I really had no idea how to put this category in, but we get tons of music all the time; sometimes really bad, sometimes really good. Fact is, not everybody even knows about it. This category is for those albums.
10. Trav Williams: The Trickle Down
- Ha, my first ever review on KevinNottingham.com was a gem. The Trickle Down is a great album with some fantastic production and hunger from a rather good emcee. Some t’s need to be crossed and some loose ends needed to be tied up, but it is still a solid release.
9. Rugged N Raw: Truth Serum
- He was recently featured in Entertainment Weekly for his video “Broke n’ Proud” and has created quite a buzz with his live performances. Truth Serum has its moments where RnR flashes some genius. Consistency will be key. Features from Hasan Salaam and a joint produced by Remot and multiple tracks produced by DJ Static make this a worthy joint.
8. Praverb: Center of Attention
- Pra has so much potential. He really just needs to find that beast within him to unleash some of these great lyrical fundamentals that he has. The production is impressive on CoA and the possibilities for this MC are endless.
7. Johnson & Jonson: Johnson & Jonson
- Blu is a great emcee, there’s no doubt in that. Mainframe delivered the good on this release as well. It may be the widest release of all the releases on this list, but there’s still a wider audience that it could reach. Especially when you got talents like these two.
6. 14KT: The Golden Hour
- 14KT is just another slamming producer out of Detroit. It’s like this city breeds hip hop producers on the daily basis. This album is no exception to the rule of “Great Detroit Hip Hop in 2008″ because it simply just obeys all the rules of great music. It’s about as hungry as a release that you’ll hear from a producer.
5. Hasan Salaam: Children of God
- This was a pleasant surprise. The lyrical complexion of Hasan is really well versed in plenty of the issues that matter in our world today and he knowledgeably speaks on them. He’s extremely convincing over some moody beats and has a great flow. This album exemplifies all of his best qualities and puts them front and center.
4. Wax & EOM: Liquid Courage
- Wax finally broke out of his YouTube mode and dropped one hell of an album with VA producer EOM. It’s currently getting praised all over the map for both the lyrical microphone mastering of Wax and the beat product of EOM. There isn’t much bad to say about the album aside from the fact that it does have an unprofessional feel to it. But what do you expect in the “Smaller Releases” section?
3. Common Market: Tobacco Road
- It’s a shame this didn’t get a wider release. Even with Sabzi on it, an underground juggernaut, it hasn’t managed to hit a wider audience. It’ll slowly make its huge waves to shore though, it is that powerful.
2. Cymarshall Law & Mr. Joeker: Hip Hop in the Soul
- One of the best releases of the year comes from this unlikely tandem. What a great album with some tremendous joints about hip hop, life, and the self. It’s some of the best production I’ve heard all year and it would be dope to see another hook up from these two.
1. Shad: The Old Prince
- One of the best lyrical components out of Canada is Shad. With a variety of production, a variety of topics, and a variety of styles, Shad hits just about every and any note possible on The Old Prince. It makes for one of the best releases of 2008. Regardless of how many people listen to it now, everyone eventually will.
Honorable Mentions
Related posts:
- Top 10 Slept on Albums of 2008
- Top 10 Live Performers of 2008
- Top 10 Mixtape/Remix Albums of 2008
- Top 10 New/Breakthrough Artists of 2008
- Top 10 Trends/Phases in 2008
Follow: Sean Deez on Twitter
