What a year for the DMV!! Whether it was yU’s “Before Taxes“, XO’s “RealMatic” or the various instrumental projects from Oddisee, there’s no denyin’ that the DMV picked up where Detroit left on in 2009. As Oddisee has stated on numerous occasions, this year Diamond District (the triumvirate of Oddisee, XO & yU) where truly: “The newest edition of what you been missin”. The only real trouble when deciphering an album such as “In The Ruff” is that it’s so damn solid and cohesive, picking a hands-down favorite from the album is a difficult task. When that problem occurs, you know you’ve got a darn good album on your hands, “In The Ruff” was just that!!
This list is a continuation of my Top 50 Hip Hop LP’s of the decade list that I submitted to my boy Jeff Weiss this past Summer including my honorable mentions from said list plus my favorites from the past few years (2005-2009) added in. These 100 selected projects represent many but nowhere near all of my favorite albums of the past decade as well as the ones I feel were the most influential. These albums all represent classic material to me.
Hands down, the very best “free” album to drop in 2009, yU’s “Before Taxes” featured one of the most laid-back, “scrunch your nose up at the bluesy funk” tracks, “Beats & Rhymes From March 25th”. yU handled the production on this joint as well, as he did with over half the cuts on “Before Taxes”. While I’ve noticed that yU doesn’t necessarily stand-out as much as 1/3 of Diamond District, “Before Taxes” turned out to be one of the best solo albums of 2009.
Back after a week off here’s the latest episode of RIOC. Indie pioneers Natural Elements were in the place for our last show of the year. They speak on their album “1999″, how they got together and why NE has been quiet for the last decade. Links & playlist below.
Also, tonight (12/28) I’ll be live on Beatminerz Radio at 8pm rocking an all vinyl set of mid to late 80′s Hip Hop. And I’m not talking about “Eric B is President” either! Gems!!! Log onto www.dabeatminerz.com.
With the end of the decade, we are going to go through the years and posting up my favorite Albums and tracks. You can already peep my favorite tracks for 2000 thru 2002 on WYDU. Today, we’ll cover some of the important tracks for 2003-2005. Some are favorites of the hip hop nation, some our my own personal choices. It’s a nice mix of popular and my own personal tastes mixed in with it. Read more…
Another good year, although not quite as good as ’03.
BC’s Top 10 LP’s of 2004
10) MF DOOM – MM.. FOOD – The main reason this is #10, is the break that DOOM takes in the middle of the LP from his mic duties.
9) Murs & 9th Wonder – Murs 3:16 The 9th Edition – A real nice collaboration and the only big flaw is the short length.
Ghostface Killah – The Pretty Toney Album - Here’s one it took a little while for me to get into, but I finally realized how good it was. This might be my favorite Ghostface LP.
7) The Roots – The Tipping Point – I think they keep getting better and better. This LP is another in a long line of great albums from the hip-hop band and Late Night with Jimmy fallon house band. Which, by the way, I’m cool with. You can’t sell out anymore (ask Snoop and his Orbitz gum commercial and, even worse, that one he did w/ Lee Iacocca), so get some exposure and some money y’all.
6) De La Soul – The Grind Date – The great songs on this LP are really great, but there are a few mediocre tracks, which dropped it a little lower on my list.
5) R.A. the Rugged Man – Die, Rugged Man, Die – I didn’t really follow the man’s career at all, but heard good things about this LP and checked it out. I was pleasantly surprised, as this album is great all the way through. I looked up self-deprecating in the dictionary, and while I didn’t find R.A.’s picture, I did learn that, I do indeed know what the term means.
4) Beastie Boys – To the 5 Boroughs – This might be the Beasties’ must hip-hop album ever. I think it’s damn good and I can’t wait for the new one, whenever that will be, since it was delayed due to MCA’s cancer diagnosis this summer.
3) Jean Grae – This Week – Man, I dig this LP. I think there’s one song that I don’t like and Jean Grae is a phenomenally clever MC.
2) Masta Ace – A Long Hot Summer – Not quite as good as Disposable Arts, but another great one from the Masta.
1) Madvillain – Madvillainy – Another DOOM and Madlib collaboration album, but this time with DOOM and Madlib. It’s a great album from beginning to end and the best of 2004.
BC’s Top 20 Songs of 2004
20) The Dum Dum – Tajai – The beat is Asian influenced and Tajai drops some sold rhymes. A nice song from a decent LP.
19) Bad Man! – Murs and 9th Wonder – This is great beat and a great MC working together.
18) Through the Wire – Kanye West – I love this beat and you have to dig that West drops his verses through a wired jaw from his car crash.
17) The Worst – Jedi Mind Tricks – This wasn’t my favorite JMT LP, but this is the best song from the album in my opinion.
16) The Grind Date – De La Soul – One of 5-6 classic songs from The Grind Date.
15) Good Ol’ Love – Masta Ace – A real nice mellow track from A Long Hot Summer.
14) 3 the Hard Way – Beastie Boys – The hook is ill and the Beasties wreck the beat. Thanks to a stint in toy merchandising, I know that Gnip Gnop is a board game and not just some jibberish from Ad-Rock. I don’t know how many times I have gotten Ad-Rock lyrics years after the song is released (another example, when The taking of the Pelham 123 remake came out, I finally knew what the reference was from Sure Shot, as I was unfamiliar with the original movie).
13) Lessons – R.A. the Rugged Man – This dope song starts off an underrated album from R.A.
12) Potholderz – MF DOOM w/ Count Bass D – Just a nice pairing of two unique MC’s.
11) 3:16 – Murs and 9th Wonder – A short, but great song that kicks off the collabo.
10) I Try – Talib Kweli w/ Mary J. Blige – I haven’t found a Kweli LP that I would consider a classic, but this song is real nice.
9) Ch-Check It Out – Beastie Boys – Some old school Beastie Boys type stuff. Just the Beasties being their goofy selves and having fun. Real cool appearance on Letterman:
Don’t Say Nuthin’ – The Roots – The best song you’ll hear with a jibberish chorus. Nice, I used jibberish again… and again.
7) All Good Things – Haiku d’Etat – A dope mellow song with a real nice chorus.
6) Holla – Ghostface Killah – Ghostface rapping over an old R&B song w/o removing the original vocals. Pretty cool song. I was in Cub Foods today and heard the actual song (I don’t know the original artist) and was trying to figure out why I knew the lyrics. Thank you Ghostface Killah! Oh, and 2 songs later was the song sampled and interpolated in Masta Ace’s Let’s Take a Walk. Thought that was a cool coincidence.
5) All Caps – Madvillain – My second favorite beat from the DOOM/Madlib LP.
4) Supa Luv – Jean Grae – Your typical dope 9th Wonder produced beat. I love this song.
3) H.O.O.D. – Masta Ace – MA kicking some knowledge about the ‘hood. These are the kinds of songs that
Ace specializes in and the beat is nice as well.
2) Strange Ways – Madvillain – Like all the songs on Madvillainy, this song is too short, but it’s great. The beat is just amazing.
1) Rock Co. Kane Flow – De La Soul w/ MF DOOM – I think this is a Jake One beat and it’s crazy. Mix Pos and dave with DOOM, and you have a winner.
Honorable Mentions:
He Comes – De La Soul w/ Ghostface Killah The Writz – Gift of Gab – A crazy piano based track with Gab matching his flow with the beat. It’s Nothing – The Beatnuts - I was listening to Milk Me again recently and I liked it better than I remembered. This song features one of those crazy Beatnut beats and some “I’ll kick your ass” lyrics. Spoiled Rotten – J-Zone w/ Celph Titled - J-Zone comes with another great beat. I always liked these 2 paired up together, although I didn’t really get into Bo$$ Hog Barbarian$. A-Alikes – Jean Grae - Jean Grae comes hard on the first track off of This Week. Ain’t Changed – Truth Enola - There were a few good tracks from this LP and this was one of the best. Crazy – Truth Enola - This song survives a lame reggae dude kicking a bar or 2 in the middle of the song. Oh My God – Masta Ace w/ The Beatnuts and Rahzel Biscuits – Ghostface Killah w/ Trife Brawl – R.A. the Rugged Man – The Rugged Man spittin’ over some crazy xelophone loop. One Beer – MF DOOM
This is a list of what I consider to be the Top 200 Hip Hop LP’s, EP’s & mixtapes from this year so far. Please keep in mind that in order for me to even narrow this list to 200 I had to exclude all instrumental albums with the exception of Exile’s “Radio” (as it could’ve easily been Album Of The Year) otherwise it would’ve just been ridiculous and impossible to narrow to just 200 Hip Hop albums. This is the final time I do this, after three years I’m sure you all get the point I’m trying to make by now. Read more…
Head-nod maestro IMAKEMADBEATS continues his neck-breaking assault of dopeness with his latest single, “Return With a Mask On.” Featuring MidaZ the Beast (Alchemist’s Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars “Gangrene Mix”) and J.Freedome over a frenetic banger selected from one of the producer’s 2000+ beats, the song offers parallel stories of the stress and anger that causes people to retreat behind their ‘masks’ – and return with a vengeance.
And now IMAKEMADBEATS is giving listeners a chance to tell their own stories. Using the instrumental version of the song included in the free digi-single, fans can record their own verses about when they had to ‘return with a mask on.’ All entries will be posted on the IMAKEMADBEATS bandcamp page for fans to listen to.
IMMB will select one of the submissions to appear on the bonus version of “Return With a Mask On,” from his up-coming IMAKEMADBEATS album, featuring Black Milk, Steele of Smif n Wesson, Von Pea (Tanya Morgan), Butta Verses, Hezekiah, and more. The winner will also receive a an IMMB t-shirt and the Japanese import version of IMMB and Roc C’s The Transcontinental, featuring Oh No, Rapper Big Pooh, Chino XL, Wildchild, and more. Due to the response that this contest has received in the past few weeks, the deadline has been extended to January 15, 2010 at midnight. All submissions can be sent to dammitmgmt@gmail.com.
“Return With a Mask On” serves as a placeholder to keep fans satiated for the slew of projects that all three artists have on deck for 2010. MidaZ is set to release a free conceptual mixtape with www.potholesinmyblog.com called El Midaz Affair (featuring the music of El Michels Affair) in January. J. Freedome will be heavily featured on IMAKEMADBEATS’s upcoming debut album, IMAKEMADBEATS (Culture Kings Music). Additionally, IMAKEMADBEATS will also be releasing the Daylight/Nightlight split-EP, featuring Butta Verses (De La Soul’s The Grind Date) and MidaZ the Beast.
A late addition, so to speak, “The Graveyard” was just unveiled to the public last week via an email blast from the track’s producer Ill Poetic. Ill stated that “The Graveyard” was left off the album simply because the track’s mood was a bit too somber. Quite contrary, I found “The Graveyard” to be my favorite track, from one of the year’s finest albums, “Diabolical Fun”. Ill Poetic’s production on this joint is simply awe inspiring, can’t wait to hear what dude has up his sleeve for 2010!! C’mon man! (c) Uncle L.
It’s my favorite time of the year. No, not because of the holidays. Those are great and all, and I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and will have a happy and safe New Years. But the reason this is my favorite time of the year is all the year end lists that pop up all over the net and the blogs. This year is even more special with the end of the decade soon approaching us. I just like reading other people’s opinions, and maybe pick up on something I may have missed or breezed over the first time through. We here at WYDU are busily working on our year end lists. We should have the year end extravaganza up the week of January 4th. I’m hoping to have a wide variety of people on the WYDU panel this year. If you missed last years, you can peep it. This way, with a bunch of different people weighing in you won’t be dominated with just my opinions, which as we all know, can be kind of on the strange end and a bit narrow minded even if I have to say so myself.
I’ve actually been making tapes/cds of my favorite songs since 1990. I don’t have all of them anymore, and I didn’t do any from 98-00 for a few different reasons. I recall ’93 being a particular great year for singles (duh) but I of course can’t find that one anymore.
With the end of the decade, we are going to go through the years and posting up my favorite Albums and tracks. You can already peep my favorite albums for 2000 thru 2002 on Bloggerhouse. Today, we’ll cover my favorite tracks for that time period as well as some of the favorites of the hip hop nation. It’s a nice mix of popular and my own personal tastes mixed in with it.
1. Reflection Eternal – The Blast 2. M.O.P. – Ante Up 3. Common – The Light 4. De La Soul & Redman – Oooh 5. Refelection Eternal – Move Something 6. OutKast – B.O.B. 7. Jay-Z – I Just Wanna Love U 8. Prodigy – Keep It Thoro 9. Binary Star – Honest Expression 10. Common – Sixth Sense 11. Masta Ace & Buckshot – Brookyn Blocks 12. De La Soul – All Good 13. Mos Def & Pharohoe Monch – Oh No 14. Porn Theater Ushers – Blah Blah Blah 15. Slum Village – Untitled 16. Eminem – The Real Slim Shady 17. Ghostface Killah – Cherchez La Ghost 18. SLum Village – Climax 19. J-Zone – Orphan Babies 20. Masta Ace – Ghetto Like
The year 2000 saw me doubling up on a some artists, such as Common, De La Soul, Slum Village and Masta Ace all had two songs apiece. Common had one of the best albums of the year with “Like Water For Chocolate” and it featured two great songs, “The Light” and “Sixth Sense”. De La Soul came in with the Redman assisted “Oooh”, a track that got a lot of play from me that year. The second track comes in the form of “All Good”, which is a personal favorite of mine from that year, which would become some what of a theme song for me. The problem with the Slum Village album was besides the fact that it was a great overall record, there wasn’t a jam that made a ton of noise that year. So we went with two of my personal favorites, although we could have put just about any track in there from that album and I would be okay with it. The two Masta Ace joints aren’t even really my favorites out of his catalog, but I like them enough to include them. Another personal favorite that shows up in this collection is “Honest Expression” from Binary Star. It’s a song that could very well be the track that speaks to hip hop as a whole for the whole damn decade. Not a truer word has been spoken in a hip hop song for this decade.
1. Dilated Peoples – Worse Comes To Worse 2. Erick Sermon – Music 3. Nas – Ether 4. Jay-Z – Takeover 5. De La Soul – Baby Phat 6. OutKast – The Whole World 7. Masta Ace – Acknowledge 8. Bubba Sparxx – Ugly 9. Beatnuts – No Escapin This 10. J-Live – The Best Part 11. Jay-Z – Izzo 12. Gorillaz – Clint Eastwood 13. Common – Tekzilla 14. J-Zone – Live From Pimp Palace East 15. Redman – Let’s Get Dirty 16. Nas – Got Ur Self A Gun 17. Masta Ace – Don’t Understand 18. Jakki The Motamouth – The Chosen One 19. Jigmastas feat Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Pharohoe Monch, Mr. Complex, Shabaam Shadeeq – Lyrical Fluctuation (DJ Spinna Remix) 20. 13 – Slow Burnin
The year 2001 features everything from classic underground hip hop tracks; 13′s “Slow Burnin’” from the west coast, Jakki The Motamouth’s “The Chosen One” from the heartland of the US and Jigmastas with a conglomerate of who’s who from the backpacker era of the time with “Lyrical Fluctuation” (DJ Spinna Remix). It also has two of the most venomous dis tracks from the decade with Jay-Z and Nas going at each other with “Takeover” and “Ether” respectively. A surely somewhat surprising choice in “Ugly” by Bubba Sparxxx also appears. While it did get a lot of play from MTV2, which I did happen to watch a lot of since it was one of the few chann
els I could get on my TV, my reason was more personal. I’m a sucka for the timbaland beat, the chorus, and even Bubba makes me like the track. It also helps it was my soundtrack for whoppin’ fools in Madden that year. The unreleased track, “Tekzilla” from Common appeared sometime in 2001 (or maybe earlier), and it’s still one of my favorite Common tracks ever. You also have to mention the Primo produced “The Best Part” by J-Live. I probably played that song a thousand times one month.
1. The Clipse – Grindin’ 2. Eminem – Lose Yourself 3. The Roots – The Seed 2.0 4. Blackalicious – Make You Feel That Way 5. J-Live – Satisfied 6. Scarface – My Block 7. Methodman & Redman – How High Pt 2 8. Slum Village – Tainted 9. Ras Kass – Kiss U (Original Version) 10. Jaz-O – It’s Ova 11. Royce Da 5’9 – Rock City 12. AZ – Once Again 13. The Roots – Rock You 14. Atmosphere – Godlovesugly 15. Mobb Deep feat Big Noyd – The Learning (Burn) 16. Knoc Turn’al feat Missy Elliot – The Knoc 17. Camron – Oh Boy 18. Krs-One feat Tonedeff – Clear ‘Em Out 19. People Under The Stairs – Acid Raindrops 20. Edan – You Suck
The year 2002 saw kind of a weaker crop of songs. Anytime I have Cam’Ron in the mix, you know I wasn’t entirely happy with it. “Oh Boy” was still an okay song that I liked a lot more then than I do now. Same goes for “The Knoc” by Knoc Turn’al. I thought Knoc was going to be the next “thing” in hip hop. Not to be I suppose. Mobb Deep had a dude for an album in 2002, but I still have a guilty pleasure for “The Burn”.The Roots come with two songs. “The Seed 2.0″ was a mainstream success. I didn’t care for it much then, but after a friend of mine would sing it constantly at work for a year straight in 2007, the song is actually one of my favorites from that album. “Rock You” was a song that grabbed my attention when I first bought the album. It would then appear on the Madden game for that year and I heard it thousands of times from then on out. Ras Kass brings “Kiss U” a song that is directed toward the Alchemist and Jadakiss, more so Alchemist after he sold the the same beat Ras used on “Home Sweet Home” to ‘Kiss for another track.
Ghostface Killah – The Pretty Toney Album - Here’s one it took a little while for me to get into, but I finally realized how good it was. This might be my favorite Ghostface LP.
