J-A-Y in Vegas 12.30.07 (Photo courtesy of 40/40 Club)
Well I suppose this year was once again about Hov, but who didn't see it coming? Would you drop an album like Kingdom Come and then escape your way out the game, all the while selling a good amount of bullshit over at Def Jam? Lucky Jay-Z. He was two for two this year. He dropped a pretty decent album in American Gangster, (but only because Frank Lucas inspired him?) and resigned from his post of El Presidente over at DJ. Sadly, his daily break room rendesvous with Rhianna just wasn't cutting it anymore.
In all seriousness, congrats to Jay. He's still one of my favorite emcees and apparently had a great show in Vegas on Saturday night with my favorite drummer, ?uestlove, and a whole buncha special guests. Also, he's opening another 40/40 over there on the West Coast, so he's certainly still successful.
I know, I promised some sort of mix/countdown. Interestingly enough, I tried both. And...both failed. (The mix was unbearable to listen to, and it's probably because I was nervous for last night's Lakers-Celtics match-up. All good, the C's won by 19; I see you Eric!)
I started the countdown last night at 2:30 a.m. It was going pretty well until I started seeing doubles of Stuart Scott on an early morning airing of Sportscenter, and realized I needed to stop. But when I got upstairs, I just happened to find the 1st episode of Season 5 of The Wire. And for those of you who are about to scold me for bootlegging, please check HBO On-Demand for The Wire 51.
In place of a mix/countdown, a ton of lists! Please feel free to email me (jbenok@gwu.edu) for links to anything you don't have.)
GROUP A (Best Hip Hop Album 07)
1. Little Brother - Getback
2. Blu & Exile - Below The Heavens
3. DJ Jazzy Jeff - The Return of the Magnificent
4. CunninLynguists - Dirty Acres
5. Evidence - The Weatherman LP
6. Pharoahe Monch - Desire
7. Kanye West - Graduation
8. Common - Finding Forever
9. Talib Kweli - EarDrum
10. Panacea - The Scenic Route
GROUP B (Best Hip Hop Song 07)
1. UGK - International Players Anthem (feat. Outkast)
2. Jay-Z - Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)
3. Little Brother - When Everything Is New
4. CunninLynguists - Yellow Lines (feat. Witchdoctor & Phonte)
5. Blu & Exile - Dancing In The Rain
6. Atmosphere - Sunshine
7. Kanye West - Everything I Am
8. Kanye West, Nas, Rakim, KRS One - Classic (DJ Premier Remix)
9. Wale - Ice Cream Girl
10. Lupe Fiasco - Paris, Tokyo
GROUP C (Top Artist 07)
1. Little Brother
2. Wale
3. Kanye West
4. Lupe Fiasco (The comeback, people, the comeback)
5. Blu
6. Tanya Morgan
7. Panacea
8. CunninLynguists
9. Zo!
TIE 10. Atmosphere & Evidence
GROUP D (Artists for 08)
1. Foreign Exchange (Phonte and Nicolay)
2. Wale
3. Zo!
4. Tanya Morgan
5. Muhsinah
6. Nicolay & Kay
7. Termanology
8. Rhymefest
9. Jay Electronica
10. DVS
GROUP E (Best Remix/Remake 07)
1. Tigallo and Zo! - Take On Me (feat. Carlitta Durand)
2. Wale - W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E.
3. Evidence - Let Yourself Go (feat. Phonte)
4. M.I.A. - Paper Planes (feat. Bun B & Rich Boy)
5. Von Pea - Hello Brooklyn 3.0 (Jay-Z/Lil Wayne/Von Pea)
6. R. Kelly - Same Girl (feat. Usher & T-Pain)
7. Beirut - Pray (Jay-Z)
8. Beyonce - Suga Mama (feat. Consequence)
9. Lily Allen - Smile (feat. Wale)
10. Twista - Give It Up (feat. Pharrell and jben.ok)<---you will never hear this
GROUP F (Why Wale Will Win in 08)
1. Mark Ronson
2. Dan Weisman
3. His Sneaker Game
4. His Stunning Profile on WRGW Radio (Circa September 2007)
5. Remix w/ Lil Wayne
6. His Sneaker Game
GROUP G (Why Funkadelic Freestyles Will Win in 08)
TIE 1. jben.ok, Nyadenya, Eric, Nathan, & Donavan
See y'all in 2008. Remember, Funkadelic Freestyles is back January 15th. And we have a guest! But I ain't telling you who just yet. (This artist is on one of these lists!)
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