Holiday/Year-End Wrap-UP PT. 1

Happy holidays to everyone. My Christmas was low-key [just the way I like it]. I got a few neat gifts and hopefully my family & friends thought that I gave them cool gifts too.

Anyway..I wanted to use this blog update to do what [[hopefully]] I plan to do at the end of each calendar year which is give you a review of what I thought were the best and worst of what affected my life [and popular culture] for that year. It will encompass probably 2-3 different blogs. I actually wanted to do a top 10 best or worst movie listing for this year but there were very view flicks that I want our to see this year and the ones that I saw weren't all that great so maybe I'll do that category next year.
I just wanna remind everyone reading this blog that this only reflects the views of Myself and that more than likely no one will agree with my list but HEY...so it goes.

My Top 10 Albums Of 2K5

Okay....I'm gonna start out with the obvious...Late Registration by Mr. Rudolf-The-Red-Nosed-reindeer-Of-The-Roc. To say this was an artistic evolution from the college dropout is somewhat of an understatement.
some people were put off by the experimentational sounds that Kanye [& Jon Brion] brought to the table. But I actually find it refreshing and forward thinking BUT STILL HIP-HOP! For more ranting on this album read my album review blog.

Well...Many of my friends already know how I feel about this album. Dre basically gave some of his hottest tracks [probably from The Detox album..no less] to an artist that REALLY needed them. The Game's lyrical skill to me is average at best. But when you have the good Doctor operating full-time on your record what ANY artist will get is nothing short of a seamlessly-tight albums with kick, snare and sound arrangements that even today's hottest producers can only dream of. And that my friends is the only reason why this dudes' record has made this countdown. Next time Dre...I need that Detox!!

Speaking of all-beats and almost no rhymes...This young Jeezy album is like a guilty pleasure for me. It gets a lotta play in the hooptie but I know that lyrically this dude is crack-&-trap nursery-rhyming only. But them beats! Done by mostly unknown producers no less...is that crack for real straight southern gangsta! ooo ah...yeah..who can forget them ad-libs...that's riiiight!!

ALL Right!!...not sure what happened here. This dude had a wonderful year before with that "Lean Back" banger. I heard a few track and was OPEN! I heard the album and thought it was destined to at least go platinum. But I have 4 words that I believed killed that album from the gate: "let's get it poppin". That F%#kin song with Nelly that they put out as a single. That's what bad decisions will do for a good album...prime example.

The perpetual underdogs of this game. One of the few critically acclaimed "underground" groups to claw their way from an independent system to major label situation create their most artistic-yet-accessible albums only to be painfully undermarketed by their record label and denied access to video play by our esteemed leaders of black television: BET. Even with the adversity this album will be viewed as a certified banger in the years to come.

There has been a lot of commotion about this album being Common's best but in my humble opinion, that sh*t aint true. Anyone that want to believe the Common-meets-Kanye hype needs to go git a copy of "Like Water For Chocholate" and the "Resurrection". Now that does not mean that this album is not one of the best crafted & produced of the year. I think what most people are excited about is that this album brought back the common that we all know & love. that I am conscious but lyrically I will decapitate....yeah man!

Most regular hip hop listeners have never heard of this Dude named Edan but he has a lot in common with one of the most celebrated artists in hip hop: Kanye West. Like Mr West, Edan is a prolific emcee & producer [he's also a pretty good DJ]. Like Kanye his production work overshadowed his rhyming skills until he dropped the stellar "Primitive Plus" album early last year. Also like Kanye, for his softmore album he pushed the boundaries of hip hop sounds with an album that was not just beats & rhymes, but a solid piece of work that is so much ahead of most albums artistically but still maintains that old-school sensibility that I personally appreciate.

To me this is actually Beanie's best album so far..the brooding beats match his introspective rhymes. You can tell through his phrasing & flow that he was going through some sh*t at that point in time [probably his recently-acquitted attempted murder trial]. To bad he was serving time when his album was released and the Roc was splintering. I guess hard times bring out the best in most artists.

Even though this album was just released I have been bumping it almost religiously. Anthony Hamilton has that old school voice that most of these R&B-Pop acts are missing. The production on this album is also uncompromisingly soulful. No this-is for-the-club-and this is for the streets crap. Just good soul music..a dying breed indeed.

This was a surprise joint...but a welcome one for me. I'm not a big fan of dancehall music but I do love old school reggae. This is one of the few reggae albums that is released in the U.S. that incorporates roots-reggae with a splash of hip-hop that does not sound forced and contrived and the phrasing and sounds that Damian Marley echoes are so eerily familiar to his dad's. I can also respect the conscious element that he is bringing to the table, which is all but extinct in today's reggae....NUFF RESPECT!

Honorable Mention: 50 Cent: The Massacre/ Danger Doom: MF Doom & Danger Mouse/ Lil Wayne: tha Carter II/ Sadat X: Experience & Education/ Gorrillaz: Demon Days/ Platinum Pied Pipers: Triple P/ Fort Minor: The Rising Tied.