As with our 2009 wrap up, this is a bit late, but that's life. What we decided to do this year was rather than list everyone's answers to every category, I combined all the responses and made an overall list. And from the blog contributors/Fam members who hollered, it seems we all pretty much agreed. Peep the details after the jump...
Songs of the year Kanye West - Runaway Laws ft. Emilio Rojas and Big KRIT- Hold You Down (Remix) Angus & Julia Stone - Yellow Brick Road Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar Bruno Mars - Liquor Store Blues ft Damian Marley Miike Snow - Plastic Jungle Travie McCoy - Billionaire ft Bruno Mars Chris Brown & Tyga - Deuces Kanye West - See Me Now ft. Beyonce & Charlie Wilson Asking Alexandria - Final Episode (Let's Change The Channel)
Hip Hop Albums of the year Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (album of the year, hands down) Kid Cudi - Man On The Moon 2 Nas & Damien Marley - Distant Relatives Freeway and Jake One - Stimulus Package The Roots - How I Got Over The Roots and John Legend - Wake Up N.E.R.D. - Nothing Rick Ross - Teflon Don Statik Selektah and Termanology - 1982 Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot... The Son of Chico Dusty Celph Titled - Nineteen Ninety Now Shad - TSOL Kno - Death is Silent B.o.B. - B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray Black Milk - Album Of The Year Drake - Thank Me Later Eternia & MoSS - At Last Hezekiah - Conscious Porn Skyzoo & Illmind - Live From The Tape Deck Yelawolf - Trunk Muzik Cee & Bekah - The Soul Movement Originals
Albums of the year (other genres) These are pretty much in alphabetical order as I'm going through my iTunes to see what I was feeling in 2010: Aloe Blacc - Good Things Angus & Julia Stone - Down The Way The Black Keys - Brothers British India - Avalanche Bruno Mars - Doo Wops & Hooligans Cee-Lo - The Lady Killa Chromeo - Business Casual Dead Letter Circus - This Is The Warning Delphic - Acolyte Ellie Goulding - Lights Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part Two (Return Of The Ankh) The Foreign Exchange - Authenticity Jamie Lidell - Compass Karen Elson - The Ghost Who Walks Kids of 88 - Sugarpills Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can Miike Snow - Miike Snow Plan B - The Defamation of Strickland Banks RPA & The United Nations of Sound - RPA & The United Nations of Sound Tame Impala - Innerspeaker Tinie Tempah - Disc-Overy
Mixtapes of the year Wiz Khalifa - Kush and OJ Wale - More about Nothing Laws - 5:01 Overtime Freddie Gibbs- Str8 Killa No Filla Emilio Rojas- Life Without Shame Chris Brown & Tyga - Fan Of A Fan J. Cole - Friday Night Lights The Movement Fam - The Movement Fam LIVE @ The Evelyn Hotel (27th March 2010) Notion - On The Corner of Notion & 9th: A Tribute to 9th Wonder
Videos of the year Kanye West - Runaway Erykah Badu - Window Seat
Verse of the year Emilio Rojas - Hold You Down Remix Nobody even came anywhere near as dope as Emilio came on this joint. Incredible.
Show of the year These were my favourite shows in 2010, the year where I saw more shows than the last few years combined: Alexisonfire / Norma Jean / Four Year Strong (Sound Academy, Toronto) The Temper Trap (Festival Hall, Melbourne and Phoenix, Toronto) Florence & The Machine (Festival Hall, Melbourne) dead prez (The Espy, Melbourne) Mayer Hawthorne (The Corner Hotel, Melbourne / The Bowery Ballroom, New York) Asking Alexandria / Born of Osiris / All That Remains (Phoenix, Toronto) Dilated Peoples (The Espy, Melbourne) B.o.B. (Billboard, Melbourne) Richard Ashcroft (The Palace, Melbourne) John Mayer (Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne) Laura Marling (Hi-Fi Bar, Melbourne) Drake (Fox Theatre, Atlanta) Black Milk (Revival, Toronto) Emilio Rojas (A3C, Masquerade, Atlanta) Duck Down (CMJ Showcase, Le Poisson Rouge, New York) La Roux (Festival Hall, Melbourne) Angus & Julia Stone (The Palais, Melbourne and Bell House, Brooklyn) Paul Dempsey (CMJ, Rockwood Music Hall, New York and Ariel Hyatt's house, Brooklyn / Drake Underground, Toronto) Newton Faulkner (The Palais, Melbourne) British India (The Corner Hotel, Melbourne) Urthboy (The Corner Hotel, Melbourne) Jamie Lidell (The Corner Hotel, Melbourne)
Rookie of the year J. Cole Laws Freddie Gibbs
Overachiever of the year (artist that did way beyond what was expected) Wiz Khalifa I just can't understand this whole phenomenon. To me, his music is nothing short of average. I've tried on numerous occasions to get into the tunes but I can't. Definitely achieved way more than expected.
Underachiever of the year (artist that was expected to do a lot but didn't) Emilio Rojas His latest mixtape had a damn near superstar line up (production from J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, features from B.o.B., Killa Mike, Yelawolf, etc) and was presented by Travis Barker's clothing line yet it made minimal noise. Folks will wake up in 2011.
Biggest disappointments Drake - Thank Me Later and Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday Both of these albums were almost unprecedented in their anticipation, yet both were average at best. The still spawned hits but definitely let folks down; or perhaps the hype was just too much for them.
Producers of the year Kanye West (did you HEAR his album?) Statik Selektah (he grinds damn hard and is always consistently good) Tokyo Cigar Statik Selectah Buckwild Apollo Brown
Dopest artists discovered in 2010 (whether they debuted this year or not) I was MEGA late on a lot of aritsts, but 2010 was my year of discovery. I heard more new music in 2010 than ever before, and it honestly changed my life: J. Cole (Cyclops' inclusion) Laura Marling Angus & Julia Stone The Shins Alexisonfire Miike Snow The Temper Trap Florence & The Machine Paul Dempsey / Something For Kate Stone Temple Pilots Pretty Lights Ellie Goulding Pixies Passion Pit Parkway Drive Paramore Panic! At The Disco Muse Mazzy Star The Mars Volta Katie Noonan / George Joshua Radin James Morrison Doves The Dillinger Escape Plan Bertie Blackman Beirut
Movies of the year Stone Buried Unstoppable Twelve You Don’t know Jack The Killer Inside Me The Social Network
Predictions for 2011 Kanye will clean up at next years Grammys Music will continue to get better, just as it did in 2010 after a shitty 2009 British music will absolutely kill shit. Already artists like Jessie J, Jamie Woon and James Blake are making some serious noise with their unique sounds, including the relatively new genre of post-dub step.