Top 10 Hip Hop Albums of 2008

Here is my listing of my favourite albums of the past year. Surprisingly this list was hard to generate only because there was a ton of solid releases this year. Both underground and mainstream artists released very solid albums this year.

#10. Killer Mike - I Pledge Allegieance To The Grind II
Highlights: "God In The Building" (produced by K4D's The Cancer). This could have been the beat of the year in my opinion. The cinematic theme matched with Killer Mike's lyrics made this a constantly repeated track on the ipod during the summer. Other solid tracks included: "Pressure", "2 Sides" (The only song with Shawty Lo on it that I can tolerate)

Link: http://www.myspace.com/grindtimeonline

[LINK]: God In The Building: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=G2qOw6td2Hg
[LINK]: 2 Sides: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=HeJjqNLsrt0

#9. MURS - Murs For President

The long-awaited major-label debut from underground rap giant, MURS came out in 2008. Murs For President could be summed up as the most left of centre mainstream release that wasn't named 808s and Heartbreak. Give MURS credit for sticking to his guns and not having every "hot right now" rapper be featured on his album. The only rapper featured on the album was Snoop and the result was a solid banger called "Time Is Now." Side note: The producer of this beat may have also had the best producer name of the year, listen to the song to find out. This album may have had one of the craziest sample freaks of all time on the song "Me and This Jawn." The song samples an Isley Brothers song ("For The Love of You") in such a manner that the original should be retired from ever being sampled again.

[LINK]: Time is Now - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=dNe5TmYdfpA
[LINK]: Me and This Jawn - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=jKVpc6MM2hQ

#8. Illa J - Yancey Boys

The younger brother of Jay Dee put out an album this year. To me it only confirmed that Detroit Hip Hop has continued to be slept on for the better part of this decade. It's a damn shame too as Illa J put out an album that continues to make Detroit Hip Hop some of the greatest music out in the scene today. The strongest part of this album lies in Illa J's versatility as a vocalist, rapper and a producer. It's an enjoyable listen from start to finish. It is also a reminder of how talented Illa's brother Jay Dee was as a producer. Dilla's sound was truly timeless.

[LINK]We Here: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=wWPw_mQEXsM

#7. N*E*R*D - Seeing Sounds

This album quite possibly could be higher up on the list, it probably should only because I went to see N*E*R*D perform twice in 2008 (Once at the Glow In Dark Tour in May and again with Common in October). The live performance of this album do the album justice. Hell, I just got around to buying the CD last week. For me to buy a CD these days takes a lot. I guess my only gripe with this album (and my sole justification for having it in this position) would be its length. It's only 12 tracks long.

[LINK]: Yeah You - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=V0pFMRM85r8
[LINK]: You Know What - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=_cdPWwBKplI

#6. Little Brother - Seperate But Equal (Drama Free Edition)

Even though the original was released in 2006, the re-release of the mixtape without DJ Drama and his "Dr-dr-dramatic" sound effects was a much welcomed release in 2008. In similar fashion to the re-release of "And Justus For All", LB included new material in the form of 3 tracks: "Deeper", "Passionflower" and "Playin To Lose" -- all of which are worthy of being mentioned in their own separate paragraphs. Looking forward to what '09 holds for LB without question. I'm also hoping they come to Detroit when it's not conflicting with a family member's birthday =/.

[LINK]: Rollin Out - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=yM2lLPQ8aZc
[LINK]: Deeper - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=e6cw2rtZJl4 (9th on the BEAT!!!)

#5. Young Jeezy - The Recession

To those who know me -- do not think I lost my mind by putting Jeezy's album ahead of an LB release. I can only say that The Recession was an entertaining listen from start to finish. Of course the album hit the scene with "Put On" featuring an auto-tune assisted Kanye West, but even 'Ye was on point with his lyrics. I've rewound his verse way too many times when that song first came out. On to the rest of the album, there are some certified trunk rattling joints on this album. Primarily "Ambitions as a Hustler", "Circulate", "Don't Do It" and one of my favourite tracks of the year, "Who Dat?" I guess the best part about the album as the whole is that Jeezy doesn't deviate from the formula of the trap rapper, he only improves on it. Sometimes consistency wins.

[LINK]: Who Dat - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=7DSVYAJZb4I
Side Note: This video was fairly disappointing. . . . it only confirmed that I'll probably never watch BET again for the rest of my life. Maybe the recession really did affect the music industry =/

[LINK]: Don't Do It - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=YdBtPQMorm8

#4. Hollyweerd - Edible Phat Mixtape

These dudes from Atlanta are the future of hip hop. To those who don't know, Hollyweerd is a group from Atlanta who incorporate elements from many styles into creating their own sound. It has been described as Ghettotechno on some boards -- I just call it dope. It is rare when I co-sign an artist or group based on ONE song, but it happened with "Weirdo." It's radio-friendly but the production was unlike anything I heard at the time. Add to that the inclusion of a saxophone solo from member Staggo Lee, and I was sold on the group's talent. I hope this group doesn't fall through the cracks of the music industry and gets some shine in 2009.

[LINK]: Weirdo - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=xkSuCKl0Rx0
[LINK]: Ur Smile - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL7wX21LxvY (9th on the beat!)

GET THEIR NEWEST MIXTAPE "Electricity Showroom" HERE:
http://www.mediafire.com/?qymfrdigtik OR HERE


#3. Elzhi - The Preface

2008 was the year of Detroit Hip Hop. It is really unbelievable how much Detroit is overlooked when compared to other hip-hop heavy cities. Of course it doesn't do artists like Jay Dee, Illa J, Slum Village, Royce Da 5'9", Guilty Simpson and Black Milk justice when one turns on 97.9 or 102.7 and hear 3-5 T-Pain / Lil Wayne songs in a row. That's another blog for another day. Elzhi of Slum Village released his debut CD on an independent label, FatBeats. Knowing it wouldn't be released in stores on Canadian soil anytime soon, I forked over the cash a week before it released because of how ill Elzhi is as a lyricist. The purchase was entirely justified after the 3rd track (Guessing Game).

[LINK]: Motown 25 - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=YGwAs0GiKNc
[LINK]: Colors - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=p4Hw9vwx-qU

#2-A. The Roots - Rising Down

The legendary roots crew. What more can be said? The group is the most underrated act in music. Period. Rising Down took the mood from Game Theory and went to an entirely different level with it. The music was darker and edgier than the last album. "Criminal", "Get Busy" and "Rising Up" are the album's best tracks, but it's like differentiating between a 98 and a 96 on a test. . . all of the songs at one point or another got a ton of play in the intrep this year.

Quite frankly the only reason why this album wasn't #1 was because of the ruthless nature of the brevity of the track "Unwritten." Clocking in at 1:22, the song ends before it really begins. . . but then I guess that's why it's called Unwritten....

[LINK]: Unwritten - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=PjP1FDaVq94
[LINK]: Rising Up - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=D5HGPD3rWqA

2-B: Wale - The Mixtape About Nothing

Due his featured appearance on Rising Up, Wale had to make the list of my favourite albums somehow. Luckily, he released "The Mixtape About Nothing" themed after the format of The Seinfeld series. It was well executed by Wale as every song had "The" in front of the song title similar to the Episode title in each of the Seinfeld episodes in the series. Wale is putting D.C. on the hip-hop map. Songs like "The Kramer" and "The Grown Up" show his lyrical versatility. Whenever he releases his official album, I'm coppin it on the first day.

[LINK]: The Kramer - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=bp05cNnsR3I (For those who don't like the N-Word in their music, you have been forwarned. The opening sample is Michael Richard's racial outburst)

[LINK]: The Grown Up - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=TV0sYJbYODQ

#1 - Black Milk - Tronic

Another Detroit artist. Another solid album. Why don't people support real, organic hip hop these days? I'll never know. I could blame the internet or short attention spans, but people should give the "underground" or the "backpacker" more of a chance. Black Milk does fill the former role, but his sound gravitates to both labels. Tronic was initially slept on by yours truly -- figuratively and literally. At first I obtained it and figured I'd listen to it later. After some time passed, I wound up buying the album on iTunes (a first for me) and put it on the iPod. From the moment "Long Story Short" came on over the speakers, I was impressed. The production on the album is top-notch and Black holds his own as a lyricist. For a producer-rapper, it's kind of odd for an individual to succeed at both on every single track. Black Milk bats .800 on this album. Favourites on this album were "Losing Out" (feat. Royce Da 5'9"), "Long Story Short", "Hell Yeah", "Give The Drummer Sum" and "The Matrix"

[LINK]: The Matrix - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=aDtE4J3pD9w
[LINK]: Long Story Short - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=MUM_q58bWe0
[LINK]: Give The Drummer Sum - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=kcP8QJ_tTP0

Honourable Mentions:
Q-Tip - The Renaissance
Nas - Untitled (those who know really know that this album was snuffed creatively by Def jam)
Ludacris - Theatre of The Mind
Snoop - Ego Trippin (Snoop had fun on this album, Sensual Seduction (or its other title) was the proof)
Kidz In The Hall - The In Crowd