So as we go into the new year, I would like to look back at how music was for the year 2011. So other than connecting every artiste that you can ever think of to being illuminati puppets of members or of them being satanic and devil worshipers or Freemasons and what not, 2011 was a roller coaster ride. So in no particular order, here's the best ones that managed to breakthrough, performed well, improved, and the ones that made us so confused =)
Now as for hip hop, it did improved. 2010 was just boring since Lil Wayne was sent for vacation at Riker Island for jail time. Hip hop suffered the worst 8 long months in a very long while.
2011 introduced us to Wiz Khalifa. 'Black & Yellow', all thanks to heavy sharing on Facebook, this song launched Wiz Khalifa's popularity by a lot. Just so you know there's a Malaysian version of 'Black & Yellow' in support of our national football team. But whoever said that Wiz Khalifa's album is one of the best needs to stop kissing the Taylor Gang leader's ass. Its either weed, hoes, weed, kush, smoke, getting high and reppin' Taylor Gang. That's it.
Notable songs : Black and Yellow, Roll Up
Best Verse : 'Sleazy 2.0 Remix' Ke$ha feat. Wiz Khalifa, Andre 3000, T.I and Lil Wayne.
Worst Verse : 'No Sleep'
Lil Wayne a.k.a Lil Tunechi a.k.a Weezy. Also known as the runner up to Chris Brown's 'Look at Me Now' when it comes to fast hitting verses. This bugger had the cheek to delay his anticipated 'The Carter IV' album for another few months and and release a mixtape titled 'Sorry for the Wait'. But compare the mixtape and the studio album, mixtape wins. '6 Foot 7 Foot', the Bangladesh produced joint with heavy thumping bass and the signature samples of the Banana Boat song. I doubt most of ya'll heard of it, think 'A Milli' with steroids. For 2011, Lil Wayne's been playing guest roles for most of the year instead of releasing more singles from his album. You know for someone, like Wiz Khalifa who raps about the same thing, Weezy managed to pull of a surprise by releasing 'How to Love', less autotune and not a single explicit verse was in it. I was really surprised. And all that hype about his album is just overrated, I do hope for 2012 he'll be able to pull off something big before retiring. 'She Will', 'Interlude', 'How to Love', 'Nightmares of the Bottom', '6 Foot 7' and recommended.
Notable songs : How to Love, 6 Foot 7
Best verse : 'Gucci Gucci' from his mixtape, 'Sorry for the Wait'.
Worst verse : '6 Foot 7 Foot'
The Throne, also known as the Jay Z Kanye West team. Who knew it would be 2011 when they'll come out of the year's best hip hop album. I'm trying not to be bias here since I'm a fan of these two, knowing with all the Internet rumors that both of them happened to be in some secret society (note : Illuminati). But leave that bullshit behind, and you'll have the best collaboration in hip hop. Watch the Throne is just amazing. For 2011, The Throne has been busy touring around North America. With the midas touch of Kanye on beats, samples and whatever, and Jay Z's flow, Watch the Throne didn't disappoint. Sold of concerts, performing at Victoria's Secret fashion show, performing 'N*ggas in Paris' more than once at every venue, everything is just right.
Notable songs : Otis, N*ggas in Paris
Best Verses : 'No Church in the Wild' feat. Frank Ocean
Worst verse : 'Lift Off' (Jay Z's short, pointless rap)
Everyone, pay attention to this guy. J. Cole, signed by Jay Z, you know he'll be THAT good. J. Cole is just someone that we've avid hip hop listeners have been waiting ever since Drake, Pusha T, Lil B (I'll explain later) emerged in the scene. He is not your typical rapper, the songs you hear from J. Cole will blow your mind. 'Work Out' was nice, like your song to jam to any summer day, 'In The Morning' was just good enough to play to get your woman in the mood, 'Who Dat' was raw, 'Lost Ones' was the one that made him stood out from the other rappers in the industry. How many rappers to rap about the everyday struggle of some teens dealing with unwanted pregnancy and abortion. 'Lost Ones' also happened to have the best verses of 2011. The problem is, this kid didn't get the airplay he deserved. Hitz.fm, Fly.fm, please play more of artistes like J.Cole, I can't take any more of the same Eminem or Nicki Minaj song.
Notable songs : Lost Ones, In The Morning, Work Out
Best Verses : Lost Ones
Worst Verses : Mr Nice Watch (worst song to get Malaysian radio airplay. Y U NO PLAY LOST ONES?!
Aside from the whole Lil Kim dissing her, Nicki Minaj was the only female mc to make an impact for 2011. I was expecting Missy Elliott to drop a hit this year, but its a shame she didn't. I'd be honest with you, Ms. Pink Friday wasn't on my to-be-taken-seriously list. I thought she was annoying, irritating, an attention whore and what not. But hey, 2011 she proved me and a few critics wrong. I like Nicki Minaj, she's the bomb. I like 'Superbass', I sing that whenever I'm having a shower, having a poop, doing my assignments, stuck in traffic jams after college classes, waiting for lunch and when its on TV, I sing along to it. Heck, I REMEMBER THE LYRICS. It was that overplayed, all thanks to radio. I thought Nicki improved on her verses and of course her different personalities being added made it sound interesting. The best verse that I've heard from her was from Kanye's 'Monster' featuring Bon Iver, Rick Ross, Jay Z and Nicki Minaj. The reason why I bothered listening to that track was because of her highly praised and rated verse. I predict for 2012, we'll be hearing more of her, and lets hope she has a better album prepared to be released.
And cut down on the whole animated personality. And don't try to be the African American version of Lady Gaga. One Gaga is enough already.
Notable Songs : Moment for Life, Superbass, Fly
Best Verses : 'Monster' Kanye West feat Rick Ross, Bon Iver, Nicki Minaj, Jay Z
Worst Verses : Massive Attack
Meet Tyler, The Creator. Not your average hip hop artiste. Tyler, The Creator is the leader of the alternative hip hop ground Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (OFWGKTA) Never before I heard a rapper dissing Bruno Mars and calling him a homophobic slang. Because of him, its a lot harder to find a rapper that doesn't use the F word than finding one that does. If you listen to Tyler, he sounds more like Eminem during his Slim Shady days. Dark, violent, brutal, in your face, not a single damn given attitude. Tyler and the OFWGKTA crew gave hip hop something fresh, something shocking. And 2011, Tyler and co are no stranger to controversies. Be it destroying a sound system during a gig, eating a cockroach and hanging himself later, calling out B.O.B and Bruno Mars, the whole Chris Brown Twitter beef. Aside that, the songs released by him is actually good.
'She' featuring Frank Ocean (more on him later) is about a stalker being obsessed with a girl next door, was one of the best tracks of 2011. His use of raw beats and melody and his creativity makes his debut something special. 'Yonkers', a short black and white music video, shows him playing around with a cockroach, eating it, vomiting it out, starts taking off his shirt, cue B.O.B-Bruno Mars diss, and then grabs a rope and hang himself. Other notable guest appearance is in the Game's R.E.D Album. 'Martians vs. Goblins', also another recommended listen, again calls out Chris Brown. His cameo appearence in Pusha T's 'Trouble on My Mind' is worth listening to.
There's still more to come for this OFWGKTA leader, and I assume this year he has more shock value to deliver.
Notable Songs : Yonkers, She, Martian vs Goblins, Trouble on My Mind
Best Verses : She
Worst verses : none. What can you expect from someone like Tyler, The Creator?
Hello there Andre 3000, thank you for delivering classy rap verses for this year. Its a pity while everyone is all riding on Drake, Wiz Khalifa, T.I, Lil Wayne, Dr Dre, Eminem and what not, its a shame you're underrated. But its a good thing, and do stay that way because good things are best hidden. Its been more than a decade, and Andre 3000 still is one of the best, if not, Top 5 MCs that's still active. You pit him against anyone, he wins. Andre 3000 is a very, very intelligent rapper, very few that's still in the industry. Listen to the 'Deuces' remix, featuring Drake, T.I, Kanye West, Fabulous and himself. His verse on that joint is a fine example on how he sets apart from the other 4 on the track. His use of words in his verse shows he's the veteran of the game, and no one messes with him. I can't describe his flow, its just THAT good. For the year 2011 he might only play cameo roles for up and coming artiste, its not a surprise we listen to that track because he's in it =)
Beyonce's 'Party', featuring Andre 3000, was also good. In Ke$ha's 'Sleazy 2.0 Remix', he killed it. Lloyd's 'Dedication to my Ex', owned it. Andre 3000 is the safest bet for any recording artist to have to feature on their track.
Notable songs : Deuces Remix, Party (Beyonce), Dedication to my Ex, Interlude (Lil Wayne 'The Carter IV')
Best Verses : Every song he's featured in for the year 2011
Worst Verses : Is there any?
Frank Ocean, is probably the one that caught my attention for 2011 as one of the few promising singer/songwriter in the industry. Songbird for OFWGKTA. Wrote tracks for Beyonce, Justin Bieber, John Legend, collaborated with Jay Z and Kanye West for their 'Watch The Throne' collaborative album, also released the year's best alternative R&B album. 'Nostalgia ULTRA' is deep. Frank Ocean's ability to write songs with lyrics that can be only found in the deepest wall of his heart is just amazing. 'Novacane', 'Swim Good' and his cover of Coldplay's 'Strawberry Swing' was my favourite off his album. Forget Trey Songz or any Drake heartbreak emotional hits, I'll say Frank Ocean will bring out more deep, heartfelt songs for 2012.
NOW, HERE'S MY WISH FOR 2012 IN HIP HOP MUSIC
1. Music videos from 'Watch the Throne' album. I want 'No Church in the Wild', 'Lift Off' and 'N*ggas in Paris' to be released asap. Its been months since the last video, 'Otis'
2. Justin Bieber, more freestyle rap. Yes, you didn't read this wrong. The Canadian can rap, I don't care if he had wrote this freestyle before heading for an interview, he went hard.
3. Swizz Beatz album. Please release it now. Supposed to be released last September, got me all excited for 'Rock N Roll' featuring Lenny Kravitz and Lil Wayne on February. Its been almost a year since the snippet, months since the supposed released date. =(
4. Dr. Dre, I ask of you. Stop releasing your headphones. Its already bad enough that every other artist is rocking them in their music videos, not to mention a shameless cameo in Tomb Raider's new game. Focus on releasing 'Detox', your last album. Its been a year since the first single with Akon and Snoop Dogg released, don't leave us hanging.
5. No more 'BLOODS' reference.
2011's offenders were The Game and Lil Wayne. If I had the chance to meet them, would have told them to never, ever release a single with anything related to their gang. If you were 'blood', you wouldn't need to remind people you're one of them. Honestly, we really didn't give a shit about which gang you're from. You're a rapper, a recording artist, If you were gangster you go back to the hood and never, ever do anything commercial and promote your affiliations.
6. Illuminati. No, just no. No more referring hip hop as the Illuminati's channel to brainwash viewers with demonic messages and what not. If you're telling me that its a secret society, then why is it the number one topic when it comes to hip hop and music.
7. Tyler, The Creator needs to stop dissing artist. Eminem did that, it wasn't respectful. Tyler, stick to creating awesome, fresh songs =)
8. The word, 'swag'. No more, please. What happened? Did we all lost the ability to compliment people with more than one word or a sentence?
