BEST OF 2011: Hip-Hop
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(Photo: Curren$y)
Diversity was the key concept in 2011 rap music. While new MCs bubbled-up from all corners of the country and used blogs to gain equal footing with rappers from major media centers, a diversity of sound gave us everything from the spacey minimalism of Drake and The Weeknd to The Throne's maximalist stunting to Maybach Music Group's by-the-numbers street bangers.
Craftsmen like Curren$y and Big K.R.I.T. built their unique underground movements to new heights, while newcomers like Tyler, The Creator and A$AP Rocky wowed fans with their youthful energy, exploratory production and overall gall.
While producers have always been integral to (if not the center of) the genre, this was also a banner year where new voices emerged. Clams Casino made everything emotional, hazy and atmospheric, while the streets entered a post-Lex Luger landscape of operatic trap music and breakthroughs from Internet favorites like DJ Burn One and Keyboard Kid showed that many newcomers are making music that stands on its own without a rapper to lead the way.
Ultimately, though, the sound pioneered by Drake's engineer and go-to producer Noah "40" Shebib provided the main inspiration to the genre. As society in general began to fight against money worship and greed, hip-hop, while still celebrating wealth, had turned cold and introspective, focusing on human relationships and finding new sounds rather than same old cars, clothes and bankrolls.
RCRD LBL Picks
Drake - Club Paradise
Curren$y - Scottie Pippen
50 Cent - Queens (feat. Precious Paris)
Beastie Boys - Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win (feat. Santigold) (Major Lazer Remix)
Big K.R.I.T. - Time Machine (feat. Chamillionaire)
Pusha T - Body Work
Vast Aire - Thor's Hammer (feat. Raekwon & Vordul Mega)
Talib Kweli - Cold Rain
Shabazz Palaces - An Echo From The Hosts That Profess Infinitum
Kelly Rowland - Motivation (Kid Sister Remix)
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Listen to our favorite hip-hop songs of the year on Spotify:
Curren$y - You See It
Drake, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne - I'm On One
Nas - Nasty
Meek Mill - Tupac Back (feat. Rick Ross)
Jim Jones - Drops Is Out (feat. Raekwon, Mel Matrix & Sen City)
DOOMSTARKS - Victory Laps (Madvillainz Remix)
A$AP Rocky - Peso
Chris Brown - Look At Me Now (feat. Busta Rhymes & Lil Wayne)
Kendrick Lamar - Hol' Up
Drake - Lord Knows (feat. Rick Ross)
Tyler, The Creator - She (feat. Frank Ocean)
Raekwon - Snake Pond
Jay-Z & Kanye West - Niggas In Paris
Pusha T - Raid
Frank Ocean - Novacane
Shabazz Palaces - An Echo From The Hosts That Profess Infinitum
Cam'ron & Vado - Killa
Meek Mill - Ima Boss (feat. Rick Ross)
