Hello/Goodbye

2007 is over, and so every person in the blogosphere has given his or her less than 1-pence about the goings on of the past 12 months. Lists take time, and I'm not one to take something not given freely, so I'll just say my piece about a few things. First things first, last things last, let's get into it.

Album of the Year

Technically, the album was released in 2006, but that was across the pond. It didn't come out here in the States til March of '07. (Though the album isn't complete without "Addicted," which was nixed for the US version... puritans.) This album was better than any single work produced by anyone in 2007 (and prolly 2006). It had the best sequencing of any album I can think of. Each track bled into the other like chromatographic sorrow. Always serious, but never austere, the album was contemplative in a way that made bitterness taste like saccharine. What really made this great was that it was free of the hype machine of, say, an American Gangster, Graduation, or even The Carter III. It was made without consideration for critical acclaim, and any remix of one of her songs is always not as good as the original. Sadly, since she keeps refusing rehab, this might be her last real work of greatness, but who knows? If that turns out to be the case, she might have the best 2-album discography of any person since Biggie (posthumous albums notwithstanding).

Now 2007 began with Nas's December '06 declaration that Hip-Hop was dead, and so it would seem that throughout the year, people complained about the Soulja Boy's and Hurricane Chris's of the genre for killing it. Ironically though, I think 2007 was perhaps one of Rap's biggest years, artistically speaking. The underground is now overground as the taste of rap fans continues to mature. Niggas started making concept albums, some of which actually worked. UGK (RIP Chad Butler), Common, Kanye, Talib, Ghostface, Freeway (yes, Freeway... more in a bit), Lupe, and Jay-Z, made great albums alongside good drops from Khaled and Drama. Ringtone Rap survived much of the year, which, personally, makes me happy because hip-hop needs diversity, not homogeneity. Long live Ringtone Rap as long as it does so alongside Crack Rap, Lyrical Rap, Conscious Rap, Storytelling Rap, DipSet Rap (they deserve their own category), and all other made-up sub-genres.

The problem of the past few years was that there was only one form of the genre being broadcast extensively, (i.e. Ringtone Rap), and it happened to be the genre's most vapid niche. 2007 marked a period where, although sales spoke otherwise, the heartbeat of hip-hop was stronger than ever. Hip-Hop took over all of the 7 or so internets with real bloggers and fake ones such as myself using modems as soapboxes to champion and deride the latest song, artist, trend, or combination of the three. Real democracy always wins and gave many of the artists listed above their first ever number one albums while artists like Hurricane Chris and Soulja Boy locked down 106 & Park and every cell phone in America. The problem was, too many of us (myself included) were too busy Willie Lynch-ing to realize that Rap had spread out like fingers on a hand, each sound finding a place where it fit and gripping the freak out of it.

I can only hope for more of the same in 2008. This time last year, I put yall onto Wale, and 2007 saw him make the most moves of any unsigned artist since prolly Curtis Jackson and Jeezy made the mixtape game their personal marketing machines. Janelle Monae dropped the first of her Metropolis "Suites" and if you still haven't caught up to that, get your life in order.


Sadly, the Sleeper Album of 2007 is Freeway's latest, Free At Last. This album is great, front to back, and I'm not just saying this cuz I'm a Philly transplant. Freeway has always been a great rapper deserving of props he's never received, and Free At Last is no disappointment. It's solid work from a solid rapper. Sadly, it may end up the Hell Hath No Fury of '07, lauded by print and internet media, but sitting on the shelves of Best Buy collecting dust. I won't normally say this, but cop it. Give him your dough and keep Free out the kitchen. Crack kills in Philadelphia.

I guess the main event would be to say the Best Rap Album of the Year, but I'm not comfortable granting that title to anyone yet. The Cool just dropped, and no Lupe album can be truly critiqued until you've listened to it thoroughly, which in Lupe's case, means dozens of times. I will, however, say that American Gangster is in no way in the running. Practically every person has ranked Jay's last joint as top 3 if not number one in Best Of lists. They've obviously been drinking the party juice. It was a good album, his best complete effort, as in a sustained album crafted around a particular experience, since The Blueprint. It touches on the same material as Reasonable Doubt, but you can't compare the lyricism, introspection, and wit of RD with AG. The former is leaps and bounds above the latter, and that's not because AG is bad, it's just because Reasonable Doubt is so friggin great. Same goes for Blueprint. Jay is proving himself on The Blueprint, as though he's still not sure if he is what he claims himself to be, the GOAT. He still felt as though it was worth responding to what others said about him back then. Now, he thinks (rightly so), that it benefits them more than him to throw darts at those stoning the throne. Problem is, it takes that extra umph out his music, so Jay gets no consideration.

Common and Kanye, however, definitely get considered. First off, as far as production goes, no rap album came close to those two. 'Ye got his Dilla/Premo on for realz. Talib made the first album that I actually liked to listen to. I've never been a big Kweli fan, but Eardrum struck the right cord. Bad marketing though. "In The Mood" was a great grown up party record that shoulda been pushed harder than the Will.I.Am track. And am I the only person that thinks Hurricane Chris is a decent rapper? I'm not saying he's great, just decent. His flow on "Ay Bay Bay" and its remix was vicious and, aside from his proclivity to be barefoot in the club, the lyrics are alright. Good songwriting at least. *Shrugs* maybe I am, either way, keep it up Hurricane Chris aka Snoop from The Wire's stunt double. So yeah, I danced around the Rap Album of The Year. Oh well, let's give it Chicago. Common, Lupe, and Kanye can fight it out. Good work Chi-town, makes hypebeast rap palatable.


I've yet to say anything about the two most important artists of 2007: Lil Wayne and T-Pain. I was lucky enough to find one picture of both of them. Anyway, they were everywhere, and I ain't mad. Who else, other than Andre 3000, had the most memorable verses of 2007? Random Weezy lines were scrawled all over the hallways and stairwells of Tilden the last half of the school year. Weezy pre-styrofoam cup had us all worried that he could indeed become the Best Rapper Alive for 2007, and indeed, he almost was. Had the year ended in, say July or August, we'da handed over the crown. Da Drought 3 had the streets ON FIRE. He bodied Mike Jones's track so hard that when someone said "Mike Jones" other ppl were like "Who?" because they really didn't know who you were talking about, not cuz of any cute marketing ploy. Sadly, his interviews have become far more entertaining than his actual music, what with Martin Luther King, Jr. and murder comfortably in the same sentence. Weezy might be Rap's Amy Winehouse. Rehab might be in order for '08 Young Carter. T-Pain will hold it down for you till u get back.

What didn't T-Pain do in 2007? I think he almost cured AIDS, or at least helped spread it, buyin' drinks from bartenders, enjoying the good life while still being oh so hood. He may have had the best line/adlib combo with "She made us drinks to drink. We drunk 'em. (Got drunk.)" There is genius in simplicity people and time and time again, T-Pain reminded us of this. He's even staking his claim for 2008 with that Flo-rida joint. Can we just call it "Boots With The Fur" or "That sound T-Pain made when he talked about the chick going around the pole" instead of "Low"? It'd be so much better if we did. And what's better than a song featuring T-Pain? A video of a song featuring T-Pain dancing. That would include the Video of the Year.

Hello 2008. Goodbye 2007.