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An Eclectic Melting Pot - Hip-Hop
Best of 2010

What's so good?

By | December 27th, 2010

Coming from someone who feels more like a pair of Beats by Dr. Dre headphones were cut from her at birth than an umbilical cord, I’m going to tell you, narrowing this list down to ten albums was no piece of cake. That being said, growing up in Atlanta, my taste in hip-hop has shaped itself accordingly (though I will rarely turn down a little West Coast 2Pac or Eazy-E). I like emotion in lyricism, featured artists and sampling, and pretty much anything I can dance or drive my car to – usually a simultaneous action.

With a year that has progressively forwarded hip-hop into an indie-electronic melting pot, I think that what you truly love will always surface itself in a personal list. I hope that you will or have enjoyed these albums of 2010 as much as I have. Bring on the next batch, 2011!

Thumbnail photo by Jenni Callard

Ah, alas! Kanye, the number one spot. West has had a lot of bashing the past years with auto-tune-filled 808s and Heartbreak, his Taylor Swift bout, and really just his overall arrogance, but we've all seem to shut up since My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. West has used his confidence as a tool to create what appears to be a compilation of tried-and-true hits, more reminiscent of The College Dropout and Graduation. Everyone loves to hate Kanye West, and he agreeably strives to be everyone's darkness and everyone's light, making this release a truly and beautifully twisted fantasy. Hey Taylor, we're really happy for you and we're gonna let you finish, but Kanye had one of the best albums all year.

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Kanye West - Monster (feat Jay-Z Rick Ross Nicki Minaj and Bon Iver)

Ah, alas! Kanye, the number one spot. West has had a lot of bashing the past years with auto-tune-filled 808s and Heartbreak, his Taylor Swift bout, and really just his overall arrogance, but we've all seem to shut up since My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. West has used his confidence as a tool to create what appears to be a compilation of tried-and-true hits, more reminiscent of The College Dropout and Graduation. Everyone loves to hate Kanye West, and he agreeably strives to be everyone's darkness and everyone's light, making this release a truly and beautifully twisted fantasy. Hey Taylor, we're really happy for you and we're gonna let you finish, but Kanye had one of the best albums all year.

Yes, Recovery has had roller coaster reviews, and arguably so coming back from his previous substance-soaked releases that unraveled following his prime (ahem... Relapse). But I am a diehard Eminem fan, and I thoroughly enjoyed Recovery. Em has it all there -- the angst, the emotion, his quirkiness -- none of it is gone. I do think that he could have elaborated less on his recovery achievements throughout the album, but what would it draw from then? Recovery is catchy, and glitters at why I liked the real Slim Shady in the first place.

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Eminem - Going Through Changes

Yes, Recovery has had roller coaster reviews, and arguably so coming back from his previous substance-soaked releases that unraveled following his prime (ahem... Relapse). But I am a diehard Eminem fan, and I thoroughly enjoyed Recovery. Em has it all there -- the angst, the emotion, his quirkiness -- none of it is gone. I do think that he could have elaborated less on his recovery achievements throughout the album, but what would it draw from then? Recovery is catchy, and glitters at why I liked the real Slim Shady in the first place.

Jay Electronica has effortlessly held my attention throughout the year with his  free mixtapes, and it was hard to single out just one other than DatPiff's Best Of, So Far mixtape, which narrowed down Jay's sounds to 40 movie-sample-packed tracks. Check out my review here to see why I love this ghost of Nas' old-school feel.

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Jay Electronica - Exhibit A (Transformations)

Jay Electronica has effortlessly held my attention throughout the year with his  free mixtapes, and it was hard to single out just one other than DatPiff's Best Of, So Far mixtape, which narrowed down Jay's sounds to 40 movie-sample-packed tracks. Check out my review here to see why I love this ghost of Nas' old-school feel.

Maybe it's the Atlanta in me, but Outkast's Big Boi certainly hasn't strayed from his signature sounds. Yes Andre 3000, we miss you. But let me tell you, Sir Lucious Left Foot is something he can't even mess with and I'm glad I got to catch it live on tour, a crowd pleasing performance that even MC Hammer couldn't touch. The album is vivacious and clever, getting stuck in our heads just as much as we're stuck on the dance floor, and no one's complaining about this one.

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Big Boi - Shutterbugg (feat Cutty)

Maybe it's the Atlanta in me, but Outkast's Big Boi certainly hasn't strayed from his signature sounds. Yes Andre 3000, we miss you. But let me tell you, Sir Lucious Left Foot is something he can't even mess with and I'm glad I got to catch it live on tour, a crowd pleasing performance that even MC Hammer couldn't touch. The album is vivacious and clever, getting stuck in our heads just as much as we're stuck on the dance floor, and no one's complaining about this one.

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John Legend & The Roots - Little Ghetto Boy (feat Black Thought)
It was hard to categorize Wake Up! as truly hip-hop with John Legend's soulful R&B vocals, but The Roots have been in the game for a long time, most recently with the release of How I Got Over. A sophisticated and uplifting match, John Legend and The Roots prove a genius collaboration that reveals their impassioned social consciousness with a reworking of 60s and 70s protest songs. Wake Up! is soulful and nostalgic, but all the while refreshing and new.

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Nicki Minaj - Fly (feat Rihanna)
First off, Nicki Minaj is my girl. It's been too long since we've seen the swagger and uninhibited confidence of female rappers like Lil Kim and Missy Elliot. Nicki's quirky voices, lyrical spins, and wit on her mixtapes gave her an unpredictability that initially drew me in, but she seemed to go toward a more mainstream pop route in her debut album, Pink Friday. However, with a handful of tracks like her mixtapes, collaborations with three other artists on my list, as well as her own talent, Pink Friday is only the beginning of Nicki Minaj.

What emerged as the first "virtual hip-hop group" in the early 2000's, Gorillaz has skimmed the sounds of alternative, electronic, pop, and hip-hop, ultimately and recently unleashing something unique and transformational. Plastic Beach is all over the place, but at the end of the day, it's effortlessly perfect. Gorillaz has proved their unique ability to captivate a smorgasbord of music fans in the past, and Plastic Beach exemplifies this on a new level, whether too quirky or not for their die-hard listeners.

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Gorillaz - Superfast Jellyfish (feat Gruff Rhys and De La Soul)

What emerged as the first "virtual hip-hop group" in the early 2000's, Gorillaz has skimmed the sounds of alternative, electronic, pop, and hip-hop, ultimately and recently unleashing something unique and transformational. Plastic Beach is all over the place, but at the end of the day, it's effortlessly perfect. Gorillaz has proved their unique ability to captivate a smorgasbord of music fans in the past, and Plastic Beach exemplifies this on a new level, whether too quirky or not for their die-hard listeners.

Pittsburgh native Wiz Khalifa has really made his mark the past couple years, and by the looks of it, he isn't slowing down. There's something very confident and relaxed about his music, especially in Kush & OJ. This is probably due to Wiz's continuous weed reference paired with easygoing beats and samples throughout the mixtape that makes it hard not to escape into. Again, like Drake, Khalifa's music is relatable, and he sure knows how to charm his fans with charisma and an old-school flow.

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Wiz Khalifa - Pedal To The Medal (feat Johnny)

Pittsburgh native Wiz Khalifa has really made his mark the past couple years, and by the looks of it, he isn't slowing down. There's something very confident and relaxed about his music, especially in Kush & OJ. This is probably due to Wiz's continuous weed reference paired with easygoing beats and samples throughout the mixtape that makes it hard not to escape into. Again, like Drake, Khalifa's music is relatable, and he sure knows how to charm his fans with charisma and an old-school flow.

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Drake - The Resistance
I think that Drake would be higher on my list, but I can't help but think of Aubrey (yes, his real name) as the  basketball star-turned-handicapped student on the Canadian drama series Degrassi that I so loved in junior high. Despite this, Thank Me Later made me like Drake even more. He brings variety in that he can play a witty verse alongside Lil Wayne, as well as work an R&B tune with Alicia Keys or The Dream. More so, Drake dishes the violence and drugs, the vulgarity, and the overall troubled past route for a hip-hop album that simultaneously isolates itself and unifies a youth for a greater good.

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Kid Cudi - All Summer (feat Best Coast and Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend)
You think I would put Kid Cudi a little closer to Kanye's number one spot on the list, but that's where these two artists' consistent similarities diverge. Man on the Moon II seems to have lost a bit of life from the transition of its prequel, The End of Day, making it sound more like a lackluster narrative than the catchier and overall upbeat tonality of Cudi that at least I am used to. A handful of this album's tracks are why it made my list, but The End of Day's "Up Up & Away" and "Make Her Say" remind me that I've seen Kid Cudi paint a prettier, more entertaining picture.

The author:

I wasn't like every other kid, you know, who dreams about being an astronaut, I was always more interested in what bark was made out ...learn more →