Producer/MC extraordinaire
88-Keys dropped his debut LP
Death To Adam to widespread critical acclaim. Mostly self-produced and executively produced by
Kanye West, its a creative conceptual album about the ups (literally, lol) and downs of a relationship. Hip-hop heads will be talking about
Keys' work well through 2009, let's see what else he can bring to the table both lyrically and sonically.
Here's one dude that had a monumental year. The
Pennsylvania wordsmith skyrocketed from virtual unknown to spitting in front of
Jay-Z, churning out the
Greenhouse Effect Mixtape with
DJ Drama and
Don Cannon, ripping one of the illest
"A Milli" remixes, and performing the university-friendly anthem
"I Love College" on Carson Daly. And he still found time to help save the world from terrorists (I know it was his guitarist, but he was there.) Signed to
Steve Rifkind's SRC Records in combo with
School Boy and Universal,
Asher Paul Roth's got a bright future in rap and he doesn't need a degree.
Cali lyricist
Blu has been at it for a while, receiving mad indie love for his '07 LP Below
The Heavens with producer
Exile. Last year he put out two solid collab efforts,
The Piece Talks with
Ta-Raach (as
C.R.A.C. Knuckes) and
Johnson & Jonson with
Mainfraime, plus the
So(ul) Amazing mixtape with
DJ Heat. Already in '09 he's got the
second installment of So(ul) Amazing out and I'm positive there's much more dopeness where that came from.
Eclectic
musician/rapper B.o.B. is one entertaining guy. I don't know which I enjoy more - the
ATLien's talent on the mic on insightful bangers like
"Change Gon' Come" with
Asher Roth and
Charles Hamilton and
"Generation Lost" or his instrumental ability to construct crazy melodies like
"Monster" and
"Middle of the Day." The hilarious parody
"Autotune" and transcendental
"I'll Be In The Sky" were two highlights of my year, not to mention his appearance on
Luda's "On Top Of The World" and the
DJ Scream tape
Who The Fuck Is B.o.B. Recent footage of him in the studio with
T.I. got me ultra excited to check out his upcoming work.
You couldn't go more than a couple days this year without the young'n
Charles Hamilton's name on your favorite blogs, for better or worse. Looking beyond his quip with
Soulja Boy and constant chatter, the Sonic-influenced
Harlem native put out some dope material. His unique production style and smack-talk punchlines bombarded the blogosphere on numerous
DJ Skee-hosted mixtapes like
Sonic The Hamilton, And Then They Played Dilla and (my personal favorite)
Crash Landed. It'll be interesting to see if his grind can translate into widespread recognition.
Toronto representative
Colin Munroe is primarily a
piano-playing singer but it'd be foolish to confine his sound. He's collab'd with
Black Milk on his LP
Tronic and
Joell Ortiz on the extremely fresh
"Piano Lessons," plus he's worked with
Wale and
Dallas Austin on the fly harmony
"Will I Stay (Remix)." Munroe will try to ride off the strength of his debut mixtape
Colin Munroe Is The Unsung Hero to enter '09 with a bang.
Donny Goines
I respect any MC whos motto is “If you don’t know my name, I’m not working hard enough.” Donny Goines is undoubtedly one of the hardest working dudes on the rise, dropping multiple lyrical onslaughts like “Wordplay” and “The Look” and various mixtape appearances. Goines’ year culminated in December with the release of his solid LP Minute After Midnight, pushed heavy on digital retailers across the ‘net, insisting that ’09 better know who he is.
Drake
Yeah, yeah I know what you’re thinking. “That dude from that wack ass TV show?” Don’t let that shit fool you,
Drizzy is arguably the
most beastly newcomer as far as lyrical content and delivery is concerned. And did I mention
dude can sing, like, real well? Want proof? He spit outstanding, memorable verses on
“Stuntin” and
“Ransom” with
Lil’ Wayne, put out killer mixtape
Comeback Season and flexed his R&B muscle on
“Still Fly” and
“Replacement Girl” with
Trey Songz. But when he stepped up on Kanye’s
“Say You Will” instrumental for
“Say What’s Real,” he knocked it out of the park – if it’s not one of your favorite reinterpretations of the year, you’re missing out. Mark my words:
Drizzy will be the next phenom in '09, already announcing a new mixtape coming soon
So Far So Gone and a tentative album
Thank Me Later. Stay tuned!
Fashawn
Left coast lyricist Fashawn hopped on the scene, buzzin’ with his inventive lyrics and conceptual topics. Highlights of his ’08 catalog include the street-wear bible “Buyers Guide,” the metaphorical “Missing You,” and weekend anthem “Sunday Morning (Remix)” with K-OS. But he really caught my attention with his Higher Learning mixtape. In-your-face bangers like “Fortified Live (Remix)" and “Freedom” show Fashawn’s hunger – not to mention he’s one of the only cats out with a legit “Day N Nite” remix. I suggest you be on the looks for the Fresno, Cali MC’s debut LP One Shot To Kill.
Jay Electronica
Not your average
Magnolia-raised rapper,
Jay Electronica’s strength is his individuality. Many have made comparisons to
Nas and
Jay Elect’s boo
Erykah Badu due to their shared characteristic of outright uniqueness, but it’s impossible to classify dude’s music. Though it came out in ’07, the genius
“Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge)” nabbed the ‘
Nawlins lyricist a strong cult following that spilled into ’08 with his
Style Wars EP with the nonchalant jam
“I Feel Good” and the real rap of
“Renaissance Man.” To wrap up the year, Jay produced
“Queens Get The Money” for
Nas and leaked the verbal slaying
“Swagger Jackson’s Revenge” among others from his demo tape. Though
Jay isn’t likely to gain commercial success since the masses choose bars-and-hooks over intellectual rhymes, I guarantee
he’ll be respected in hip-hop.
Joell Ortiz
In the fight to revive New York rap, Joell Ortiz is a serious contender. Brooklyn-bred MC Ortiz offered his pinpoint rhymes and neck-snapping punchlines on various heaters this year – Colin Munroe’s “Piano Lessons,” Talib Kweli’s “Hostile Gospel Remix” with Nina Sky and Blu, and most notably Joe Budden’s “Slaughterhouse” alongside Nino Bless and Crooked I. With an absurdly dope collab with Budden on “Move On” and many more tracks leaked off his upcoming Free Agent mixtape, Ortiz is determined to get the attention of the majors.
KiD CuDi
Valentine’s Day. My first listen to “Day N Nite,” and I was isntantly hooked. Still, it took til around October or November – on the strength of NBA Live and Entourage, nonetheless – for the Cleveland MC’s song to blow up. Meanwhile, while the haters were sleepin’, Plain Pat & Emile presented the world with his debut mixtape “A KiD named CuDi.” The free-flowing lyrics on “Man on the Moon (The Anthem)” and spaced-out demeanor of “Embrace the Martian” display the forward-thinking that inspired Kanye West to sign CuDi to G.O.O.D. and let him hop on 808’s and Heartbreak’s best track “Welcome 2 Heartbreak.” Now he’s in the studio putting the finishing touches on his much-anticipated LP Man on the Moon: The Guardians, dropping this Spring.
Mickey Factz
Forget Paul Wall’s irrelevant ass, Mickey Factz had the internet goin’ nuts last year with his quality weekly leaks. The Boogie Down Bronx native dropped the amped-up “Rockin N Rollin (Remix)” with the Cool Kids and stayed consistent day-in and day-out with jams like the insightful “The Understanding” and sneaker-holic joint “I Like Your Supras.” Don’t expect Factz to lose steam in ’09, he’s set to drop his 3rd “Leak” installment very soon at a blog near you.
I can’t really say much more that I already have about Washington, DC rhyme animal Wale. He dropped arguably the best mixtape of the year with “The Mixtape About Nothing,” sporting his flyboy wordplay, go-go influences and industry commentary on “The Plan,” “The Star,” and especially “The Conclusion.” He also shot a dope video for his ’07 hit “Nike Boots” and blessed tracks alongside The Roots, Young Chris, Brother Ali among others. Though some of his clever lyrics will go over the heads of commercial rap heads, Wale will continue his rise to hip-hop stardom equipped with a sweet record deal with Allido/Interscope and cosigns from Mark Ronson and Kanye West. I’ll be checkin for an upcoming tape Back to the Feature produced by 9th Wonder not to mention his debut LP.
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