Top 10 Favorite Songs of 2012

While 2012 already ended over a week ago, I've been meaning to talk about my top ten favorite songs of that year. 2012 featured a lot of great rappers releasing excellent albums that I still listen to and will continue to listen to for some time. This list will feature my top ten picks of 2012 but will not feature more than one song by the same artist because I don't think that would be fair. So without further adieu, I give you my top ten favorite songs of 2012!

10- Hip Hop (Feat. Scarface, Nas & DJ Premier) - DJ Khaled:

First of all, I am not a big fan of DJ Khaled. I don't really know what his contributions to his albums are; he doesn't rap  on his songs, he doesn't do the hooks and he doesn't even produce his tracks half the time! But if its one thing DJ Khaled can do right is unite rappers that would fit perfectly together in one song. With Hip Hop, DJ Khaled releases, in my opinion, his best song yet. Scarface and Nas spit verses about a female and how they hate her now but in the end it turns out they're talking about Hip-Hop. While this has been done before (Common's I Used to Love H.E.R.), they spit great verses. Scarfaces' voice adds to his aggression and Nas' flow is as perfect as always. With DJ Premiere's great production, this song is a very memorable one that I will continue to listen to for a while.

Other Memorable DJ Khaled song(s): They Ready (Feat. J. Cole, Big K.R.I.T. & Kendrick Lamar)

9- New God Flow (Feat. Pusha T & Ghostface Killah) - Kanye West:

To me, Cruel Summer was a big disappointed because I expected a great album with great verses from all of the G.O.O.D. Music members and some MBDTF production from Kanye West. What I got was an album that sounded like a free compilation give-away. However, one song on this album I gotta say I absolutely loved. New God Flow is the best produced song on the album and has some of the best verses as well. Pusha T drops two great verses throwing more jabs at YMCMB members Lil Wayne, Birdman and Drake. Then, Kanye West drops one of the best verses of the year. Even though Kanye isn't as good as he used to be, he can still go in! When he starts stomping his feet, there's no denying that Kanye is going full HAM. Finally, Wu-Tang member Ghostface Killah comes in and drops a breathtaking verse filled with great rhymes and wordplay. This is a great track and I highly recommend that you hear the album version with Ghostface Killah than the radio version (which to be honest I never heard on the radio!).

Other Memorable Kanye West song(s): White Dress & Cold 

8- The Book of Soul - Ab-Soul:

Ab-Soul's sophomore album was my second favorite album of 2012 so there's no way a song from it cannot be on this list! On this song, Ab-Soul pours his heart and soul giving us one of the most personal songs I've heard in a while. Ab-Soul talks about the death of his long love that passed away recently (R.I.P.) and how she influenced his life as well as how her death affected him now. On the song, Ab-Soul drops one of the best lines this year "I guess the Mayans wasn't lying/2012 my world ended". Damn! If you haven't heard this song yet, I highly recommend you check it out as soon as possible. This one will leave you in tears and giving you more respect for the ones you hold close.

Other Memorable Ab-Soul song(s): Terrorist Threats (Feat. Danny Brown), Double Standards & Track Two.

7-Zero Dark Thirty (Feat. Rob Sonic) - Aesop Rock:

To be honest, I almost don't want to recommend this song because Aesop Rock isn't your ordinary rapper. De-cyphering his lyrics is a hard task because most of what he spits is based on things that float in his own mind, which is a very strange mind if you ask me! Listening to Aesop Rock will have you grabbing a dictionary trying to understand the words he's saying and his metaphors run on for so long you find yourself going back just to see what you missed on the first listen. That's not to say that you need complicated words to make a good conceptual song, but Aesop Rock lives in his own world and if you're daring to enter, you might experience some of the best music in modern Hip-Hop. His voice and flow just ride the self produced beat with absolute ease. The lyrics melt in the beat and what you get is a fantastic energetic song to one of the best albums of the year; Skelethon . So check it out, maybe you'll like his strangeness.

Other Memorable Aesop Rock song(s): Leisureforce, Cycles to Gehenna, Gopher Guts & Saturn Missiles.

6- Reagan - Killer Mike:

Controversial Hip-Hop relating to government conspiracy has always been around, with Immortal Technique and Lowkey coming first to mind. With Reagan however, Killer Mike just goes in with his dark deep flow over a monstrous EL-P produced beat. He raps about former US president Ronald Reagan and all of the conspiracy surrounding his presidency and involvement with "The New World Order". Now I'm not the biggest fan of these types of songs, but Killer Mike and EL-P pull it off perfectly giving us one of the best songs of year. If you like conspiracy based Hip-Hop, you'll love this one.

Other Memorable Killer Mike song(s): Big Beast (Feat. Bun B, T.I. & Trouble), R.A.P. Music & Don't Die .

5- Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Big K.R.I.T.:

Big K.R.I.T. is one of my favorite new rappers because of his consistency, having released three fantastic mixtapes and a great major lable debut, Live From The Underground, which features this song. Big K.R.I.T. isn't afraid of getting personal and for that I greatly admire him not just as a rapper but as a person as well. With Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Big K.R.I.T. pays respect to his father who may not have been the wealthiest financially, but the wealthiest spiritually and intellectually, hence the title. He talks about how his father raised him and was his main guide, telling him what to do and how to act. For example, he talks about how his father giving him a condom at the age of fourteen prevented him from becoming a father at such a young age. Big K.R.I.T. really brings it all in with this song, and I highly recommend you check it out!

Other Memorable Big K.R.I.T. song(s): Live From the Underground & Cool 2 Be Southern, Boobie Miles. 

4- For My Upstairs Neighbor (Mums the Word) - EL-P:

El-P's Cancer 4 Cure was one of my favorite albums of 2012. After 5 years of absence, this album was very much anticipated amongst Hip-Hop fans. I personally loved Fantastic Damage and I'll Sleep When Your Dead so I had high expectations for this one. However when it came out, it blew me away! Not only was the production fantastic but EL-P really showcased his skills as a lyricist. I don't know why many people only like him for his production, he's a fantastic Lyrical rapper. With this song, EL-P raps from from two different time periods, the first from when he's being interrogated by the police for a murder they think he's witnessed and the other when he sees his shaky upstairs neighbor. From the first verse, you could see that EL-P doesn't really have anything to tell the police as he claims he didn't see anything. However on the second verse, he raps about his experience of seeing his shaky neighbor right before she commits the murder (I'm assuming its her husband or boyfriend who has been abusing her). In the end, EL-P tells her "Do the thing you have to and I'll swear I'll tell them nothing". That gave me chills! But what makes this song so great is not only the mysterious story but how he relates his experience to what happens in New York. No one ever interacts with the other people in their buildings; everyone minds their own business. That is what EL-P does in this song but when he sees her struggles, he supports her decision and tells her he won't rat her out. Its an excellent song and I highly recommend you listen to it!

Other Memorable EL-P song(s): Drones Over BKLYN, Tougher Colder Killer (Feat. Killer Mike & Despot) & $4 Vic/Nothing But You+Me (FTL)

3- No Introduction - Nas:

No Introduction has got to be one of the best opening songs for a Hip-Hop album in a long time. Life is Good was a great come-back for Nas and with this song, Nas shows us what he really is made of. For me, this song surpasses The Don and Nasty because of its production and Nas' rapping. Produced by Justice L.E.A.G.U.E., this song contains great drums, piano and violin instrumentals at a grand scale. The intro and outro to the song are beautifully played and the production is hands down the best on the album. Nas however escalates the quality of the song to a higher level, spitting rhymes about his life before and after his fame. He raps about how he became in charge of his family because of his frail mother and how he had to resort to committing crimes to make money and put food on the table. He then proceeds to rap about how Hip-Hop has changed his life and has a very memorable line in his second verse that says "Remember talking to Biggie inside his Lex truck/Said stay fly when you bummy keep your pajamas Armani". I loved this line and I thought it was a little funny at first. So in conclusion, I highly recommend you listen to this song because it showcases who Nasty Nas really is.

Other Memorable Nas song(s): Daughters, Nasty & The Don.

2- Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free) - Lupe Fiasco:

While I don't love the album he put out this year as much as I did earlier, this song is still a standout track from Food & Liquor II: TGARA Pt. 1. I remember when the song first came out, I had about eighty plays in a matter of days. I couldn't stop listening to it! The production is excellent, sampling Pete Rock & CL Smooth's classic They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.) which sparked unnecessary controversy. Lupe's flow is absolutely perfect, rapping continuously over topics that The United States seems to ignore or cover up to avoid exposure to the outside world. He uses the metaphor of a supermodel to show the corruption of the modern youth and the simile to The Simpson's Mr. Burns to show how the oppressor controls the slave (Mr. Smithers). With the smooth saxophone instrumental and Lupe's great flow and lyricism, this song lands on the number two spot on my list. But what other song could possible top this one? (And no, its not a Lil B song...)

Other Memorable Lupe Fiasco song(s): Bitch Bad, Form Follows Function & Strange Fruition. 

1- Sing About Me/I'm Dying of Thirst - Kendrick Lamar: 

Where do I begin? There's no doubt that this year was Kendrick's. His album good kid, m.A.A.d city topped my favorites of this year and probablt gave him eternal respect in the Rap game (If Section.80 didn't already do that). While many people favor Money Trees or m.A.A.d city, this song really clicked with me emotionally. In the first part of the song, Sing About Me, Kendrick raps from three different perspectives. His friend Dave, Keisha's sister, and himself. His friend calls him up in fear of dying and has no one else to talk to so he tells him how much he loves him for supporting his brother but throughout the verse, you forshadow Dave's death. As the verse builds up to the ending, it truly is a jaw dropping story. In the second verse, Kendrick raps from the perspective of Keisha's sister from Keisha's Song and how she's furious with Kendrick for rapping about her tragedy in his previous album. She calls Kendrick ignorant and how being a prostitute isn't as bad as Kendrick described, as she is one herself. The ending of the verse can be interpreted in two ways, but I'll leave that to you. In the third verse, Kendrick raps as himself reflecting on how his music has affected his listeners and how the idea of death has always floated in his mind. Out of all the rappers out there, I gotta say Kendrick is the best at finishing a verse off powerfully. The hook on this song is perfect, with Kendrick singing about how he wants his characters and himself to be remembered after their deaths.  I'm Dying of Thirst follows up in a new beat but talks about the struggles people in Compton suffer and how religion has always been the key to them. At twelve minutes long, this song never drags and I listen to it all the time. I highly recommend you listen to it because you'd be really missing out if you didn't.

Other Memorable Kendrick Lamar song(s): good kid, m.A.A.d city (Feat. MC Eiht) & Compton (Feat. Dr. Dre) 

So that's my top ten of 2012! What were your favorite songs of 2012? Please post a comment and let me know! I would really love to see what songs left an impact on you!

*Update: My best albums of 2012 list has been updated to a new top 10, check it out below!* 

1- good kid, m.A.A.d city - Kendrick Lamar
2- R.A.P. Music - Killer Mike
3- Control System - Ab-Soul
4- Plateau Vision - Lushlife
5- Cancer 4 Cure - El-P
6- Skelethon - Aesop Rock
7- Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color - Brother Ali
8- We Don't Even Live Here - P.O.S.
9- PEEP: The APROcalypse - Pro Era
10- 4eva N A Day - Big K.R.I.T.

Elzhi: The Most Original Rapper We Have

First of all, I would like to say Happy New Year to all of my readers. I hope this year brings nothing but joy and prosperity to all. Second, I would like to apologize for not blogging in a while, I've been very busy during the holiday break and haven't had the time to write until now, so thank you for being patient. 

Now back to Hip-Hop! Today, many of the new rappers we have base their style and content on their influences. They look up to old-school rappers as inspirations and motivation for their work and this helps keep some elements of the old-school Hip-Hop alive. However, when rappers do this, I feel this removes some of the originality that should be present in Hip-Hop. For example, Kendrick Lamar raps over similar topics that Tupac Shakur (R.I.P.) used to rap about. Keisha's Song and Compton mirror those of Brenda's Got A Baby and California Love, respectively. This isn't a bad thing in any way as Kendrick Lamar pulls it off perfectly, but paying homage to other rappers doesn't show a lot of originality in our new rappers. Many rappers make concept albums, which many fans hail as original and daring, but concept albums have existed for years. Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet (1990) comes to mind as being the first Hip-Hop concept album, unless you count Slick Rick's The Great Adventures of Slick Rick (1988). Originality shouldn't be about paying homage in your own artistic way, but to do something no one has done before. With all that being said, is there any originality left in modern Hip-Hop? With that question being asked, the answer lies in the lyrical genius Elzhi.

If you're a Hip-Hop fan but haven't heard of Elzhi, please re-examine your life. Excuse the vulgarity (Shout-out to Nas) but he's not known as "Detroit's Best Kept Secret" for no reason. His rapping consists of metaphors, similes, lots of imagery as well as multiple syllables in his rhymes to produce one of the best flows I've heard in a rapper. The guy knows every style of rapping, having seen some of the finest rappers to emerge into the spotlight (such as Eminem, Royce Da 5'9'', Obie Trice and the other members of D12) in the underground rap battle scene of Detroit. He's a force to be reckoned with, having released two underground classics. But what makes Elzhi so original? The answer can be found in the content of his songs. Elzhi doesn't just rap about the same topics as other rappers, such as "his life in the ghetto", the pressures of fame, and the exhilaration of doing illegal things. Elzhi uses his lyrical style to grab you directly into the song to experience it and its content, but with a twist. His album The Preface features three songs that can showcase this. 

1- Guessing Game: For what the song is about (If you haven't already guessed it), I leave Elzhi's hook to do that for me instead! 

"I welcome y'all to the introduction
To learn how to play here's the instructions
A couple rules to show you how the game function
Yo, I'm a take a double, take a double syllable
And split it down the middle so it's no longer even
The first half stay, the last half leaving
So now the end of the line sound deceiving
So figure out the word that match before I change the meaning"

Still don't get it? Elzhi basically makes a fill-in-the-blank game with this song, by giving you the beginning syllables of a word and ending the last syllables in the next bar, but he gives you the opportunity to guess what the word is. What makes this concept so much more impressive is that the bars he's rapping on make sense, allowing both words from the end of the first bar and the beginning of the next to be related. For example, look at the following four bars: 

"Long as this beat keep the treats falling out of my pen-
(piñ)-ata. Rather slow or faster it's disaster
I come flowing harder than a master-
(mastur)-bator. Now in the streets we a mess, try to test"

How many rappers have done that? None as I recall. Elzhi manages to challenge the listener by placing something clever in this song. People who don't focus on the lyrics might not notice the genius of this song, which is something many people tend to do these days. And for this incredible song, I can definitely say Elzhi's originality out-shine's any other rapper's attempts. 

2- Colors: In this great song, Elzhi shows more of his originality by using words that are related to colors and placing in the song purposefully. While this may seem simple, Elzhi's usage of the color-related words brings double meanings to the rhymes he's spitting. For example: 

"Got them boys in "blue" with "black" jacks locking the new youth
They sell "purples" through "Black"berries with the "Blue" tooth
Saw this "gold" digger "red" bone I knew poising in "Black" Tail
Another "black" girl lost inside the world of "Black" Male"

Get the concept? Here, Elzhi is rapping about how the drug deals in our generation are done through more modern techniques such as using the Blackberry. He also raps about an woman of interracial background (Red bone) who is seeking a black man only for financial benefit (Gold digger). However, at the end of the bar, Elzhi says "lost inside the world of black male". This can literally refer to the black man she's seeing, but also has a doubling meaning, referring to being "blackmailed" because she poses in "Black tail" (An adult magazine). She benefits from him just as much as he does from her. With more lyrics like this throughout the song, its another great example of Elzhi's originality. 

3- Talking In My Sleep: In this song, Elzhi raps about the dreams he has and how they affect him emotionally and spiritually. He raps about his mother, his fantasies of wealth and different violent images. Simple right? Well, since I'm talking about his originality you would expect a twist! Elzhi doesn't just talk about these dreams, but puts you in them! He makes you the main character in his dreams as you experience all of these horrible images. For example, here's a small excerpt:

"It flips over, now I'm in a barber's chair
With the clips closer to the God but it's sharp enough to part my hair
I couldn't make out the customers' faces
That was once in the place, who was with somethin in patience
Then I'm cut with this razor, I feel blood when [gun shots]
My barber just was shot, the clip was dropped while they was still buzzin
I got to hittin the floor
But it was weird, it disappeared and it just was here a minute ago
I'm glidin in air
Flew through a cloud, while I was in it, saw the image of a man that was tied to the chair
My hand's on a nine
I blink once, my gun in his palm, I'm in disbelief 'cause it vanished from mine
I'm shot, is this heaven, did I come in the gates?
Did I have this uncomfortable fate from somethin I ate?"

What makes this song so believable is he describes all the things that you as a dreamer experience in your sleep. You keep seeing spontaneous images, you do surprising supernatural things (Like flying and making things vanish), and you can't control your actions. As the tension builds up to a climactic ending, this is a must listen to any Hip-Hop fan!

Elmatic: Last year, Elzhi did something very daring that sparked a lot of controversy. Elzhi announced that he was working on a project that envolved remaking Nas' classic Illmatic. This caused an outrage in the Hip-Hop community for even thinking about handling such an untouchable album. Now I know what your thinking, this contradicts what I said earlier about paying homage to other artists and how that's not original. Hell! A remake!? That's not original at all right? Well, with Elzhi's Elmatic, he doesn't just remake Illmatic. He makes it his own album! Elzhi doesn't just borrow Nas' instrumentals, he brings his own band (Will Sessions), and has them re-record the music with their own twist. He adds interludes and extensions to the music (One Love & The World Is Yours) to add more of a dramatic and climactic effect. But Elzhi doesn't just bring great production to the project, he spits some of the most introspective lyrics brought up by a rapper in a long time. On tracks like Memory Lane, he brings his own life experiences and spits them on a long verse, dealing with the illness of his mother and his envolvment in the underground Hip-Hop scene. On One Love, he raps about his love life and the heartbreak brought up by his past lovers, unlike Nas who raps about sending letters to incarcerated friends. Elzhi really makes Elmatic his own project and, in my opinion, almost matches Nas' classic on the same levels. It is my favorite album of 2011 and will remain to be a great accomplishment by the Detroit rapper.

In conclusion, Elzhi is in my opinion the most original rapper in the game right now. He represents what the old-school Hip-Hop should be now but in his own artistic way. With two classics in his discography and an upcoming album coming soon entitled The Weather Man, I could not be more excited! Here's the lead single from his upcoming album: 

What do you think? Do you like Elzhi or not? Do you think he's original at all or another overrated rapper? Do you believe there is a lot of originality left in Hip-Hop? And do you think there are any other original rappers out there? Please leave a comment and let me know what you think! 

Frank Ocean VS. The Weeknd - Who Is Superior? A Near Impossible Decision to Make

There is no doubt that Frank Ocean and The Weeknd have come by storm and revolutionized the R&B genre with absolute sheer success. They have released album after album in the past couple of years that have all been met with universal acclaim. Not only are they changing the R&B genre, but they also helped add an edge to the Hip-Hop genre with their beautifully sung hooks, contributing to artists like Jay-Z, Kanye West, Drake, Tyler The Creator, Wiz Khalifa and many more. They have become the modern versions of Nate Dogg (Not based on talent or style but based on appeal to the Hip-Hop genre). There is no doubt that they have left footprints in the music industry that won't wash away for a while. While both artists are great and loved by many, we have to get to the main point; who is better? Frank Ocean or The Weeknd? (Note: Me being Canadian will not make me biased towards The Weeknd by the way!) 

To be honest I almost didn't want to tackle this argument because I have a lot of love for both of these artists and their music. I have purchased both Trilogy (The compilation of House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence) and channel ORANGE on their respective days of release and have listened to them non-stop ever since. I have also listened to Frank Ocean's 2011 debut nostalgia, ULTRA over and over again. I checked as many collaborations I can find that these artists have done and I revisited their albums prior to this blog entry (Which was fun to do!) to make sure my decision is as accurate as possible. Now as much as I love these artists and don't really want to place one over the other, I guess I would have to say that I prefer Frank Ocean's music to The Weeknd's music. Now hold on! Before you say anything I  just want to say that I still got mad love for The Weeknd and I have a lot of respect for him, but I prefer Frank Ocean over him by a hair over a few main reasons. 

First of all, I think Frank Ocean's musical consistency and concept is a little more enjoyable than that of The Weeknd's. Through The Weeknd's mixtapes, Abel revisits the same concepts over and over again. He sings about the hardness of relationships, the exhilaration of the party life and his experiences with drugs and other substances. While he does this consistently and incredibly with lyrics that completely draw you into his stories, he doesn't ever seem to stray off and experiment with something different. Frank Ocean on the other hand, experiments with his music. He sings about topics ranging from love, anxiety, apprehension but also with nostalgia, spirituality, world issues, and how he deals with all the external things that affect his life. You feel a lot more passion in Frank Ocean's songs in the way he embodies the subject matter. He makes you feel for him and feel sympathy for him as well. When listening to The Weeknd's music, you don't feel as sympathetic for the consequences he has to face because you feel like he deserves what he got. I also feel Frank Ocean is better when it comes to storytelling in his songs. Just listen to Novacane, Swim Good, and American Wedding (The latter being one of my favorite Frank Ocean songs) and become absorbed into his world!

While The Weeknd's voice can be a lot stronger on many occasions, I feel Frank Ocean's voice is more real and interesting to listen to. Frank Ocean doesn't need to use any auto-tune or hard hitting production to enhance his voice. He sings naturally and if you listen to his live performances, you don't see a huge difference between his voice on a track and his voice in real life. Frank Ocean is also able to hit high notes beautifully. For example, listen to Bad Religion, especially the chorus and the second half of the song. When he hits "If it brings me to my knees" on the chorus, there's no way you won't get goosebumps. You can also see his vocal range on songs like Sweet Life and on the second chorus of American Wedding. While The Weeknd has a great strong voice, he does use auto-tune to aid the strength of his voice. Now don't get it mixed up when I say he uses auto-tune to aid the strength of his voice. I'm not saying he sings in auto-tune, but he merely uses auto-tune as a tool to carry his voice to higher higher points. He does this very successfully, but it does remove the natural sound of his voice. 

Now I don't want this to sound like I'm bashing The Weeknd, I'm merely comparing him to Frank Ocean and choosing who is better. I knew going into this that it would be a hard decision to make, which is why I hesitated to do this in the first place, but I guess I will always like Frank Ocean just a tiny bit better. I do have to say though that The Weeknd sings beautifully in French, which was only showcased on one song called Montreal on his third mixtape Echoes of Silence. I wish The Weeknd did more songs like this one because his voice fits perfectly with the French lyrics. The Weeknd also is better to listen to when your just feeling down and want to mend a broken heart. Either way, I hate that we have to put one over the other. Why argue which is better when both do what they do exceptionally? It's the equivalence of arguing which is better between 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G. (Which I might visit later). But I felt like I needed to do this because my love for Frank Ocean's music has always outweighed that of The Weeknd's music. Either way, both are great artists that are the future of the R&B genre. They both have left their mark in the music industry and I'm sure will have bright futures. 

What do you think? Which artist is better? Frank Ocean or The Weeknd? Should we even compare these two artists? Post a comment and let me know what you think! I would love to hear everyone's opinions. 

Top 5 Best Albums of 2012

So 2012 is almost over and since the world didn't end, I feel it is necessary to talk about the five album I consider to be the best of the year. This was a great year in Hip-Hop with new acts dropping very raw and exceptional music and older ones coming back to show us they still got it. This list won't only feature rap albums, but considering Hip-Hop is my favorite genre, you might see most of them are Hip-Hop albums! So without further ado, I bring to you my favorite albums of 2012: 

5- Life Is Good - Nas

Nas's rapping career has been bumpy ever since his debut Illmatic believe it or not. Ever since Illmatic dropped, every album he has dropped has been compared to it and ripped apart. That's not to say he hasn't dropped great albums ever since, but he will always be put in a position were nothing is better than Illmatic. With Life is Good, Nas proves that for the first time in a while, he can put out a cohesive and consistent album. I haven't seen Nas rap this good since God's Son or even Stillmatic. Nas raps with introspective lyrics as well as putting out songs with great punchlines and beautiful hooks. Nas also shows that his storytelling abilities are still intact with songs like "No Introduction" which is one of my favorite songs of the year. This album has it all, from great lyrics to grand production. Nas only had one guest rapper on this album, with Rick Ross on Accident Murderers, and even though Rozay didn't stay on topic as much as he should've, he still dropped a great verse. If you're a Hip-Hop fan and haven't checked Life is Good yet, then I highly recommend it! It didn't get four Grammy nominations (Including Best Rap Album) for nothing!

Best Tracks on the Album: No Introduction, Daughters, A Queens Story & Loco-Motive

4- channel ORANGE - Frank Ocean

Frank Ocean has already left his mark on the R&B genre with his 2011 mixtape nostalgia, ULTRA. Frank Ocean may not have the strongest voice in the music industry right now, but damn it he can sing! Frank Ocean has got to be one of the best songwriters in the business. He ghostwrote for artists like Usher, John Legend, Justin Bieber and Beyonce but left his best songs for his own album. With channel ORANGE, Frank Ocean shows how he improved from his debut. Frank Ocean's songwriting got more mature. With this album, Frank Ocean still had the creative control but you can see his originality increased incredibly. His usage of metaphors and imagery in his songs help portray the atmosphere of a troubled man he's singing about. He also uses these techniques to tell stories, especially Pyramids, the 10 minute R&B epic. The production on this album is phenomenal, with the strings on songs like Thinkin' Bout You and Bad Religion giving a classical feeling to the album. Pharrel's production on Sweet Life is the best on the album, creating a classic 80s atmosphere to the song which sounds like a Michael Jackson or Prince song. The guest appearances on this album are also great, with Andre 3000 dropping a great verse on Pink Matter. So if you haven't checked the "Album of the Year" nominated album yet, then I highly recommend it!

Best Tracks on the Album: Sweet Life, Bad Religion, Lost, Pink Matter & Crack Rock

3- Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 - Lupe Fiasco

Lupe Fiasco proves that he hasn't lost his rapping ability in this triumphant come-back. Lupe showcases how he's able to rap over many political and social issues such as war, the usage of the N-word, the perception of females in our society and many other topics. The lead single (and personal favorite) Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free) combines many different problems we have in our world in one 4 minute song with a Pete Rock sample beat. In Form Follows Function, Lupe shows his lyrical abilities dropping many metaphors, double entendres, and word play illustrating why you shouldn't really question his rapping ability. While the middle songs (tracks 9-11) are forgettable, this album remains one of favorites of the year and I highly recommend it. For my full review, click here.

Best Tracks on the Album: Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free), Form Follows Function, Strange Fruition & Bitch Bad.

2- Control System - Ab-Soul

Black Hippy member Ab-Soul returns with his sophomore album Control System with more fire and ambition than ever! Ab-Soul's lyricism has improved by far from his debut Longterm Mentality. With this album, you can see multiple sides of Ab-Soul, from his violent and angered side to his sad and sympathetic side. You can see how he reacts to certain situations and how he judges himself in songs like Track Two. His flow simply merges with the beat behind the song and you can enjoy the crazy lyrics he spits. All members of Black Hippy are on this album, with a collaborative bonus track that goes hard! One of my favorite songs on this album is one of the most touching songs I ever heard called The Book of Soul, in which Ab-Soul raps about the loss of his long love Alori Joh and how her passing away affected his life. The jazzy production on this song just puts you in his sorrow and his lyrics make you want to cry. So in the end I highly recommend you listen to this album. Its a fresh way to look at Hip-Hop and you can be absorbed by Ab-Soul's multiple personalities. 

Best Tracks on the Album: The Book of Soul, ILLuminate, Beautiful Death, Track Two & Pineal Gland

1- good kid, m.A.A.d city - Kendrick Lamar

There is no doubt in my mind that 10 to 15 years from now, Hip-Hop fans will look back and say "Damn, Kendrick Lamar's debut was a classic". Hell, people have already been calling it a classic ever since it dropped and it deserves all the praise its getting. It ended up on virtually all of music critic's top ten lists of the year and even topping some. With his debut, Kendrick puts you in the violent streets of Compton filling his own shoes. You walk in Kendrick's footsteps, experience his happy moments, dangers and tragedies and mourn with him. His flow is so perfect that he is able to ride any beat thrown at him. The guest features on this album are carefully placed in perfect spots to avoid wrecking the flow and cohesiveness of the album. The production on this album are some of the best of the year and Dr. Dre's credibility of the artists he signs has gotten even stronger. For my full review, click here. I highly recommend you check this album out, even if you aren't a Hip-Hop fan. 

Best Tracks on the Album: Sing About Me, The Art of Peer Pressure, good kid, m.A.A.d city & Compton.

Honorable Mentions:

Skelethon - Aesop Rock
4eva N A Day - Big K.R.I.T.
Cure 4 Cancer - EL-P

R.A.P. Music - Killer Mike

The Heist - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis 

Live From the Underground - Big K.R.I.T.

So those are my favorite albums of 2012. What were yours? Please leave a comment telling me what your favorite albums of the year were and what you thought of my list!

*Update: After much consideration and revisits, I have formed a new list of my favorite albums of 2012. However, instead of a top 5, I have formed a top 10. I felt after revisiting many of this year's great albums, some of them stood out more as time passed. So here is my updated list:

1- good kid, m.A.A.d city - Kendrick Lamar
2- R.A.P. Music - Killer Mike
3- Control System - Ab-Soul
4- Plateau Vision - Lushlife
5- Cancer 4 Cure - El-P
6- Skelethon - Aesop Rock
7- Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color
8- We Don't Even Live Here - P.O.S.
9- PEEP: The APROcalypse - Pro Era
10- 4eva N A Day - Big K.R.I.T.

The Direction of Hip-Hop

To start off, I would like to confess that I wasn't always a Hip-Hop fan. I remember back in 6th and 7th grade, songs like "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" and "Lollipop" dropped and people were going crazy about them, yet I found myself despising the genre because of them. My music taste was not set on any specific genre, and I found myself just listening to anything on the radio. That was up until two years ago when I met these people in my sophomore year of high school, whom are now my best friends, and they introduced me to the Hip-Hop genre from a different perspective. At the time, Kanye West's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" and Lil Wayne's "I Am Not A Human Being" dropped and I felt very attracted to the genre all of a sudden (Don't judge me for my liking of the Lil Wayne album, just keep reading!). Kanye's mesmorizing beats and his incredible lyrics touched me from a humorous and an emotional side and Lil Wayne just put me in a good mood. When I first heard MBDTF, I wanted to learn more about the genre! I wanted to make sure that I can gain as much access to this genre as possible and look at it from different perspectives. While my friends mainly focused on Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Eminem and other rappers who were dropping new music at the time, I wanted to go further back. I found myself going back and back, from Tha Carter III to The College Dropout to The Slim Shady LP to Me Against the World to Illmatic and all the way back to LL Cool J. I found myself learning more and more about the genre day by day, and my love for the Hip-Hop music I was first exposed to seemed to fade slowly...

I later found myself telling my friends of the Hip-Hop music I started focusing on more, which consisted of 2Pac |(R.I.P.), Nas, The Notorious B.I.G. (R.I.P.), Eminem (his older stuff), Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Rakim, Lupe Fiasco and many more. However, to my shock, my friends didn't know the music I was telling them about, so I became the one who was getting them into Hip-Hop. 

The reason I'm telling you all of this is because it reflects on my point of view about the perspective of the Hip-Hop genre. A lot of the die hard Hip-Hop fans are stating the the genre is dead and mainstream rappers are "killing" the genre with terrible lyrics that have no depth or context. On the other hand, the newer generation seems to state that this is what Hip-Hop is all about, only being an entertaining tool to get "hyped" about and that the conscious Rap is unnecessary. Does this mean that the genre is dead? Are today's rappers destroying the genre because of their lyrics? Is the perception of Hip-Hop solely based on the image of the new rappers which many people criticize? To all of these questions, I have to say no. 

Music isn't something constant, it is always changing and evolving. Whether it is Hip-Hop, Rock, R&B or any other genre, people cannot expect any genre to remain the same. Music changes with the people that listen to it and simultaneously we change with the music as well. Many rappers are smart enough to know what people think and care about in our generation, whether it ranges from money, sex and/or power. Rappers take these features into their own advantage and place them in their music. This doesn't mean however that all Hip-Hop fans look for these features, but just a good portion of them. Other Hip-Hop fans who tend to focus on more conscious topics can easily go to rappers like Lupe Fiasco, Elzhi, Ab-Soul and many others. If you are looking for more introspective and deep lyrics, then listen to those rappers, but if you just want to get pumped up and listen to something simple, then the commercial Hip-Hop is for you. Does this make you a bad person if you listen to the mainstream Hip-Hop? No it doesn't, it only gives you your own personal music taste and in the end, everyone has their own opinion.

This is were my story fits in. I liked the commercial Hip-Hop at first but when I was exposed to the other forms of the genre, I found myself liking the conscious Hip-Hop more. But I didn't criticize my friends who were into the commercial Hip-Hop just for having a different taste in music. Hip-Hop is what we allow it to be. If you feel like the new Hip-Hop is not suited for you, then look further and you can find many different rappers who can rap with depth like Kendrick Lamar, Lupe Fiasco, Elzhi, Saigon, J. Cole and many more. This doesn't give you the right to criticize people who like the new Hip-Hop because they seem to like it and vibe to it and in the end, isn't that what music is all about? If you don't like Lil Wayne, don't buy his album! Don't buy his songs! Just listen to the music you like and you'll be happy to be transported into the side of the genre you prefer. If you do like Lil Wayne, then by all means do so. As the picture on the left says "Hip-Hop Ain't Dead It Lives In My Head", and this is how we must treat music of all genres.Hip-Hop is not dead, but it is only evolving...

F.D.

Grammy Predictions: Rap Field

Ever since the Grammys released its nominations for their 55th annual ceremony, I've been trying to figure out who will take home the awards for the respective category. I tend to focus mostly on the Rap category because it is the genre I prefer. In this blog entry, I will state my predictions for each of the categories of the Rap field, any snubs that I believe have occurred and any surprises as well. 

Best Rap/Sung Collaborations: 

- Wild Ones (Feat. Sia) - Flo Rida
- No Church in the Wild (Feat. Frank Ocean) - Jay-Z & Kanye West
- Cherry Wine (Feat. Amy Winehouse) - Nas
- Talk That Talk (Feat. Jay-Z) - Rihanna
- Tonight (Best You Ever Had) (Feat. Ludacris) - John Legend

For this category, I can easily rule out all but No Church in the Wild and Cherry Wine because I believe those two are the best of the list. No Church in the Wild is a very dark ominous track with a great verse from Jay-Z and a beautifully sung hook by Frank Ocean. Cherry Wine was also a very great track with a beautifully sung chorus by the late Amy Winehouse (R.I.P.) while Nas spits great lyrics about love and soulmates. It is hard to choose between the two, so I'll give it to the song I prefer (Cherry Wine), but I'm pretty sure the award won't go to any other songs in this category.





 Best Rap Performance:

- HYFR (Hell Ya F**kin' Right) (Feat. Lil Wayne) - Drake
- Ni**as in Paris - Jay-Z & Kanye West
- Daughters - Nas
- Mercy (Feat. Big Sean, Pusha T & 2 Chainz) - Kanye West
- I Do (Feat. Andre 3000 & Jay-Z) - Young Jeezy 

I personally want Nas's Daughters to take this one because Nas performed this on Letterman and The Colbert Report flawlessly. With this song, Nas tackles how he hasn't been the best role model for his daughter and how he wants to become a better father. I believe this is one of the best rap songs released this year and I really wish it would receive this honor. While I want Nas to win this one, I think Jay-Z & Kanye West's Ni**as in Paris will win because of the popularity of the song, having been performed 8-10 consecutive times in concerts, which gives it a good chance of winning. So even though I want Daughters to win, I do think Ni**as in Paris has a higher chance of winning.   



Best Rap Song:

Daughters - Nas
Lotus Flower Bomb (Feat. Miguel) - Wale
Mercy (Feat. Big Sean, Pusha T & 2 Chainz) - Kanye West
The Motto (Feat. Lil Wayne) - Drake 
Ni**as in Paris - Jay-Z & Kanye West
Young, Wild & Free (Feat. Bruno Mars) - Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa 

This category is kinda hard to predict because so many of the songs in this category were so successful that they might have a better chance of winning due to their exposure while others were less successful but received great acclaim. To make it easier, I will break it down to two possibilities: Daughters or Ni**as in Paris. For the same reasons I have talked about before, I think these two have a high chance of winning. I would rather see Nas win because he's been in the game for over two decades and still has no Grammys while Kanye West and Jay-Z have been winning year after year. I wouln't be surprised if The Motto took it because of its popularity, but I would prefer if one of the other two won it. 

Best Rap Album:

Take Care - Drake
Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 - Lupe Fiasco
Life is Good - Nas
Undun - The Roots
God Forgives, I Don't - Rick Ross
Based On A T.R.U. Story - 2 Chainz

For this category in particular, I find it hard to predict because my decision would vary from who I WANT to win and who I THINK will win. I would love to see Lupe Fiasco or The Roots walk off with this one, because they might be the most deserving for this category. I also want Nas to win because he deserves a Grammy after all those years but after thinking about it for some time, I came to a final decision. I think Drake's Take Care is going to take this one home. Take Care blew critics away last year and ended on many publications' End of the Year lists. It sold more than all the other albums in this category combined (1.8 million copies!), giving it a higher chance of winning. HOWEVER, since it was released at the end of last year, critics might be more leaned on to voting for the newer acclaimed album Life Is Good, which many commended as being Nas's most cohesive and best album since Stillmatic. Either way, they're both great albums that I loved, so I'm gonna label both as possibilities. 


Snubs:

Lupe Fiasco's "Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)": I thought this was one of the best songs released in 2012 and I really thought it would land at least a Best Rap Performance nomination, but Lupe only received one nomination that he will probably lose. 

Drake's "Take Care (Feat. Rihanna)": This ballad between Rihanna and Drake was very well received and attained great commercial performance. I expected to find it nominated in the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration category but it wasn't. But both artists received nominations this year, so they shouldn't be too upset about this. 

Drake's "Crew Love (Feat. The Weeknd)": I expected this song, assisted by The Weeknd's beautifully sung contribution, to land a nomination in the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration category, but sadly it didn't...

Lupe Fiasco's "Battle Scars": I believe this song truly deserved a nomination for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration because Guy Sebastian's vocals on that track were incredible and Lupe killed the verses on this one. It was very disappointing to see this song lacking a nomination for the mentioned category.

Surprises:

2 Chainz "Based on a T.R.U. Story" nomination for Best Rap Album: When I heard this I thought it was a joke. Not that I have any hate for 2 Chainz (He is a hype performer), but I don't believe his album was good enough to be nominated, good enough at all as a matter of fact! Congrats anyway...

Wale's "Lotus Flower Bomb" nomination for Best Rap Song: Not really Wale's biggest fan but I wasn't expecting a nomination for him in any category.

Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa's "Young, Wild & Free" nomination for Best Rap Song: I didn't really like this song or the appeal so to see it nominated for this honor instead of many other great songs was very disappointing. 

Flo Rida's "Wild Ones" nomination for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: I have always despised Flo Rida for taking Hip-Hop in a Pop oriented direction. I never considered his music "Rap" so it was also disappointing to see this song get a nomination. At least it wasn't Whistle...

So these are my predictions for the forthcoming 55th Grammy Awards. I might do predictions for the Genral Field soon, but until then take care. 

What do you think? Do you have similar predictions or do you not agree with mine? Please comment and let me know :)

Kendrick Lamar's "good kid, m.A.A.d city" - ALBUM REVIEW

So its nearing the end of the year and as Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d city hits the Gold certification, it kinda feels great to see a great album achieve a landmark that now-a-days feels so hard to achieve; especially if your a rookie and just dropped your debut. But to call Mr. Duckworth a rookie would be wrong, for if you listen to his music, it feels as if he's been rapping for years, and he has but on a much smaller scale. After last year's Section.80,  fans have been patiently waiting for Kendrick Lamar to drop his major label debut, released through Dr. Dre's Aftermath. Section.80 was a breath of fresh air in the Hip-Hop genre, and it showed Kendrick Lamar spitting some of the most conscious lyrics out there. He also proves that he is able to convey stories in his raps almost perfectly. The song HiiPoWeR  was highly acclaimed, cited as being one of the best Hip-Hop songs of the year. HipHopDX gave him the honour of Verse of the Year and XXL Magazine called it “one of the finest tracks of the year”. All the acclaim of Section.80 put a lot of pressure on Kendrick Lamar's shoulders to deliver another great album in his major label debut. But did Kendrick Lamar deliver?

It is safe to say that good kid, m.A.A.d city is without a doubt one of (if not) the best album released this year. Kendrick Lamar used this album not to just give us just an ordinary Rap album, but used the album to tell us the story of his life in his hometown Compton. He guides us through how his life unravels in Compton and how he responds and behaves to things like lust, sex, drugs, alcohol and crime. The opening track Sherane a.k.a Master Splinter’s Daughter reveals how Kendrick Lamar meets this girl named Sherane and how he's confused about whether he's in love with her or just wants to have sex with her. The next song, Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe, is a very smooth cool song that puts you in a mellow mood but doesn't sacrifice crewed and offensive lyrics. Backseat Freestyle then kicks in with a Hit-Boy produced beat that shows Kendrick spitting fire. If you were to listen to it on its own without following the sequence of the album, you would probably think Kendrick Lamar is just being cocky and braggadocios through lyrics like "I pray my d**k get big as the Eiffel Tower/so I can f**k the world for 72 hours". But if you followed the album sequence, you would know that Kendrick is in the backseat of a car hanging out with his friends having a good time as they cruise in Compton. 

The Art of Peer Pressure comes in next, with a very simple beat, but very intense lyrics. Kendrick talks about how he and he friends journey around Compton committing crimes and almost getting caught by the police. This is probably one of the most intense songs I've heard in a while. Money Trees comes next and became very popular amongst fans. Its the type of song you would want to get high to, not that I'm encouraging anyone to do this! Jay Rock drops an excellent verse and suits the song content. Poetic Justice, the highly anticipated song with guest feature Drake is near perfection. Kendrick Lamar drops excellent verses referencing his relationship with Sherane from the first song. Putting Drake in the song however didn't hurt the song but increased its epicness. You could see Kendrick was very careful on who he wants on the album an where he's placing them. Drake fits in perfectly with the song and its content as well. And the sampling of Janet Jackson's hit "Any Time, Any Place" is one of the best sample in a song I heard in a while.

good kid comes in next with a very gritty atmosphere and great production from Pharrell. m.A.A.d city continues on from good kid in the song content of how dangerous Compton is and all the crime its filled with. In m.A.A.d city, you could hear Kendrick rapping in a voice the is always cracking, showing us that he is rapping from his teenage perspective. And the production on that song is incredible, with the end sounding like something you would hear on Dr. Dre's The Chronic! Swimming Pools (Drank) follows, a song everyone probably already heard on the radio. Its great to see a song like this receive wide spread appeal. Kendrick raps about how alcohol has had an effect on his life. When asked about this song, Kendrick talked about how earlier in his life, he'd be in houses with enough alcohol to literally feel a swimming pool. The song that follows is in my opinion one of the best songs of the year.  

Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst, a two part song, with the former being a very reflective song. He raps from a positive perspective and a negative one, the latter being from the perspective of Keisha's sister from the song Keisha's Song from Section.80. She tells him how he had no right to rap about her unfortunate life and how he shouldn't be criticizing prostitution, as she is one herself and is very comfortable with her life. On the third verse, Kendrick raps from his own perspective, reflecting on how his fame has and his own music effected the people around him and has changed his life as well. It is a very touching song that I believe deserves more recognition. On Real, Kendrick raps about what he considers to be real in society and what people should prioritize in their lives. Finally, the album ends with a Just Blaze produced song called Compton, paying homage to his hometown along side fellow rapper and mentor Dr. Dre. This is the type of song that if the album was a movie, it would play at the credits. The production from Just Blaze is amazing and the talk box effect on the end has got to be the most nostalgic moment in Hip-Hop in a while. It reminded me of 2Pac's California Love.

From his multiple collaborations on songs by Game, Drake, A$AP Rocky, Tech N9ne and many others. Kendrick Lamar has proven that he is without a doubt the savior of Hip-Hop. Many have compared him to the deceased rapper Tupac Shakur (R.I.P.), and while that is a major comparison, you could tell that what is meant is that Kendrick is trying to portray the same message and musical content Tupac did when he was alive. There is no doubt in my mind that with this modern classic, Kendrick Lamar's future seems very bright and Hip-Hop fans have something to look up to from now on. 

10/10 - Classic

Favourite Track(s):

Sing About Me/I'm Dying of Thirst - The Art Of Peer Pressure - good kid - m.A.A.d city - Compton - Backseat Freestyle

Least Favourite Track(s):
Real

Note: Not to say that Real isn't a good song (it is great), but I guess its the one I would replay the least. 

What did you think of the album? Did you love it? Did you hate it? Was it more than what you expected or was it a big disappointment? Feel free to comment on what you thought about the album!