up this morning with my dick to the ceiling / Rather sleep with another chick from my building / Kick her ass out / have breakfast like a motherfucker / I am with another bitch by supper.” Aesthetically speaking, it’s really not what he says, but how he says it and his punch lines are hilarious: “You can act stupid, bitch I am just dumber” and “I am sick, very sicker than you / and when I play sick, I am Jordan with the flu.”

“Ground Zero” is a proof that Weezy can rhyme over any beat, even a boisterous one, and that he could turn noise into catharsis: “Kill them all, die in the spirit of the war / Thinking would a mind be in spiritual fall / Uh shit cause there ain’t no love / Die while America drank your blood.”

Unlike Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3, which filled with guest spots, Weezy has wisely kept his list to the minimal. Eminem shows up on “Drop Your Wall” and makes the track a dynamic duo. Both Em’s and Weezy’s eccentric styles are a perfect complement to one another. This is a much better collaboration than Jay and Weezy on “Mr. Carter.”

As for his singing, he should definitely drop the Auto-Tune clutch. Both “American Star” and “Prom Qeen” are horrendous due to the digital deterioration. Sure, Rebirth is a detour, but it’s a highly creative one. This is the way to rock. Norah Jones should take notes.

Hoa Mi’s volume one, Mot Thoi Yeu Nhau, showed some promising return, but her follow-up volume two, Thu Tinh Khong Gui, and three, Trom Nhin Nhau, are huge disappointments. Even on a cold, rainy, gloomy Sunday morning, I felt no soul in her covering of sentimental ballads (nhac tru tinh). Her heart is just not into the songs. Her version of “Dung Xa Em Em Nay” is the blandest I have ever heard, as if she was reading off the music sheet. The mechanical productions aren’t doing her any favor either.

Fuck Minh Tuyet and let’s make it official—Le Quyen is the new hooker. On the street, a hooker is someone who offers sex for money. In music, a hooker is a singer who lives by the hooks and makes luscious love to the hooks.

Le Quyen’s volume 3, Neu Nhu Ngay Do, is packed with catchy, contagious choruses. Right off the opening title track, she drips her thick, husky vocals over the banal lyrics like honey and ginger over plain, white tofu. On the Chinese-melodic “Tha Thu Cho Em,” she wraps her big-ass pipe around the hilariously-heartbreaking lines, “Neu em ra di bay gio thi nhieu nguoi se trach moc / vi da ben nhau bao ngay ma gio day doi thay,” as if girls these days really give a fuck what people say. With “Roi Mot Mai,” she brings out her rockability that is a reminiscent of Phuong Thanh.

Just when I give up on her for going down the trendy, poppy path, Le Quyen Acoustic pulls me back and gives me some hope again. Unlike Minh Tuyet, Le Quyen is not a mediocre singer at best. She has a dark, raucous, powerful voice with a bit of range. Her jazzy cover of Jimmy Nguyen’s “Mai Mai Ben Em” is intoxicating. She knows how curl her raspy, smoky vocals around the acoustic picking guitar and sentimental sawing violin. On Tran Le Huynh’s “Chan Tinh,” she completely erased Van Truong and intimately made it all her own. With Phu Quang’s “Noi Nho Mua Dong,” songbird Le Quyen trenches her soul into a bitter cold winter night and her delivery is a resemblance of the younger Thanh Lam who I truly missed.

Acoustic has its stale moments with tracks like Thanh Tung’s “Mua Ngau,” Duc Huy’s “Neu Xa Nhau” and Ngoc Le’s “Xa Roi Tuoi Tho.” Yet as long as Le Quyen doesn’t waste her voice with lollipop tunes, she remains one of my favorite Vietnamese vocalists.

In a packed concert hall at the John F. Kennedy Center last night, Sonny Rollins showed that he is still the Saxophone Colossus at the age of seventy-nine. Limping on stage in a white jacket and sun glasses, Mr. Rollins was greeted by an up-roaring crowd and standing ovation. He wasted no time charging his bop licks over an uptempo rhythm provided by Kobie Watkins (drums), Victor Y. See Yuen (percussion), Bob Cranshaw (electric bass), and Bobby Broom (guitar). Clifton Anderson added the rough, deep trombone sound to the sextet.

Mr. Rollins then ripped through the bluesy “Heaven In the Sky” like a young man with a wounded soul. He also poured his heart out on a sentimental tribute to “J. J. Johnson.” The band members are mostly younger than Mr. Rollins and they sure kept him active. Drummer Kobie Watkins played as if he meant rhythm he hit. The passion and emotion expressed on his face were a joy to watch.

Mr. Rollins and his band closed out the night with a highly groovy tune that had a Caribbean flavor to it. Some of the audience members got up and danced along with Mr. Rollins improvisation and interaction. Once again, the crowd cheered on as they exited the stage. Even without an encore, the show was mesmerizing.

With an authoritative baritone, conceptual rhyme patterns, and impeccable flows, Rakim is, without a doubt, one of hip-hop’s most influential lyricists of all time. So it is fitting to open his new album, The Seventh Seal, in a decade with “How to Emcee.” Aspiring rappers should take notes: “To be the true emcee, icon, or idol / The contents you put in your song are vital.”

Word wise, Rakim is still at the top of his game, but his choice of beats has kept him from making classic albums for years and The Seventh Seal is no exception. On most tracks, the production tends to overpower his voice. “Man Above” sounds like a Dr. Dre’s watered-down production. On “You & I,” you could hear the speaker-rattling bass more than his voice. The speed-up sample on “Message of the Song” gets in the way of the message. “Satisfaction Guaranteed” featured way too many bells and whistles including various drum tracks and irritating chipmunk effects. And what’s up with all the snoozing R&B hooks? Can’t believe he fell for that.

Getting through The Seventh Seal once again makes you realize how indispensable Eric B. was to Rakim’s success. Eric knew how to kept the beats to the minimal to let Rakim’s lyricism shined. After all, even the God Emcee needs the president by his side.

Norah Jones has changed. She trimmed her hair, broke up with her boyfriend, dropped the keyboard and picked up the guitar. She even abandoned pop jazz for soft rock on her forth release The Fall. As for her singing, Norah remains Snorah. “It’s Gonna Be” is the only tune she sounds awake. Most of the time she rocks without getting out of bed. Even when the beats kick up a notch, she still lays back. “Light as a Feather” is best described her flow. That’s not a bad thing since she no longer sings about romance. Gone are the lyrics of “To not touch your skin is not why I sing.” On breakup tunes like “I Wouldn’t Need You,” “Waiting” and “Even Though,” her mood gets bleaker and she is unapologetic about thanking her ex’s father for raising him “so damn wrong.” Jones is slowly and consciously transforming her style.

Cung Tram is Quang Ly’s most personal record. “Xin Cam On” is an ode to his wife. “Me Oi Con Nho Me” is an eulogy to his mother. “Co Bao Gio Phoi Phai” and “Sai Gon Chieu Cuoi Nam” are his recollections of Hue’s drops of sunshine and Sai Gon’s peacefulness in the city’s hustling atmosphere. Accompanied by straightforward, mellow arrangements, provided by Hoai Sa, Viet Anh, Bao Phuc, and Vinh Tam, the eight tunes he has written lack the sweet melodies he had accustomed to, yet they are deeply intimate. Quang Ly claims that he made this album for himself. In that regard, he had succeeded.

Live and isolated, Keith Jarrett is masterful at improvising on the spot as if notes just rolled off his fingers. Testament, captured in Paris and London concerts at the end of last year, finds Jarrett once again moaning and groaning and displaying his spontaneous piano solos ranging from percussive to expressive, powerful to peaceful, and technicality to melancholy.

Another Bang Kieu? As if we need one more dude who sings like a spineless bitch. No offense to BK freaks. In fact, you should check out Hoang Nhat Minh’s Acoustic if you love BK’s countertenor. I can’t stand that shit; therefore, I couldn’t even get past the first track, Le Huu Ha’s “Hay Yeu Nhu Chua Yeu Lan Nao,” even though the acoustic recording is straightforward and intimate.

Nine new tracks from Quoc Bao off Q+B don’t gravitate you immediately, but will slowly but surely grow on you. Quoc Bao enlisted a wide range of vocalists from the least experience (Hoa T. Tran) to the veteran (Quang Ly). Often time, an album with too many singers distracts the experience and Q+B is not an exception; however, producer Dung Dalat has skillfully weaved the records together with his crisp, simple and lively arrangements.

Mai Khoi kicks off a slow, sexy, romantic, pop-rock flavor on “Tinh Ca Hong” then Ho Quynh Huong rocks up a shiny mid-tempo on “Xa.” Quang Ly is one of my favorite Vietnamese ballad singers, but he’s not completely sold me on “Tinh Khuc.” His penchant for over-pronounced diacritical marks (specifically the diphthong with centering offglide like “cũng”) sounds irritating. It’s definitely Quoc Bao’s fault. Viet Thanh who is unknown to me yet has thrilled me with his charming, powerful voice on “Anh Yeu Em.” Ho Quynh Huong returns with another hypnotizing mid-tempo on “Tinh Nhu Trai Chin Muon.”

If I have to pick one track from Q+B, it has to be “Quynh.” Tung Duong sounds soulful and mesmerizing. He has his way of adapting his style into song instead of singing a song in his style. Hoa T. Tran is the least impressive vocalist on the album, yet he impresses me the most in playing and experimenting with his voice. The best part of “Dep Thuong Dau” is the little scat he pulls off near the end.