great year.
tip killed it, the renaissance's type of music is something I personally missed in hip-hop.
blackmilk's production was on point. I just skimmed through his rhyming tho.
had cube, tech n9ne, ill bill like ppl already mentioned.
illa j's yancey boy's album production was my shit. Great to hear any sound of Dilla, at any time. But to get unreleased gems on this one tho was very welcomed. again, I only skimmed through Illa's rhymes.
Joe Budden's mixtape was alright, nothing compared to mm2 or 3 imo but it still had that sorta feel like those former mentioned. A few cuts still getting heavy rotation here.
GZA's flow sounded really unenthusiastic on Pro-Tools but it was still mad lyrical and provided me my yearly Wu relief.
Scarface stayed consistent on Emeritus.
I fux with Common's Universal Mind Control....
Luda's Theater of the Mind stayed on the same frequency as his previous Release Date. Not his best album but overall very solid.
my mate put me onto LoDeck & Omega One earlier this year, so I d/led Postcards From The Third Rock when it leaked/dropped and was genuinely surprised. They aren't bad at all and this album is pretty dope. I got my hands on the instrumental vers. of the lp too.
There was Dr. Doom's Dr. Dooom 2 and a under-the-radar return by Diamond D, check out The Huge Hefner Chronicles. It's good.
Murs popped up as did Devin The Dude sometime this year, I remember vaguely listening to both their albums and enjoying them somewhat. I'll have to re-dl it or if I see them perhaps buy them.
DJ Muggs did an album with Planet Asia "Pain language", Killah Priest gave Chief Kamachi some time to shine when they dropped "Beautiful Minds" together. He also dropped Behind Stained Glass. Speaking of duo's, Im sure most have heard Foreign Exchange's new lp "Leave It All Behind".. Phonte is a cool singer but dude is a way better mc. Lp was alright.
Jake One & Statik Selektah both provided us with those BIG MAINSTREAM with a mixtape vibe albums a'la Funk Flex, Ron G, Kay Slay for 2008.
Large Professor did a sneak attack with Main Source LP. Shit is blazing too!. Skillz dropped too sometime this year I think.
cut chemist & shadow did their thing... again. a scratch/sample lovers mindfuck (a good one)
NAS, Immortal Technique, Murs&9th Wonder (shit Murs dropped twice then. Good shit), Vaste Aire, Flying Lotus, J. Rawls, J-Live!, The Roots, BuckShot&9th Wonder, Keith Murray, AZ, EMC (Masta Ace's new clique), Pete Rock, EPMD (even tho it's eh! + they miss Scratch!), Kool G Rap, Atmosphere, Akrobatik, Big Shug, RZA I guess.. all came with something this year. C'mon search em up and get intune.
Rakim even graced us with his mic presence this year.
If you all can only name The Game, Lil' Wayne, Kanye West & T.I. then excuse my french but you are all some lost motherfuckers.
turn off the tv. smash the radio. dig in crates.