Young Jeezy: The Recession

On 2008's finest hip-hop album, Atlanta rapper Young Jeezy sets out his stall: "It's a recession, everybody broke/So I came back to give everybody hope." The album touches upon economic issues without dwelling on them, and it captures the spirit of the times with an unerring precision. The Recession is tinged with bleakness and joy, but the prevailing mood is a kind of majestic, emotional gravity. Jeezy's gruff proclamations are borne along on a litter of triumphal arrangements - horns, whiplash beats, soulful backing vocals, yearning melodies - and you are swept along in their wake. Circulate, which finds Jeezy "looking at my watch like it's a bad investment", and the episodic grind of Put On (with a stellar guest turn from Kanye West) are highlights. Appropriately enough, The Recession ends on a note of hope, culminating in the Obama-celebrating My President.