50 Cent, Kanye West Lead Fall album rush - Mariah Carey follows

Opening the fall album-release season with discs by 50 Cent and Kanye West is kind of like kicking off your show with the encore. You could stick around for the rest of the gig, but what’s the point? Luckily, after the dust clears from the September 11 showdown between the rap heavyweights, the next few months will bring plenty more fresh tunes worth checking out from fellow rappers (Eve, Chamillionaire, Ja Rule, Rick Ross, Nelly and Lupe Fiasco); R&B divas (Mariah Carey, Nicole Scherzinger, Mya and Jennifer Hudson); rock bands (Foo Fighters, Coheed and Cambria, Hot Hot Heat and Avenged Sevenfold); and smooth singers (Chris Brown, Mario, KT Tunstall and James Blunt).

Who will raise their “Umbrella” this fall and have the back-to-school jam that rivals Rihanna’s unstoppable summer hit? We’re not sure (though we suspect we know what Kanye’s answer would be), so we’ve laid out the contenders for you. (These release dates and album details are based on MTV News reporting - information supplied by labels is subject to change, of course.)

November 20 - Heavyweights: They don’t get any bigger than Mariah Carey, and while details on her yet-untitled follow-up to the career-reviving The Emancipation of Mimi album are scarce, she recently told fans via a voicemail on her Web site that she’s got 10 songs in the bag and is planning to work with old pal Jermaine Dupri.

November to-be-announced: Yet-untitled albums by Jennifer Hudson, Spice Girls (greatest hits), Daft Punk (live), Mary J. Blige, Slim Thug, Gnarls Barkley and Sean Paul.

Source: MC Archives, MTV News