Lately alot of hip-hop has come to at almost standpoint position, basically Game drops his album it sells strongly and now we got to wait for the next major artists to drop. Underground wise, it's been busy as always. However, it's also somewhat stale compared to this time last year. So Ive taken time to re-discover southern artists, and ive been thoroughly impressed by their approach to music. Alot of it has uplifting soulfull inputs, some blues fusion. Some funk fusion and overall though the 'lyrical' level maybe slightly down in talent compared to N.Y. or eastcoast emcee's. But the overall feeling of the music has been exceptional. Ive tried to make a top-1o based of what ive heard in the last 5 years, so this is my list. Enjoy.
1. T.I., with I'm Serious, Trap Muzik & Urban Legend under his belt it was hard to not put him up there. Overall, I think his been the most consistent artist in a while.
2. Ludacris, his style is ridicolous. By that i mean entertaining and an enjoyment to listen to. Word of Mouf was a very strong lp, Chicken & Beer had a couple of real good high points. The first single "stand up" was a banger. I wans't overally impressed with Red Light District, but it was an aiight record.
3. Bun-B, Im basing this straight up from all the guest spots ive heard him on. With no solo next to his name and it seems it's been forever since the last UGK, material by this giant in the MC world had somewhat been scarse. But when i did hear him on a 16, it was just 'dope'. Never ceases to impress me and he keeps elevating I swear, everytime I hear him he sound better and even more hungry.
4. Devin "Tha Dude", To Tha Xtreme was a cool record without a doubt. However his 2nd record Just Tryin' Ta Live, was all that. I still bump it like a mad man. His soulful, comedic style is fresh and a perfect remedy from all this nonsense being dropped.
5. Cee-Lo, Soul Machine is on some other shit. Best believe, however it's a good fucken record. His extremely underrated as an artist but people sleep on dude's creativity way too much. His style is either 2 things, it's either great or annoying.
6. 8Ball, Living Legend was a pretty decent record but far from the 8Ball & MJG of the earlier years. 8Ball was a monster on 70% of the record, his guest verses apart from that have been very nice aswell. His slightly stepped off his game, but I can't front on dude's skill.
7. Scarface, I had to add 'Face. The Fix was hot, by The Source a classic. However I don't rank it a classic but it is a dope record, after he dropped that record Ive heard little from him. So this is really based on the strength of The Fix.
8. David Banner, Mississippi The Album was a great record. No one can underestimate Banner's production skills because his a hell of a dope producer. His rhymes however have seemed lacking at times, but far from that all. Nothing can take away that MTA was an above average record IMO. And it's follow-up MTA2: Baptized In Dirty Water wasn't far off it either. 2 from 2 as far as dope records are concerned. Now if he only stepped his flow and lyrical game up slightly..
9. Young Buck, I like Straight Outta Ca$hville. However I don't ride it, though it's a dope record it didn't stray too far away from what i really thought it would be. The occassional banger like 'Thou Shall' and 'Bang Bang' wasn't enough to push the other mediocore songs. Good record, but not as hyped as many believe it to be IMO.
10. Trae, I placed him above Z-Ro. Just though. I bumped his album (3 disc set) can't remember the name the other day and was pretty impressed. He seems like a hot artist, but I really need more material to make it a fair judge. What i did hear however was enough to place him 10 IMO.
Honourable mentions;
Z-Ro, Bubba Sparxxx & Big Boi.
As y'all can see it's a mainly mainstream list, anyways whom do you believe to be the top 10 in the last 5 years?
peace.
1. T.I., with I'm Serious, Trap Muzik & Urban Legend under his belt it was hard to not put him up there. Overall, I think his been the most consistent artist in a while.
2. Ludacris, his style is ridicolous. By that i mean entertaining and an enjoyment to listen to. Word of Mouf was a very strong lp, Chicken & Beer had a couple of real good high points. The first single "stand up" was a banger. I wans't overally impressed with Red Light District, but it was an aiight record.
3. Bun-B, Im basing this straight up from all the guest spots ive heard him on. With no solo next to his name and it seems it's been forever since the last UGK, material by this giant in the MC world had somewhat been scarse. But when i did hear him on a 16, it was just 'dope'. Never ceases to impress me and he keeps elevating I swear, everytime I hear him he sound better and even more hungry.
4. Devin "Tha Dude", To Tha Xtreme was a cool record without a doubt. However his 2nd record Just Tryin' Ta Live, was all that. I still bump it like a mad man. His soulful, comedic style is fresh and a perfect remedy from all this nonsense being dropped.
5. Cee-Lo, Soul Machine is on some other shit. Best believe, however it's a good fucken record. His extremely underrated as an artist but people sleep on dude's creativity way too much. His style is either 2 things, it's either great or annoying.
6. 8Ball, Living Legend was a pretty decent record but far from the 8Ball & MJG of the earlier years. 8Ball was a monster on 70% of the record, his guest verses apart from that have been very nice aswell. His slightly stepped off his game, but I can't front on dude's skill.
7. Scarface, I had to add 'Face. The Fix was hot, by The Source a classic. However I don't rank it a classic but it is a dope record, after he dropped that record Ive heard little from him. So this is really based on the strength of The Fix.
8. David Banner, Mississippi The Album was a great record. No one can underestimate Banner's production skills because his a hell of a dope producer. His rhymes however have seemed lacking at times, but far from that all. Nothing can take away that MTA was an above average record IMO. And it's follow-up MTA2: Baptized In Dirty Water wasn't far off it either. 2 from 2 as far as dope records are concerned. Now if he only stepped his flow and lyrical game up slightly..
9. Young Buck, I like Straight Outta Ca$hville. However I don't ride it, though it's a dope record it didn't stray too far away from what i really thought it would be. The occassional banger like 'Thou Shall' and 'Bang Bang' wasn't enough to push the other mediocore songs. Good record, but not as hyped as many believe it to be IMO.
10. Trae, I placed him above Z-Ro. Just though. I bumped his album (3 disc set) can't remember the name the other day and was pretty impressed. He seems like a hot artist, but I really need more material to make it a fair judge. What i did hear however was enough to place him 10 IMO.
Honourable mentions;
Z-Ro, Bubba Sparxxx & Big Boi.
As y'all can see it's a mainly mainstream list, anyways whom do you believe to be the top 10 in the last 5 years?
peace.
