Sunday, December 12, 2010

Top 10 Hip Hop Albums of 2010

The year is indeed winding to an end and with that ends another year of music that has been quite amazing. While T.I. and Weezy have both seen the extended jail time that will occasionally become intertwined in the career of your favorite rapper, hip-hop is also witnessing the rise of it's next generation with stars such as Drake, and depending on who you ask, this may be the next death of hip-hop.

Whether you have love for the new stars that are emerging or not, hip-hop is strangely becoming a genre that revels in it's albeit rather recent antiquity while still striving forward, and this makes the current of era of hip-hop quite interesting. Hip-hop has always been a genre defiant of the ever-present 'establishment', but it is increasingly becoming a genre divided against itself. This may be a result of the now well-documented transition of rap from a grassroots to a commercialized genre or it may simply be a generational difference. A new generation of hip-hop fans are coming of age, and to these fans hip-hop's golden age is nothing but ancient history.

However, for every movement there is a counter-movement and as the new generation of fans have flocked to the likes of Drake and the rest of the Young Money roster, it has forced other artists not just back to the booth to attempt to redefine the greatness that was exhibited in the Golden Era of hip-hop, but also to push the genre forward. So here hip-hop stands, a genre defiant against itself, grasping at it's past while pushing itself towards the future. And I believe many of the albums I will come to describe do that incredibly well.

But before I go any further, let me stress that while I may view this as a top list, it is just that MY top list. I went by nothing other than my pure enjoyment and paid absolutely no mind to record sales, 'hotness', or whatever else you may think of that might cause disagreement.

Before I get into this sure to be epic list that I'm sure will come to define hip-hop music in the year 2010, here are some of my favorite tracks/videos/mixtapes that simply can't be ignored.






Sweet Jesus. I know Rick Ross is a huge phony. I know that the whole persona this song is based on is fabricated and I've never really been able to fully get into his music because of it. But, once again, Sweet Jesus. The best way to describe this song: HUGE.





Another enormously popular song from this past year, and for this one I can't for the life of my figure out why I love it so much. I am, admittedly, susceptible to a nice city anthem (Whatup Pittsburgh!) and the question of whether I have or have not been to that city is completely irrelevant. Or maybe it's the infectious hook and celebratory beat. Or maybe it's just that Wiz Khalifa sounds so excited about having a huge year and this sound oozes with excitement. Whatever it is, I haven't been able to tear away and haven't really wanted to. As previously mentioned, it was part of a big year for Wiz as his Kush and Orange Juice mixtape also got heavy play.





If there is one fear I have that is totally lacking in an experience, it is rural poverty. That statement is even truer concerning rural poverty in the south. It's a terrifying world that seems completely foreign. The sense of nihilism that Yelawolf portrays in 'Pop The Trunk' does nothing to alleviate these fears but rather exacerbates them.

Speaking of hip-hop trying to get back to it's roots while still striving forward, the Cool Kids manged to get away from their seemingly unceasing label drama to release one incredibly solid mixtape titled 'Tacklebox'. Chuck English really comes into his own as a producer on this.




Speaking of label troubles, it's a real same that this song wasn't on one of the albums that is one of the ten best albums of the past year because it was one of the best of 2010. Hip-hop versus hip-hop labels are one of those never ending conflicts.

Andre 3000 and Big Boi- Lookin' For Ya

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