Alright y’all… we’ve been getting hit up constantly with folks asking us if were gonna be doing any end-of-the-year type lists. We figured why not, 2009 was extremely dope. So hit the jump for mine and Mek’s personal favorite albums, mixtapes and EPs of 2009.
TOP 10 ALBUMS
When looking at my list, please note there is no specific order. There’s no way in hell I’d be able to actually rank these. Although, I will say that Sha Stimuli and Fashawn can interchange as my absolute favorite album of the year. And the only reason you don’t see Mayer Hawthorne’s A Strange Arrangement is because I excluded any alternative releases.
Sha Stimuli – My Soul to Keep
Fashawn – Boy Meets World
Brother Ali – US
Clipse – Til the Casket Drops
Raekwon – OB4CLII
Torae & Marco Polo – Double Barrel
Skyzoo – The Salvation
Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3
U-N-I & Ro Blvd Present: A Love Supreme
CunninLynguists – Strange Journey v.1 & 2
(2)Dope Extras
Curren$y – This Ain’t No Mixtape
Slaughterhouse – Slaughterhouse
Royce Da 5’9″ – Street Hop
Finale – A Pipe Dream And A Promise
P.O.S. – Never Better
TOP 10 MIXTAPES
Again, no specific order. And the crazy thing is I could have easily added 10 more to this list. 2009 produced a ton of great mixtapes. My personal favorite being TiRon’s Ketchup.
TiRon – Ketchup
Sean Price – Kimbo Price
J. Cole – The Warm Up
B.o.B vs Bobby Ray
Diz Gibran – Soon You’ll Understand
Drake – So Far Gone
Emilio Rojas – The Natural
Outasight – From There to Here
Pac Div – Church League Champions
Lil Wayne – No Ceilings
(2)Dope Extras
Chace Infinite – I Would Have Killed This
Curren$y & Wiz Khalifa – How Fly
Joell Ortiz – Covers the Classics
TOP 5 EPs
I went ahead and placed Lupe’s Enemy of the State in this category as it was only like 20 minutes long. It also takes the top spot.
Lupe Fiasco – Enemy of the State
Brother Ali – The Truth Is Here EP
Inverse – So True EP
Joe Budden – Escape Route EP
Slum Village – Villa Manifesto EP
(2)Dope Extras
Atmosphere – Leak At Will EP
Small Eyez – From the Sol EP
Outasight & D/Will – From Here To There: The OutaWill Sessions EP
(A FEW OF MY) FAVORITE SONGS
There’s no way in hell that I could possibly list off all my favorite songs. So I just made a list of what came to mind. Thanks for all the great music guys.
Convinced – ’09 Mass Appeal f. Shawn Jackson, El Prez & Tunji
Lee Bannon – The Return 2 f. U-N-I, Talib Kweli, Zion I & Sha Stimuli
Jay Electronica – Exhibit A
Jay Electronica – Exhibit C
TiRon – 3 Drink Minimum f. Ayomari
The Cool Kids – Pennies (rmx) f. Ludacris & Bun B
Reflection Eternal – Just Begun f. Jay Electronica, J. Cole & Mos Def
Outasight – Radio, Radio (rmx) f. Ced Hughes
Inverse – So True f. Deacon (of CunninLynguists)
Slaughterhouse – Move On
Raekwon – New Wu f. Ghostface Killah & Method Man
Sean Price – Figure Four
Crooked I – If You Ever Hear Me
Pac Div – Whiplash
Big Boi – For Your Sorrows f. Too $hort & George Clinton
Clipse – Doorman
Tanya Morgan – So Damn Down
Focus – Recession f. Phonte
Jay-Z – Already Home
Royce Da 5’9″ – Something 2 Ride 2 f. Phonte
J. Cole – Can I Live
Pac Div – She f. TiRon
Kanye West – Street Lights
Ryan Lewis & Macklemore – Otherside
BK-One – Here I Am f. Phonte, Brother Ali & The Grouch
BK-One – American Nightmare f. Brother Ali & Scarface
FCC Fam (Convinced, El Prez, Dale Danja, DNEZ, C-San & Chris Focus) – Floss Angeles
CunninLynguists – Don’t Leave f. Slug
Brother Ali, Evidence & Toki Wright – The Freshest Kids
Torae & Marco Polo – Hold Up f. Sean Price & Masta Ace
Mayer Hawthorne – A Strange Arrangement
Project Lionheart – Heart of a Lion f. Crooked I
TOP ALBUMS
While there were a great selection of music to choose from, I actually dug more singles than actual albums this year. Still, here are my choices.
U-N-I & Ro Blvd – A Love Supreme
Tanya Morgan – Brooklynati
Diamond District – In the Ruff
Clipse – Til the Casket Drops
Fashawn – Boy Meets World
Che Grand – Everything’s Good Ugly
L.A.U.S.D. Presents: Curly Tops & Nautica Jackets
BK Cyph – Rhymes Are Easy, Life Is Hard
TOP MIXTAPES
TiRon – Ketchup
Pac Div – Church League Champions
Sean Price – Kimbo Slice
Outasight – Further
Language Artz – Raw Rap Shit
Dom Kennedy – FutureStreet/DrugSounds
Outasight – From There to Here: An Album Prequel
Fashawn – The Antidote
Mick Boogie Presents U-N-I – Before There Was Love
D/Will & Stik Figa – hellogoodbye
VIMBY & UPONTHINGZ Present: The New Classics
TOP EPs
The Niceguys – The Green Room EP
Lupe Fiasco – Enemy Of The State
Outasight & D/Will – From Here To There: The OutaWill Sessions EP
FAVORITE SONGS
Pac Div – Whiplash
Pac Div – Young Black Male
Pac Div – She f. TiRon
Sean Price – Figure Four
Jay Electronica – Exhibit A
Jay Electronica – Exhibit C
U-N-I – Vitamin B f. CurT@!n$
U-N-I – Start My Day f. H.O.P.E.
U-N-I – Land Of The Kings (rmx) f. Bun B
Dom Kennedy – It Was Beautiful
L.A.U.S.D. – Miss Donna Karan f. Dom Kennedy
L.A.U.S.D. – I Can’t Wait f. U-N-I
cARTer – Houston Summer f. Bun B
Drake – Congratulations
H.O.P.E. – Love Lotus
Tanya Morgan – She’s Gone (aka Without You) f. Phonte & Brittany Bosco
Tanya Morgan – So Damn Down
Che Grand – Walking Under Ladders f. Spec Boogie & Elucid
Che Grand – Chateau Gold
Self Scientific – Jetski
Outasight – Downtown In My Mind
Outasight – Radio, Radio (rmx) f. Ced Hughes
Skyzoo – My Interpretation
Cam’ron – (I Hate) My Job
Jo Well & DJ DviousMindZ – Jus Crusin’ ([2]Dope Rmx) f. XV, BK Cyph & El Prez
FCC Fam (Convinced, El Prez, Dale Danja, DNEZ, C-San & Chris Focus) – Floss Angeles
Reflection Eternal – Just Begun f. Jay Electronica, J. Cole & Mos Def
Skeme – Commercial Break 1
Daniel Joseph – Pack Lite
Raekwon – Pyrex Vision
Raekwon – New Wu f. Ghostface Killah & Method Man
Jay-Z – Thank You
Jay-Z – Already Home f. KiD CuDi
Royce Da 5’9″ – Something 2 Ride 2 f. Phonte
Diamond District – I Mean Business (rmx)
Diamond District – Streets Won’t Let Me Live
AB The Producer – Go Hard f. Lyriciss, Pro’Verb & XO
Chris Faust – The Real
A.T – Digital Criminal
Camp Lo – Black Connect 3
Convinced – ’09 Mass Appeal f. Shawn Jackson, El Prez & Tunji
