Idolator

Welcome to On The Shelf, Idolator's weekly look at the week's slate of record releases. It's the final new-release day before the holiday season officially ends, and the new-release market is still giving a wide berth to the holiday shoppers looking for the tried-and-true out there (witness the continued chart moxie of Hannah Montana). As such, the new-release slate is once again pretty light; after the jump, we look at new albums by Nas, Bow Wow, and RBD.

Nas, Hip-Hop Is Dead ... The N
The artist: Queensbridge's pride and joy, post-Jay-Z reconciliation.
The sound: Old-school beats, with the occasional Langston Hughes reference thrown in.
The first in line: New York hip-hop partisans.

Bow Wow, The Price Of Fame
The artist: Former child rapper has shed the "Lil" 'cause he's all grown up. Well, he's 20, anyway.
The sound: Beats by Chris Brown (!) and Jermaine Dupri, tempered by the sort of sullenness that only a reformed child star can bring.
The first in line: Trainwreck aficionados who can't wait to hear if Bow Wow has responded to being dissed by Lil Romeo. Er, we mean Romeo.

RBD, Rebels
The artist: Telenovela-spawned group that's outsold Madonna and the Rolling Stones in Latin America.
The sound: Sleekly saccharine pop with the slightest spice of Latin influence.
The first in line: Young ladies in the know who are so over Hannah Montana.

On The CD Front [Pause & Play]