Yeah, yeah. We're 22 days late. My bad. So last year's Best of 2008 post was our biggest post yet as far as length and hits, so we delivered the Best of 2009 as soon as we could...anyway, there's enough info here with me crapping on, so read on my people...and comment!
Cee
Top 5 Hip Hop Albums
Skyzoo - The Salvation
Royce Da 5'9" - Street Hop
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2
Asher Roth - Asleep In The Bread Aisle
Brother Ali - US
Special Mentions:
David Dallas - Something Awesome
Ghostface Killah - Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City
Inverse - So True EP
Slaughterhouse - Slaughterhouse
Top 5 R&B/Soul Albums
Daniel Merriweather - Love & War
Robin Thicke - Sex Therapy: The Experience
Alicia Keys - The Element of Freedom
Melanie Fiona - The Bridge
India.Arie - Testimony Volume 2: Love & Politics
Special Mentions:
Mayer Hawthorne - A Strange Arrangement
Joss Stone - Colour Me Free!
Lloyd - Like Me: The Young Goldie EP
Maxwell - BLACKsummer's Night
Top Any Genre Albums
John Mayer - Battle Studies
Ben Harper & The Relentless 7 - White Lies for Dark Times
Colbie Caillat - Breakthrough
Lisa Mitchell - Wonder
Top 5 Hip Hop Songs
Inverse - Rise and Shine
Drake - Forever feat Kanye West, Lil' Wayne and Eminem (Travis Barker Remix)
Royce Da 5'9" - Part Of Me
Asher Roth - I Love College
J.Cole - Lights Please
Special Mentions:
Sandpeople - Hate Aside
Skyzoo - The Necessary Evils
Top 5 R&B/Soul Songs
Melanie Fiona - Give It To Me Right
Jess Harlen - Watch The Water
Joss Stone - Governmentalist
Robin Thicke - Sex Therapy
Sade - Soldier Of Love
Special Mentions:
Daniel Merriweather - Red
Daniel Merriweather - Cigarettes
Top Any Genre Songs
John Mayer - Who Says
Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man
Lisa Mitchell - Coin Laundry
Sean Declase - Throw Me Down
Best Mixtape(s) of the Year
Eternia - Get Caught Up
Emilio Rojas - Recession Proof
Cee & Bekah - The Soul Movement Volume 3: The Final Chapter
Emilio Rojas - The Natural
Lil' Wayne - No Ceilings
Special Mentions:
Joell Ortiz - Road Kill
Idle Warship - Party Robot
J. Cole - The Warm Up
Best Video(s) of the Year
Skyzoo - Popularity
Daniel Merriweather - Change
Jay-Z feat Kanye West & Rihanna - Run This Town (although we recently discovered the freemasonry symbolism in said video, it's still dope)
Most Interesting Artist of the Year
Kid Cudi. Dude was thrown off Lady Gaga's tour for punching a fan. His album was weird as hell; like it or not, dude is doing his own thing. Very fun to watch.
Most Overrated Artist of the Year
It's hard to say it but...Eminem. Relapse was very average (even in a year littered with average albums), and every guest appearance from the man left me less than satisfied (see Drake's 'Forever' and Wayne's amazing 'Drop The World'). Hopefully the second volume of Relapse will bring back the Em we've been fiending for.
Worst Album of the Year
Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3: It's not the worst album of the year as such, but definitely the most disappointing. A new Jay album is an event - but this one fizzled. Jay didn't sound on top of his game, there was barely a handful of decent songs, and sonically it was too far removed from his previous work. Let's hope the next one is a heater...
Best Show of the Year
2009 was hands down the ILLEST year of shows I've ever seen in Australia. By far, Daniel Merriweather was the dopest show; it was his first major gig in his hometown since blowing up in the UK and the most fun I've had in ages.
Special Mentions:
Lupe Fiasco
Nas
Jimmy Barnes
John Farnham
Marilyn Manson
Wu-Tang Clan
Blu & Exile
Worst Song of the Year
Well, this ain't really the worst song of the year, but most definitely the funniest (or possibly the worst song to get a chick into bed). R. Kelly's 'Pregnant' was fucking HILARIOUS. And the remix with Robin Thicke, The-Dream and Tyrese made it even funnier. 'Girl you make me wanna get you preeggggnaannnt....'
Hottest Broad of the Year
Freida Pinto AND Jessica Mas
Stupidest Thing that happened this year
Well maybe not the stupidest but possibly the saddest was the loss of Michael Jackson. Even among all the controversy, dude is still the greatest of all time and very few people disagree.
The Kanye/Taylor Swift moment was amazingly hilarious and was the butt of many a spectacular internet meme.
And I can't forget Bangs. Dude was talked about on Twitter by like 5 people on Sunday; by Friday he had over 200K hits on YouTube for 'Take U To Da Movies'. I even got the exclusive first performance footage at the Phrase gig, which has over 100K views.
Best blog/website of the Year
On my bias shit - KevinNottingham.com, of course. Nobody else caters for the up and comers like Kev.
On my non-bias shit, both DJBooth.com and HipHopUpdate.com were on their shit.
Artist to look out for in 2010
Drake - what can I say? Nobody killed it like dude in 2009. Very interested to see what he will do in 2010.
Also, here's a few names to keep an eye on: K'Naan, Wale, Emilio Rojas, Skyzoo, Kina Grannis, Theology3, Daniel Merriweather, Justin Bieber, The Glitch Mob...
Dopest Producer(s) of the Year
Here's a few who continued to murk it: Nottz, Mark Ronson, Remot, EOM, Illmind, Shuko, M-Phazes, edIT...
Illest Artist Discovered in 2009
I'd have to say the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I need a SERIOUS late pass for this one; I've always loved 'Under The Bridge' and been bumpin' 'Blood Sugar Sex Magik' but in 2009, I got into their entire back catalogue. 2009 was the year I listened to more old music than ever before. Special mentions go to Cold Chisel and Marilyn Manson. I was also gonna say 'glitch music' but I think I discovered that in 2008. Shouts to Zach at Dr Follicles for that one.
Top 5 Movies of the Year
Fuck a movie - the 'Been Had' videos on YouTube were the illest shit all year!
Oh and The Carter Documentary was sick.
Predictions for 2010...
Drake will continue his industry domination and his long awaited debut Thank Me Later will break his mentor Lil' Wayne's recent sales records.
Glitch music will start to take off, and some of the first artists you'll hear over glitch beats will include The Movement Fam in early 2010.
Hip Hop will actually improve and not be as shit as it was in 2009. It can only go up from here...
Clint
Top 5 Tracks
Drake - Forever feat Kanye West, Lil' Wayne and Eminem
Eminem - 3am
Jay-Z feat Alicia Keys - Empire State Of Mind
Jay-Z - D.O.A.
Kid Cudi feat Kanye West and Common- I Poke Her Face
Eminem feat 50 Cent and Dr Dre - Crack A Bottle
Top 5 Albums
Eminem - Relapse
Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3
Slaughterhouse - Slaughterhouse
Brother Ali - US
Robin Thicke - Sex Therapy (Can't believe the dudes dad is the dad from Growing Pains...I can hearing him yelling at Kirk Cameron now)
Top 5 Hip Hop Artists of 2009
Lil' Wayne
Jay-Z
Drake
Ludacris
Eminem
Infinite Archetype
Top 5 Hip Hop Albums
Skyzoo - The Salvation
Wale - Attention Deficit (without a DOUBT)
Royce Da 5'9" - Street Hop
Ghettosocks - Treat of the day
Slaughterhouse - Slaughterhouse
Top 5 R&B/Soul Albums
I don't think I even copped 5 soul albums in 2009 that were actually FROM 2009. But here's the two I did get:
Eric Roberson - Music Fan First
Daniel Merriweather - Love & War
Top 5 Hip Hop Songs
Wale - Ice and Rain
Ghettosocks - Don't Turn Around
Skyzoo - Beautiful Decay
Wale - Beautiful Bliss (ft. J-Cole)
Young Chris - Kickdrums (ft. Wale and Rhymefest)
Top 5 R&B/Soul Songs
Daniel Merriweather - Change
Eric Roberson - How Could She Do It
Raphael Saadiq - Staying in Love
Best Mixtape(s) of the Year
Cee & Bekah - The Soul Movement Volume 3
Young Chris - The Network
J.Cole - The Warmup
Wale & 9th Wonder - Back to the Feature (a BEAST of a mixtape)
Best Video(s) of the Year
Skyzoo - The Beautiful Decay (prejudiced cos I love that song too much to hate it, regardless of how generic the video actually is)
Most Interesting Artist of the Year
Don't have one. This year I've done less reading about Artists, more listening to them. :)
Most Overrated Artist of the Year
A lot of artists are constantly overrated every year. I don't think any more-so than a previous year. But I have to agree with Cee and say Eminem.
Worst Album of the Year
I don't actually think it's out yet but I was unfortunate enough to hear Rebirth by Lil' Wayne. And that's 15 minutes of my life I will never get back. (I must have played about a minute of each track. They only got progressively worse). That's the last time I give that boy a chance.
Best Show of the Year
Low-Fi. While I didn't get to see Qbert and Supernat (thank you bad organisers closing "The Shed" mid event and reorganising sets without telling us, and thank you Commix playing over your set time), I throughly enjoyed Chali 2na (always a crowd pleaser) and Nas.
Worst Song of the Year
To be honest I tend to be succesful at steering clear of anything on the TV and Radio. So really my worst experience this year was the Lil' Wayne Rebirth Album. All of it. Every Second. Pick a track off that. Any track...that's the worst song of the year.
Hottest Broad of the Year
What are we in the 60's? Ha. Hottest "Broad" this year...I dunno. After watching Jennifer's Body I have a thing for Megan Fox now. I guess that's my choice.
Stupidest Thing that happened this year
I don't know if it counts as stupid, but that news article I read about the marshal arts trained monkey turning on his trainer was hilarious. I think the news article I saw read "Ninja Monkey turns on Master". I don't know, I just find that funny.
Best blog/website of the Year
I don't really spend too much time cruising blogs. Actually the only one I visit regularly isn't even music related. But I'll say it. www.toucharcade.com. If you have an iPhone, you know whats up.
Artist to look out for in 2010
After hearing "So Far Gone" I WOULD have said Drake. However after hearing subsequent features and mix-tapes, I'm really, really not. However while I will not be looking out for him, I'm pretty damn sure he will be on to bigger things. So yes. I guess I am saying Drake.
Dopest Producer(s) of the Year
Tough. Emile killed it on everything I heard this year, 9th has been trying some different stuff with his beats, and even one of the Primo tracks on the Royce album didn't even sound like Primo! It's definitely been an interesting year as far as production goes. I can't choose one.
Predictions for 2010...
People will start writing "10" instead of "09" at the end of dates. We will have a lineup of mediocre summer festivals (compared to previous years anyway) and Drake will maybe come out with an album...maybe.
Marc
Top 5 Hip Hop Albums
Cormega - Born & Raised
Wu-Tang - Chamber Music
Cyne - Water for Mars
Mos Def - The Estatic
Fashawn - Boy Meets World
Special Mentions:
Royce Da 5'9 - Street Hop
Finale - A Dream & a Promise
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2
Diamond District - In The Ruff
Souls Of Mischief - Montezumas Revenge
Jazz Liberators - Fruit of The Past
Tanya Morgan - Brooklynati
Brother Ali - Us
Top 4 R&B/Soul Albums
Melanie Fiona - The Bridge
Chrisette Michele – Epiphany
Joss Stone – Colour Me Free!
Platinum Pied Pipers - Abundance
Top Any Genre Albums
Blueprint - Sign Language
Exile - Radio
Prefuse 73 - Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian
Best Mixtape(s) of the Year
Statik Selectah & Saigon - All In A Days Work
Most Interesting Artist of the Year
Exile
Most Overrated Artist of the Year
Lil' Wayne
Worst Album of the Year
Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3
Best Show of the Year
Pharoah Monche live @ Prince of Wales
Hottest Broad of the Year
'Uhura' character in the new Star Trek film
Stupidest Thing that happened this year
Tiger Woods Ho' Marathon.
Best blog/website of the Year
Rappamelo.com
Artist to look out for in 2010
Finale
Dopest Producer(s) of the Year
14KT, Fat Jon, Fizzy Womack, Ayatollah, Havoc, Exile
Illest Artist Discovered in 2009
Fashawn
Top 5 Movies of the Year
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek
Public Enemies
Moon
Predictions for 2010...
The death of Hip Hop continues as Pop and Hip Hop become one entity.
Micnificent
Top 5 Hip Hop Albums
Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3 (Hate if you want but the more you listen, the better it gets)
Royce Da 5'9" - Street Hop (Fire front to back)
Rick Ross - Deeper Than Rap (Quality album)
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 (Dope!)
Wale - Attention Deficit (Def one of my fav's)
Special Mentions:
Slaughterhouse - Slaughterhouse
Snoop Dog - Malice In Wonderland
Eminem - Relapse: Refill
Top 5 R&B/Soul Albums
I really haven't heard enough in '09.
Robin Thicke - Sex Therapy (Entertaining, quality album)
Top Any Genre Albums
It's disgusting but nothing comes to mind.
Top 5 Hip Hop Songs
This is a hard category...here goes:
Raekwon - Catalina
Wale - Mama Told Me
Snoop Dogg - I Wanna Rock
Royce - Part Of Me
Slaughterhouse - The One
Top Any Genre Songs
Kid Cudi - Day N Night
Robin Thicke - It's In The Morning (Makes you wanna smash a bitch in the mornin' fmc)
Jay-Z feat Alicia Keys - Empire State Of Mind
Jay-Z - Run This Town
Top 5 Mixtapes
Joell Ortiz - Road Kill
Cee & Bekah - The Soul Movement Volume 3: The Final Chapter
Lil' Wayne - No Ceilings
Top Music Videos
Slaughterhouse - The One
Eminem - 3am
Royce Da 5'9" - Part Of Me
Joell Ortiz - Food For Thought
Kid Cudi - Soundtrack To My Life
Most Interesting Artist of the Year
Drake - came from under a rock; doesn't have an album and manages to stay relevant (if not at the top).
Most Overrated Artist
Lady Gaga because I just don't feel the buzz.
Best Show of the Year
Blu & Exile tickles my puss
Nas also killed it
Worst Song of the Year
Pitbull - I Know You Want Me
Hottest Broad of the Year
Blue bitch in Avatar (I'm in love)
Stupidest thing that happened
Lil' Mama's bboy stance with Jay and Alicia after their 'Empire' performance.
Kanye/Taylor Swift incident.
Best blog/website of the Year
The Movement Fam blog of course
Artist to look out for in 2010
Drake
Mike Lee (lmao)
Illest Artist Discovered in 2009
Lil' Wayne (knew him before, but now I understand what he's doing)
Top 5 Movies of the Year
Avatar
Inglourious Basterds
Predictions for 2010...
Mike will stay spending money on CDs supporting the industry that does not support him. Nas and Damian Marley's album will have the substance I am looking for, Drake's album will drop, sell more than Nas but won't be as good as expected....and Kanye will drop a new album that will be on point. Le Fin ...oh I would say detox is gonna drop but Dre's waiting till I drop dead before he releases it....cunt fmc.
Notion
Top 5 Hip Hop Albums
Skyzoo - The Salvation
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2
Slaughterhouse - Slaughterhouse
Method Man & Redman - Blackout 2
Ghostface Killah - Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City
Special Mentions:
David Dallas - Something Awesome
Brother Ali - US
Mos Def - Estatic
Inverse - So True EP
Royce Da 5'9" - Street Hop
Top 5 R&B/Soul Albums
Daniel Merriweather - Love & War
Alicia Keys - The Element of Freedom
Robin Thicke - S3x Therapy: The Experience
Joss Stone - Colour Me Free!
Maxwell - BLACKsummer's Night
Top 5 Hip Hop Songs
Slaughterhouse - Microphone
Inverse - Rise and Shine
Drake - Forever feat Kanye West, Lil' Wayne and Eminem (Travis Barker Remix)
Ghostface - Do Over ft. Raheem DeVaughn
Skyzoo - The Necessary Evils
Special Mentions:
Ghostface - Stapleton Sex
Lil' Wayne - Drop The World ft. Eminem
Top 5 R&B/Soul Songs
Daniel Merriweather - Could You
Jess Harlen - Watch The Water
Joss Stone - Governmentalist
Robin Thicke - Sex Therapy
Special Mentions:
Daniel Merriweather - Red
Daniel Merriweather - Cigarettes
Best Mixtape(s) of the Year
Cee & Bekah - The Soul Movement Volume 3: The Final Chapter (No Bias)
Eternia - Get Caught Up
Emilio Rojas - Recession Proof
Emilio Rojas - The Natural
Lil' Wayne - No Ceilings
Special Mentions:
Joell Ortiz - Road Kill
Idle Warship - Party Robot
J. Cole - The Warm Up
Best Video(s) of the Year
Drake - Forever ft. Kanye, Lil' Wayne & Eminem (Travis Barker Remix)
Skyzoo - Popularity
Daniel Merriweather - Change
Jay-Z feat Kanye West & Rihanna - Run This Town
Best Show of the Year
Word on the street is that Daniel Merriweather's show was off the chain and possibly the dopest show of the year, but I missed it like the shit person I am. :O(
From shows that I've seen, it would have to go to Lupe Fiasco! MY LORD, dude is a gymnast on stage! Backflips to end it, reppin' Gaza strip, energy plus man, insane band, it had the works! Crazy show!
Special Mentions to:
Nas
Blu &a Exile
Worst Song of the Year
Take U To Da Movies - Bangs.
My god. This is TOO retarded to comment on. Nuff said.
Hottest Broad of the Year
Yo mumma.
Stupidest Thing that happened this year
The Kanye & Taylor Swift moment at the MTV Video Awards was amazingly hilarious and was the butt of many a spectacular internet meme and late night talk shows for months to come.
Best blog/website of the Year
On my bias sh* - KevinNottingham.com, of course. Nobody else caters for the up and comers like Kev. Also, www.themovementfam.com because its also just as raw.
Not much of a blogger myself, so that’s all I got.
Artist to look out for in 2010
Drake for sure, wait for the takeover. Album should be ridic.
Also, here's a few names to keep an eye on: Wale, Emilio Rojas, Skyzoo, Daniel Merriweather, The Movement Fam. Gyeh!
Dopest Producer(s) of the Year
Nottz, Mark Ronson, Remot, EOM, Illmind, Shuko, M-Phazes, edIT, Fire & Ice...
Top 5 Movies of the Year
Refer to YouTube. Lol!
Theory
Top 5 Hip Hop Albums
Royce Da 5'9'' - Street Hop
Slaughterhouse - Slaughterhouse
DOOM - Born Like This
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II
Eminem - Relapse: Refill
Honourable Mentions:
R.A. The Rugged Man - Legendary Classics Vol. 1
Sandpeople - Long Story... Short EP
M.O.P. - Foundation
Top R&B/Soul Albums
The-Dream - Love Vs. Money
Laura Izibor - Let The Truth Be Told
Not sure why I can't think of more than two that I liked for the year. I guess there's a bunch that I haven't heard yet (Alicia Keys comes to mind) and a bunch that didn't live up to my expectations (Keri Hilson's debut). Maybe I'm not as big a fan of R&B and soul as I thought. Or maybe I'm just pissed that Erykah Badu keeps pushing her album back.
Top Any Genre Albums
These are all electronic/glitch hop albums and EP's. Pretty much the genre I most listened to outside of Hip Hop in 2009.
Nosaj Thing - Drift
PANTyRAID - The Sauce (Note: PANTyRAID are made up of Ooah of The Glitch Mob (who are discussed further down) and another gentleman)
Freddy Todd - Hallowz Eve EP
Samples - Intercontinental Ballistic Lazer
Samples - Inappropriate
Top 5 Hip Hop Songs
Jay Electronica - Exhibit C
Sandpeople - Hate Aside
Slaughterhouse - Move On (Remix)
J. Cole - Lights Please
Canibus - Dead By Design
Best Mixtape(s) of the Year
Joell Ortiz - Covers The Classics
Joell Ortiz - Road Kill
AC - Attack Of The Blogs Part 2
Emilio Rojas - Recession Proof
Emilio Rojas - The Natural
Best Video(s) of the Year
Slaughterhouse - The One
DJ Quik & Kurupt - 9x's Outta 10
Jay-Z - D.O.A. (Death Of Autotune)
KRS-One & Buckshot - Robot
Method Man & Redman - Mrs. International
Most Interesting Artist of the Year
Royce Da 5'9" would probably take this. From being involved in two of my favourite albums of the year, to his countless freestyles, to his Twitter account and live video streams while drunk as hell. The dude entertained me all year.
Most Overrated Artist of the Year
Lil' Wayne, but he's the most overrated artist for me every single year since he has been "rapping" - if you can call it that.
Worst Album of the Year
Did Wayne drop an album this year? Hmm I guess not. I gotta say both Jadakiss and Keri Hilson's albums were very disappointing.
Best Show of the Year
I didn't go to many shows in 2009 (that I can remember) so I guess that makes Nas the victor. After the show, people were talking about how he didn't put on much of a show, or something. I was right up the front watching his facial expression as he kicked rhymes from most of the tracks on Illmatic. What else do you need?
Worst Song of the Year
Did Wayne put out any songs this year? He probably did. If you're a Wayne fan, pick your favourite Wayne track of 2009 - that's my worst song of the year.
MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN of the Year
My grandma.
Stupidest Thing that happened this year
Lil' Wayne didn't die.
Best blog/website of the Year
The Smoking Section - http://smokingsection.uproxx.com/TSS/
Artist to look out for in 2010
The Glitch Mob - http://www.theglitchmob.com/
Glitch Hop is the future, kids. After various successes with solo projects, The Glitch Mob (edIT, Ooah, Kraddy, Boreta) are putting the finishing touches on their group debut album. This is sure to feature heavily in my Top Music 2010 list. If you're unfamiliar, hit the link above and check out the free audio on their page. Or head to wherever you can buy good music and cop both edIT albums - they are definitely some of the best Glitch Hop albums out there.
Dopest Producer(s) of the Year
Apart from the members of The Glitch Mob and their various forays into electronic music, I've looked at who produced my top five Hip Hop albums and came across a few names that were involved in more than one of them. I guess that makes them my favourite producers of 2009.
Dr. Dre
J Dilla
Emile
Doom
Jake One
Illest Artist Discovered in 2009
The Glitch Mob, hands down.
Top EIGHT Movies of the Year
Inglourious Basterds
The Hangover
District 9
I Love You, Man
Avatar (3D)
Black Dynamite
Where The Wild Things Are
Thirst
Predictions for 2010...
Hip Hop will continue to be 90% bullshit, spearheaded by your man Lil' Wayne. Eminem will try to reclaim the throne, but unless Relapse 2 has some substance to it, that's not going to happen. Beyonce will give birth to Satan's seed, while Jay-Z watches powerlessly from the sidelines. 3D movies will be all the rage. Nintendo will continue to release video games that belong in the early 90's... and continue to break sales records. Personally, I'll waste way too much money on alcohol and spend way too much time updating my iPod.