Mike D review – ex-Beastie Boy’s first UK gig in two decades, in a Tyneside bingo hall, is uproarious fun

Teeing up a forthcoming solo album, the rapper doesn’t reheat his old Beastie Boys sound, instead throwing down everything from ballads to Kraftwerk references

Genesis Owusu: Redstar Wu & the Worldwide Scourge review – political fury and propulsive fun

Seething with righteous anger and moshpit-ready tracks, the Australian artist’s genre-hopping but cohesive LP makes a case for the durability of the form

Wu-Tang Clan review – still bringing the ruckus even on their farewell tour

This is slicker than their thrillingly chaotic early gigs, but the veteran New York hip-hop crew’s flows remain feral after 30-odd years

The Streets review – semi-theatrical staging of A Grand Don’t Come for Free resurrects a British classic

Deadpan recital of the era-defining album of downbeat English rap suits the full-album format, presented with a formidable band

Cardi B review – ambitious spectacle and sizzling choreography

Kia Forum, Los AngelesGrammy-winning Bronx rapper electrifies LA with pugnacious lyrics and vivid set pieces on her first arena tour

J Cole: The Fall Off review – rap legend’s final album is a self-obsessed hip-hop history lesson

(Interscope)Bowing out after six consecutive US No 1 albums, Cole references rap greats and even conjures a convo between Biggie and 2Pac – but the lens rarely strays from himself

De La Soul: Cabin in the Sky review – a full-colour celebration of Trugoy the Dove that never feels heavy

The first release since the death of their founding member dwells on the afterlife, yet doesn’t forsake their perpetually sunny sound

Danny Brown: Stardust review – hyperpop-rap powered up with post-rehab positivity

The Detroit rapper feared his music would get dull after he went sober, but no-one could be bored by this guest-stuffed, chaotically swaggering new album

Dave: The Boy Who Played the Harp review – ​it’s clearer than ever what a stunningly skilled rapper he is

Returning with his first album in four years, the arena-filling UK rapper is still such a smart, sharp lyricist as he explores a series of existential crises

Fridayz Live Sydney review – Mariah Carey is impeccable but Pitbull steals the show

Dual headliners capped a R&B festival with fever-dream energy, including self-help sermons and Pitbull cosplayers everywhere you looked

Little Simz review – hip-hop visionary radiates joy and Gallagher-level swagger

Switching from full-arena singalongs to horn-blaring funk to sweaty Detroit techno club vibes, the rapper is at the very top of her game

Cardi B: Am I the Drama? review – vigorous score-settling and brutally witty put-downs

Seven years after her debut, Cardi B is back with a ferociously enjoyable 70-minute album of eclecticism and enthusiastic annihilation of her enemies

Gorillaz review – after 25 years, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s cartoon band are still riveting and relevant

Dressed like a vicar, Albarn leads his band – joined by a choir, a string quartet, De La Soul and more – in renewing Demon Days’ downbeat drama

Earl Sweatshirt: Live Laugh Love review – a head-spinning trip with rap’s great rulebreaker

With a sunlit disposition and paeans to his daughter, the mood turns lighter on the US MC’s sixth album – but the glitching, crashing beats are as esoteric as ever

AraabMuzik: Electronic Dream 2 review – the return of a maximalist MPC wizard

This sequel retains the original’s generation-defining mix of dread and debauchery, although it is overshadowed by recent bolder versions of the sound