I can’t believe the end of the year is just about here. 2007 really flew by for me, but it is a year that I will never forget. This was a great year for hip hop. I may be missing some monumental moments, but I don’t remember a year being this good since 1996. Honestly, the first half of the year is a blur. It wasn’t until the beginning of summer that I really started getting excited about hip hop again. After months of listening to nothing but A Tribe Called Quest, Gang Starr, and Pharcyde, current hip hop slowly started to find its way back into my playlist. With that love of hip hop, this year was the year that I started this blog and met so many of you out there that have the same passion for this art form.
I wanted to post a recap of hip hop’s significant events for the year, but no one can do that better than my man Skillz who has been releasing a year-end rap up every year since 2003. Unfortunately, at the time of this post, Skillz has not released his 2007 rap up. Check out The Rap Up for Skillz’ previous years and they should post 07 when it’s released.
Edit 12/27: Here’s Skillz’s Rap Up 2007 (courtesy of cantstopfanatics.blogspot.com) Thanks again Nofrillz!
I put a lot of thought into my top hip hop albums of 2007. I’ve actually been working on just the list alone for the past few weeks. More than half of the albums were no-brainers, of course, but their position on the list was tough to decide. I originally started with a top 10, and then went up to 15, and finally decided 12 was a good number. So here you have it – My Top 12 Hip Hop Albums of 2007 (My Dirty Dozen).
#12: Guru – Jazzmatazz, Vol. 4: The Hip Hop Jazz Messenger
This album was the first album of the year that got me excited about hip hop again. Being a fan of Gang Starr and Guru’s previous Jazzmatazz albums, I was thrilled when I heard this fourth volume was coming out. The great thing I love about the Jazzmatazz albums is that it’s a great fusion of hip hop and jazz. Just real chill hip hop. This is probably my favorite out of the Jazzmatazz series, which includes great collaborations with Slum Village, Common, Raheem DeVaughn, Vivian Green and jazz greats Bob James and David Sanborn. Man, I was bumpin’ this all summer. Wouldn’t it be great to hear a Gang Starr reunion?
Top 3: State of Clarity, Wait On Me, Follow The Signs
#11: Median – Median’s Relief
Justus League in the house right here! Man when this album dropped in September, I had never heard of Median before, but being backed by Nicolay and Justus League producers 9th Wonder and Khrysis I had to check this out. And I’m glad I did! Median is definitely a creative MC, but the production on this album kills! 9th Wonder, Nicolay, and Khrysis gave some of their best beats up for this project. But don’t let my passion for the beats take away from Median’s lyrical flow. This cat’s got stories to tell. He even paid homage to 2Pac by doing a Part 2 to “Brenda’s Got A Baby”. Good stuff right here.
Top 3: Rize, Collage, Brenda’s Baby
#10: 9th Wonder – The Dream Merchant, Vol. 2
9th Wonder has been one of my favorite producers for a while and Dream Merchant, Vol. 1 was already one of my favorite compilation albums. I remember being so excited when Volume 2 was released back in October. With so many other Justus League albums out this year, this was just icing on the cake. And who can deny the lineup of guests on this album? Little Brother, Mos Def, Jean Grae, Strange Fruit Project, Saigon, and a slew of Justus League artists. I think I still like Volume 1 better than Volume 2, but this is still quality work. Can’t wait for The Wonder Years!
Top 3: Merchant of Dreams, Saved, Brooklyn In My Mind
#9: Lupe Fiasco – The Cool
I know a lot of people are gonna be upset to see this one positioned at #9. In all honesty, it almost didn’t make the list. There’s no denying that this is a great album and it is one of the best of 2007; however since it was released so late in the year it was hard for me to give it fair play against the rest of these albums. So here it is at #9. The next eight albums are in constant rotation in my ipod, so I couldn’t justify putting this any higher. On a high note though, Lupe put out an album that was just as good, if not better, than his debut. I honestly think we’ll be hearing great things about The Cool in 2008. Read the review Edwin and I collaborated on.
Top 3: Go Go Gadget Flow, Paris Tokyo, Gold Watch
#8: Rashid Hadee – Dedication
This is a bad ass album; definitely overlooked by the masses. Straight up soulful hip hop right here! If you’re not familiar with Rashid Hadee, he produced the track “Dreams” for Little Brother’s latest album. The great thing about this cat is that he basically produced his whole album himself. Much respect for that! This album is the U.S. version, which I guess is different from whatever other version is out there. The original version came out in 2005. Why did it take 2 years for this version to hit the U.S.? I don’t know; maybe someone can shed some light on this for me. I gotta admit though, I’d never heard of Rashid before this album. Apparently he comes from a group called Chapter 13. I’m definitely gonna have to go check them out.
Top 3: Surrender, You Can’t Hide, Get You Outta My Head
#7: Jay-Z – American Gangster
Yes, this is only #7. An initial visit to this site would lead one to believe that the site is dedicated to all things American Gangster. But guess what? It’s not! Jay-Z came out of retirement last year with Kingdom Come. I just shook my head to that one. American Gangster gave me confidence in Jay-Z again and I rank it up there with Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint, and The Black Album. It was nice to hear Jay on such a soulful album. This, to me, was his true comeback. Everything, from production to lyrics, is top notch. And now it’s like a how second coming with all the remix albums floating around… unreal! Oh yeah, the movie was great too! Read the review I wrote last month.
Top 3: American Dreamin’, Party Life, Fallin’
#6: Common – Finding Forever
I remember when this came out over the summer; I said that this was going to be the album of the year. Little did I know there would be so many other great albums to follow. I can’t deny Common. He is one of the greatest MCs in the game and when he teams up with Kanye West it’s like magic. Common managed to put out an album that was just as good, if not better, than his last album (Be). To me, Finding Forever plays like a storybook and must be heard from beginning to end. I don’t think there’s one song worth skipping on the entire album. I really hope Common doesn’t give up music for movies. It would be such a waste of talent. Read the review I wrote earlier this year.
Top 3: Black Maybe, So Far To Go, Break My Heart
#5: Kanye West – Graduation
Kanye gets just a slight notch over Common for the #5 position. Graduation was probably the most anticipated album of the year for everybody. With the publicity stunt of Kanye going head to head with 50 Cent, Graduation really came out on top. Graduation has some of the best material Kanye West has released. It shows his diversity and his ability to keep his music fresh. He went beyond his normal soul samples by dabbling with techno and pop samples. After finishing a #1 album for Common, I was expecting to hear a bunch of Finding Forever leftovers on this album. Graduation was anything but. Read the review I wrote earlier this year.
Top 3: Champion, Flashing Lights, I Wonder
#4: Mr. J. Medeiros – Of Gods and Girls
I know this entry may stir a lot of questions, especially with such a high position. For those of you unfamiliar, this is the debut album of Mr. J. Medeiros of The Procussions. The Procussions is a little unknown hip hop group. They put out a few album and actually had one out last year. They opened concerts for A Tribe Called Quest and Talib Kweli back in the day. In all honestly, I cannot stop listening to this album. Since it was released in July, I have listened to this album almost every single day. Everything about this album is perfect, from the storybook lyrics, to the flawless production. If you have not heard this album, I highly recommend picking it up.
Top 3: Silent Earth, Constance, King of Rock Bottom
#3: DJ Jazzy Jeff – The Return of The Magnificent
The greatest DJ in the world, in my opinion, released his best album this year. This album was probably one of the most slept on albums released this year. There’s no denying that Jazzy Jeff is a beast behind the turntables, but The Return of The Magnificent shows that he can produce a really wonderful album. Of course, Jeff doesn’t rap, so we are blessed some great performances by Jean Grae, Big Daddy Kane, Method Man, CL Smooth, and Peedi Peedi (formerly Peedi Crakk), amongst others. Aside from the awesome performances and production I really like how Jeff tied it all together with the skits in between each song. Normally I skip over album skits, but some of these were so funny, I found myself laughing out loud a number of times. I really hope we get another Magnificent album from Jazzy Jeff soon.
Top 3: Supa Jean, Hold It Down, My Soul Ain’t For Sale
#2: Talib Kweli – Eardrum
Eardrum was like a hip hop dream come true when it came out in August of this year. At the time it was released I had Jazzy Jeff and Common’s joints in heavy rotation. I honestly didn’t think hip hop could get much better this year. Eardrum is just phenomenal in so many ways. The obvious is that Talib Kweli is a lyrical genius. What sets this project apart from other Kweli projects is how consistently tight the production is. Here you have an album with 20 tracks and not a single skipper. That’s amazing, especially with the wide variety of producers involved in this project; Madlib, Kanye West, Pete Rock, Just Blaze, Hi-Tek… the list goes on. Read the review I wrote earlier this year.
Top 3: Everything Man, Say Something, Soon The New Day
#1: Little Brother – Getback
When I heard that 9th Wonder had left Little Brother, I questioned whether their new album was going to be as good as their previous effort. After one listen, all those doubts flew out the window. There are no words to describe how great this album is. Phonte and Big Pooh proved that Little Brother could still put out a quality album without 9th Wonder on every beat. 9th did provide one song, but it was the production of Illmind and Khrysis (among others) that held this project together. Let’s not forget the lyrical geniuses behind the mic though. Little Brother, in my opinion, are the most clever MCs in the game right now and entertaining too. Phonte’s got verses that make me laugh and think at the same time. Getback is one solid album! Read the review I wrote earlier this year.
Top 3: Dreams, Extra Hard, After The Party
This list would not be complete without a few honorable mentions. So with that, here are a few albums that almost made my list, but I unfortunately ran out of numbers:
- Black Milk – Popular Demand
- Pharoah Monch – Desire
- Blu & Exile – Below The Heavens
- Cunninlynguists – Dirty Acres
- Statik Selektah – Spell My Name Right
- Freeway – Free At Last
I know everyone has their favorites and I’m sure my list will spark some debate. This list is based on my favorite hip hop releases from this year and how often I listened to those albums. I’d love to hear everyone else’s picks. Feel free to discuss in the comments.
Like I said, this was a great year for hip hop. Let’s hope for another great one in 2008!
Jon FTW!
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Good choices. I loved that precussions album from a while back. I Want to check out Mr. J. Medeiros’ but can’t find it anywhere, can you post it? Could you also post Rashid Hadee’s album, that would be huge.
Keep up the good work!
Nice list, i got to check out Rashid Hadee – Dedication sounds nice, never heard it before.
But hey, dont you think you missed UGK?
Nice list Kevin. Always delivering the goods.
Here’s a link to Mr. J. Medeiros – Of God and Girls
I got Rashid Hadee off of iTunes.
Yeah, maybe I overlooked UGK. But I honestly didn’t listen to it much. It was good though.
I’m going to have to check out the Mr. J. Medeiros ‘Of Gods and Girls’ album. Can’t believe I missed that.
really nice list, i’d include Pharoah Monch – Desire on the top 10, but it’s a question of taste
.
Yeah I liked Pharoah Monch’s album; that’s why I had to give it a mention. I ran out of numbers though! Too many great albums this year.
For those of you wondering about that J Medeiros link I posted in the comment, it goes to Amazon downloads. $8.99 for an amazing album — can’t beat that! And that Rashid Hadee is $9.99 on iTunes Plus (no DRM). Go out and support hip hop. The albums on this list are must own!
nice list kevin. good to see the JL clearly represented in this dozen!
mine would have to go 1) graduation, 2) getback, 3) the cool, 4) finding forever, 5) median’s relief or eardrum
Good look Jas,thanks for sharing your top 5!
No El-p love up in here?
That album is to deeep!!
9th Edition and Below the Heavens have been getting a lot of play in my world lately, as well. The list looks pretty solid. I haven’t heard a few of these albums, I must admit. The one that grabs my attention is Mr. J. Medeiros. Will be checking this out.
OKAY. Now the reason I am writing. Obviously, nobody is going to have an identical top 12 (in any old order), but I have got to question Brother Ali’s Undisputed Truth not making the list OR the honorable mention! I share my penname with Blu, so when I heard of this album I HAD to check it. It’s good, and continues to get rotation here, but some lists have it ranked too high. However, I was straight blown away by Ali’s 2007 release. Ant’s production is almost always raw and not over-produced, and Ali’s soulful lyrics and flow are, quite honestly, beautiful. To me, a MUST HAVE for any hip hop junky.
Redwood — yeah you’re right… everybody’s gonna have a different list, but that’s what so great about this… we get to discover new music! For instance, in another thread someone recommended the new 100dBS & Ryan O’Neil. I had never heard of it. So I picked it out and I love it! If I had heard it before I put my list together it would have easily been in the top 5.
Same thing goes here… to be honest, I haven’t heard the Brother Ali album. But because you speak so highly of it, I’m gonna cop that and give it a spin. I promise to check it out if you promise to check out Mr. J. Medeiros. Cool, so we both win here by being introduced to great hip hop!
i would love to know the samples black milk used on the popular demand album. do you know any? thanks.
nise name later off kj
I’m all over the site…lists are what it is, lol
Where do you guys rank Scarface’s MADE album. I thought it was solid from start to finish.