Yes, returning to Athens has brought back a multitude of benefits with it. One thing it doesn't bring though, is time. With 18 hours of class, nine more of work, plus whatever meetings and other organizations involve, I'm left with a small window of free time to concentrate on writing. I wanted to get this post done a week ago, as it probably would have been more appropriate coming on the final day of the year. But then Athens happened, and needless to say, I spent the remainder of my New Years weekend recovering from the events of the 31st.
Regardless, I'm glad that I can finally share my thoughts about the absolute best that 2010 had to offer, even if we're already into the new year. Seeing that there hasn't been much happening in the hip hop world however, (unless you count T.I. getting a little "handy" in prison), I think that this will still be well worth the time.
Okay, so in the last post (part 2), I gave a pretty good summary of the good things in 2010. I didn't really elaborate though, on what actually happened in the previous year. The questions that I posed deserve some closure, and I'm ready to provide it. I'll start off by saying that I felt 2010 was an above average year for the hip hop genre. I saw some progress by a lot of artists out there, most of all the younger ones. I said it before, and I'll say it again, there were a bunch of mixtape goodies last year. Young artists such as B.o.B., Mac Miller, Kid Daytona, Big K.R.I.T., Wiz Khalifa, Yelawolf, and J. Cole released some absolute fantastic material in their tapes. In fact, part of me believes that a few of the mixtapes in 2010 (like K.R.I.T. Wuz Here or Friday Night Lights) were considerably better than albums like Cudi's Legend of Mr. Rager, T.I.'s No Mercy, or Bun B's Trill O.G.
While there were disappointments in album efforts, like the ones I just mentioned above, there were several albums that absolutely rose above the rest. Before I reveal which album I thought reigned supreme in 2010 though, let me say this. As good as the finalists were for this award, not one of them can be considered a classic. . .yet. I always think that "classic" is a word tossed around way more than it really should be. Classic means timeless, and we can't consider any of these albums for that title until some time has passed. Some certainly have the makings that I could very well see earning the "classic" label down the road, but it's still way too early. Illmatic is one of my most played albums for a good reason; it never grows old. It's as fresh in 2011 as it was when Nas first emerged on the New York scene in '94. When I'm blasting "Shutterbug" in 17 years, then I think it will be safe to say it's "classic".
Enough with my two cents though, it's time for me to reveal my top tier awards for hip hop in 2010. Drumroll please. . .
Best MC: Big Boi
Why: He won't get the respect he deserves from the Grammys or other major music publications, but he earned mine. Big Boi, real name Antwan Patton, accomplished a lot in this past year. His debut solo album, Sir Lucious Left Foot: Son of Chico Dusty, debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 and sold very well in its first week, selling 62,000 copies. As of September 26, 2010, Big Boi has managed to sell 176,000 copies in total, with that number still slowly growing. It was surprising to see Patton succeed so much commercially, as his album was hardly aimed mainstream.
What was really special about Big Boi this year, however, was his ability to shed his underrated label, while not changing who he was. Patton produced possibly the purest hip hop album of the entire year, yet made it sound aware of the time period it was released in. He was a lyrical monster on his Sir Lucious, especially on songs such as "General Patton", "Daddy Fat Sax", and "Night Night", which brought into question who really was the better member of OutKast (a question that I believe no one would've been posing except Patton himself before this year).Big Boi also did something that will give hip hop artists a reason to refer to Sir Lucious frequently when producing albums of their own. Patton created a blueprint on how to utilize guest appearances to the fullest on his debut album. Instead of just searching for the big names to help sell, Patton was meticulous in who was featured on his tracks, making absolute certain that their appearance would only improve the overall quality of the song, rather than just add some "celebrity shot" verse. He was so good at it, that in fact he is the only MC to this date that I know of that was able to use Gucci Mane on a song, and not make it suck. Other songs such as "Shutterbug ft. Cutty", "Night Night ft. B.o.B.", and "Tangerine ft. T.I." demonstrated Big Boi's ability to use a guest and make them feel like a natural part of the song. Kanye did this extremely well on his album as well, but you can't tell me that 'Ye didn't take some points from how Big Boi used his guests either.
With two more solo albums and another 'Kast joint on the way, things are only looking up for the MC once thought as Andre 3K's sidekick. Patton, at least for now, earns the role as "general" in OutKast and the rest of southern hip hop.
Best Song: "Dear God 2.0" off of How I Got Over - The Roots
Why: I'll be honest, I could have given this award to about ten different other songs. While there wasn't an abundance of great hip-hop albums this year, there was a great deal of fabulous, high quality singles. I gave Murs' "Vicky Vette" consideration, as well as Nas & Damian Marley's "My Generation ft. Lil Wayne", Reflection Eternal's "Just Begun ft. Jay Electronica, J.Cole, & Mos Def", and Eminem's "Going Through Changes".
However, this one really came down to five finalists. Kanye had two of them, with "So Appalled", which I gave my "Best Verse of 2010" award to for Jay-Z's lyrical onslaught, and "Power", which experienced tremendous success commercially and critically. Both tracks were terrific, and I wouldn't have a problem if anyone else gave them this award instead, but the actual meaning from the lyrics didn't quite match up to The Roots' "Dear God 2.0". This was the same for Lupe Fiasco's "I'm Beamin'", even though I felt the song was extremely well written.
The only other track that got major consideration was Big Boi's "Shutterbug ft. Cutty". I actually was prepared to give the award to Big Boi, until I really gave "Dear God 2.0" another good listen. Yes, "Shutterbug" was a top 40 UK hit and has since become the song that defines Patton's debut album. However, when I listened to The Roots' "Dear God 2.0", it did something for me that doesn't happen often. It made me think. Not many artists are able to do this (2Pac was really good at this) but making the listener actually ponder about what they had listened to and debate its meaning is the sign of musical brilliance. Black Thought makes a track out of something that happens to billions everyday, by praying. It wasn't a mainstream song, but greatness shouldn't be defined solely by how popular something is (after all, silly bands for example are unbelievably popular, yet I don't think many will describe them as an invention that is groundbreaking).
The Roots with How I Got Over and "Dear God 2.0" cemented themselves, in my opinion, as the best musical group in existence today. The Black Keys are great, don't get me wrong, but I challenge anyone to find a band more consistent and intelligent with their lyrics and music than The Roots. If you ever need a reason to watch Jimmy Fallon, which there aren't many, The Roots should be at the top of your list.
Best Album: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Kanye West
Why: AHHH how I wanted to give this award to someone else! Don't get me wrong, I loved the album from first listen, but I was extremely skeptical at its glowing reviews from every music critic out there. I wanted to go against the norm and find an album that was better than MBDTF just because I felt there had to be one. After all, many of these writers are the same ones that flooded Weezy's trophy room with best album awards for his Carter III in 2008 (which wasn't even one of the top 5 albums of that year in reality).
So I did just that, I searched for an album better than 'Ye's, and I was able to find just three that were close: Nas & Damian Marley's Distant Relatives, The Roots' How I Got Over, and Big Boi's Sir Lucious Left Foot: Son of Chico Dusty. I started with Distant Relatives and felt I had found a winner after just the first three tracks. Distant Relatives, which I know had to be the most underrated and slept on album by critics this past year, was chalk full of great messages and Nas, as he almost always does, was unbelievable lyrically. "Strong Will Continue" and "Land of Promise" stuck out immediately and I was also impressed with their risky inclusion of Lil Wayne on "My Generation". Wayne, surprisingly (at least for an album like this), did a fantastic job with his verse and the song in general was very moving. Distant Relatives however, lacked a little in the production department. Not to say it wasn't well produced (it was some of the best beats I've heard Nas rap over in the past decade), but when compared to Kanye's work, it didn't hold up quite as well. I also noticed that some of the songs lost their replay factor quick, such as "Nah Mean" and "Dispear". Again, not to say Kanye didn't have a few of these either, but it Distant Relatives wasn't able to make any distance between it and 'Ye's album because of this. I loved the album and I wish more artists would try projects like this. Unfortunately for Nas & Mr. Marley, I just couldn't see it as better than 'Ye's, so I moved onto the next album on my list.
Sir Lucious Left Foot, up until November, was my clear runaway for album of the year. It was extremely surprising to me then, that I was even considering giving this award to West over Big Boi as the year began to draw to a close. Big Boi finally got this album to see daylight and, lyrically at least, it trumped Kanye's. Big Boi, his real name is Antwan Patton, also had what Distant Relatives didn't, which was a standout single. "Shutterbug" (you'll be hearing more about this later in my article) is just plain f-cking awesome and I loved "General Patton", "Night Night", and "Shine Blockas". There were, however, filler tracks in this album, and maybe one too many. Songs like "Be Still", "Fo Yo Sorrows" and "Hustle Blood" were all next to each other and all could be skipped on a regular basis. Kanye had some filler tracks as well, but not quite as many and certainly not in a single stretch. While I think Big Boi is actually a better rapper than Kanye (and a LOT more out there), his album was just not quite as complete as Kanye's was.
That brought it down to either How I Got Over or MBDTF for the award. Now, originally, as I said earlier, I thought Big Boi's effort was the clear runaway heading into November. That was before I really gave The Roots' latest another good, 42 minute listen (that's the album time in case you were wondering). You want to talk about complete? This album seemed to have it all. It could match up to 'Ye's from a musical standpoint with another superb performance from the "best band in late night" and I thought lyrically it had stronger messages than Kanye's. It also had some really great guest appearances, such as John Legend on "The Fire" and Dice Raw on "Walk Alone" and "Radio Daze. How I Got Over didn't really have any fillers as well and would have won this award, if it weren't for two things. The first was that the album didn't have as much solid content as MBDTF. I never criticize albums for being short, (I honestly think more albums should be shorter to cut out some of the bullshit filler songs we have to deal with), but compared to Kanye's, The Roots didn't offer as big a package. The Roots also made a huge mistake with their last track, "Web 20/20". The song just didn't fit with the overall theme of the album and left me with a bad taste in my mouth afterward. Kanye, while making mistakes of his own, ended his album in a much more appropriate way than How I Got Over, with his outro "Who Will Survive in America?".
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