Hip Hop may be my go-to genre but there are other genres that gauge my interest as well. Specifically R&B and Pop. EDM, & Alternative, are slowly but surely making their way up there as well. Just like my previous list, I picked out ten random songs out of random genres to compose this list out of. It was a tougher decision but in the end, it all worked out. You already know how this works so let’s get right to it with Uncle Snoop.
Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, Kendrick Lamar; I’m Ya Dogg; BUSH I like the song for the smooth/funky vibe it offers. Snoop is seen as an artist who can be pretty versatile with his material. Pharrell assisted on the boards, Ross and Kendrick also chipped in with their guest verses, in addition to Charlie Wilson on the vocals with Snoop. It’s one of those songs where I can simply enjoy any time/anywhere day or night. Disclosure & Sam Smith; Omen; Caracal Sam Smith and Disclosure make good music together. It’s proven due to their recent history. I’d even argue Sam Smith is at his best working with Disclosure. Omen is another example of the good chemistry between them. This sounds good from an instrumental standpoint and as always Smith comes through on the vocals. The elements of the song matchup well with each other. Imagine Dragons; Trouble; Smoke + Mirrors A song from the Alternative genre makes the list! We did it! I’m not too into the genre so therefore if I like a song/album/group from that area of music that means something. The Las Vegas native band Imagine Dragons are cool with me even though the opinion on them may be mixed. This song specifically is distinct in sound, a sound that I like. The vocalist Dan Reynolds performance on the track is also a plus. Deep Cotton & Jidenna; Let’s Get Caught; Wondaland Present; The Eephus The lovely and brilliant Janelle Monae launched her record company called Wondaland Records. To kick things off, her and her collective released a five track EP called the Eephus. Two of the guys listed above put together a pretty solid song in Let’s Get Caught. I don’t know too much about Deep Cotton or Jidenna (aside from Classic Man) but they’re two guys I’ll be checking out for. The melody of the song is something I can groove out to not to mention the vocals have a factor into that as well. Justin Bieber; Sorry; Purpose Honestly, if you don’t like this song but would like to sub in any other Bieber songs made this year, I am fine with that. I must admit, the Canadian singer has made good strides this year in what has considered to be “a comeback” year. The guy can make hits and seems like a hard worker. This song succeeds in getting some guys I know in their collective bag (except me because I’m stone faced & emotionless). However, I appreciate the emotion he put into the song with the added dance-pop cadence. Bieber has not hit his ceiling yet, but he has progressed. Tori Kelly; Should’ve Been Us; Unbreakable Smile The California native had a nice breakout year and this song was one of the reasons why. Her songwriting and singing abilities are overall good. She’s influenced by many past R&B/Pop vocalist which explains a lot. Should’ve Been Us isn’t her best song to me but it’s the first song I was introduced to. Which led me to her other stuff. This song is my favorite simply on the fact that it was a gateway to other music she produced. It is still a good song neverless. Anderson .Paak & Dean; Put My Hands on You There’s just something about this song that just makes me feel good when I listen to it. I tap my foot in rhythm to it or bop my head in a certain way. Or both. The hook here is money and the overall makeup of the song speaks creativity. I don’t know too much about Dean but he sounds good on this track. I’m well acquainted with Anderson .Paak and I appreciate his creativity and artistry. Kudos to the two. Janet Jackson; Night; Unbreakable Janet’s eleventh studio album Unbreakable highlights her vocals and ability to create a contemporary yet familiar sound. The range of sounds she uses in her music is a wide amount. Night has a bit of dance-pop/soul in it and those styles appeal to my taste. However with singers like her, I’ll listen more closely to her singing rather than the other aspects. And yet, with this song I buy right in to it. The Weeknd; Tell Your Friends; The Beauty Behind the Madness Another Canadian artist makes an appearance. I’ve always wanted to root for The Weeknd to succeed but it was hard to because I was not feeling the first album. His sophomore project was something I was feeling. This track receives an assist from Kanye West (G.O.A.T.) on the boards and Abel cashes in on it. His music overall is dark but he finds a way to make it sound appealing to the masses. I can also compare this song to The Morning which is a part of his older discography and is also a song which I like. Erykah Badu & Andre 3000; Hello; But You Caint Use My Phone Erykah Badu can make great music. She usually hits on whatever she’s trying to do. Her singing is full of soul and calm vibes. So on this latest mixtape, I found it to be very enjoyable. The most enjoyable part of this song was her duet with the great Andre 3000. The two legends in their respective genres have history with each other so the chemistry is there. This song gives off a feel of happiness, togetherness, and loyalty. Badu and Andre are pretty dope by themselves and are even better when with each other. Although this track happens be a favorite of mine, it is also a reminder that three stacks continues to tease us with all of these great guest features :(
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Many year-end list in music involves the best of the best or some many personal favorites. My list for favorite hip hop songs in 2015 has already been decided and it was a tough decision. Likewise, my least favorite hip hop songs of 2015 list was similar in difficulty. And while I would love to create a list with all Young Thug, Fetty Wap, and Troy Ave songs for trolling purposes, I won’t because that would be lazy of me.
Remember a few key things before I get started; these are MY (at random) least favorite. The songs may be actually good songs or they may be your personal favorite but if a song appears on this list, it doesn’t automatically mean its 105% trash. This is all based on preference. I will state a song I didn’t like much and either give a reason on why I couldn’t connect with it or maybe I’ll just troll for fun. Tyga – Stimulated; Fuk What They Talkin Bout Tyga had a strange year. One of those strange moments involved him dating Kylie Jenner for a period of time. The relationship was strange due to the age difference and the fact that Tyga is already a father. When this song released, he made a video. In the video, the couple were seen all “flirty” and “romantic” with each other. Watching the video and finding out the origins of it made me cringe. “She a big girl dog”? I’m good off of that. Silento – Watch Me; Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) To put it plain and simple, this song is just annoying. It’s repetitive in a bad way and the fact that this song peaked to number 3 in the country is beyond me. I think in 2016 it be best to keep Silento silent on the radios. Do kids even like this song THAT much? Future & Drake – Big Rings; What a Time to Be Alive It pains me for Future to be a part of this list but it’s all Drake’s fault! This song just doesn’t do it for me. The problem might be mainly because of the hook which my decent co-worker pointed out how mediocre it was. To be quite honest, the whole mixtape was mediocre. Future did his part but Drake was meh. Troy Ave – Doo Doo; Major without a Deal Yes, the name of the song is called Doo Doo. Ironic because the name of the song speaks for itself. Travis $cott – Flying High; Rodeo I’m not exactly sure how I feel on Travis $cott’s music yet. I probably should like it because it’s similar to Yeezus but that isn’t the case. Also, the transition from Maria I’m Drunk to this song is just strange. The beat, melody, and hook is just weird. This is just a weird song. Meek Mill – I Just Wanna Know The Meek Mill vs Drake feud was funny yet tiring. Why? Because of how much of a fool Meek turned out to be but it was also a one way contest and got played out. Meek responded to two of Drake’s disses with this Undertaker themed sample diss. It’s not a BAD song but it was a BAD response track. Meek didn’t give one of my favorite WWE wrestlers’ justice using that sample so therefore, here we are Robert Williams. Dr. Dre (Featuring Anderson Paak, Candice Pillay, & Eminem) – Medicine Man; Compton Dr. Dre had a great comeback year which included a movie about his early NWA days and his first album in over 15 years. Compton was a pretty good album. This song isn’t half bad either. So why was this my least favorite? Bingo! The Eminem verse! Eminem is great at the skill of rapping no doubt about that but his recent work is disappointing. There is this one particular line in his verse for this song about rape (listen to it if you don’t know or maybe not)…it derails the whole song. It’s not cool. It’s not 2000 anymore. This goes to show that even the littlest of things can have a song disliked. Ben Carson’s Politcal Ad Rap I guess in an ill-advised and foolish attempt to get the black community behind him in the GOP race, Ben Carson made a Rap advertisement. This hilariously might be the worst song I’ve heard. My hypothesis on why the song was made makes me look at it funny. He didn’t need to do this. Nor should he make another one ever again. Fetty Wap (Feat. Monty) – My Way; Fetty Wap Fetty Wap is a fellow Jersian. He seems like a good, genuine, fun guy. Someone who looks motivated and hard working. I can root for a guy like that to succeed. With that said, I’m not a fan of the music. He has his hits like My Way but I find them to be simply not of my taste. My Way isn’t good money with me (and it wasn’t good long before Drake go to it either). Drake – Hotline Bling Before you freak out here me out. I like the video! The video is great and funny for the meme’s it produced. And kudos to Drake for making a widely successful song commercial wise. Also, shout out to D.R.A.M. since he got jacked for his Cha-Cha record! Yes I know underground artist get thieved all the time but there’s a weird habit with Drake in that he’s a vulture/wave rider. I dislike this song because of the shady background involving the two songs and the weird lame theme of possessiveness over women in the song. I don’t care too much for the song and I get it, misogyny and sexism is ingrained in society as it is already but Drake’s way of doing things is just weird. A smart/cool person I follow on Twitter said this to sum up the song, “It’s basically Blame Game over the Cha Cha beat. Which is fine but very problematic if applied to life”. Out with the old, in with the new. Hip Hop in 2015 was an interesting place to be in. We’ve had a lot of breakouts from many artist, the superstars of the genre hit their home runs, and some old characters made comebacks.
As I compose my list of favorite songs this year I must say, it was pretty hard to pick a select few out of hundreds. A matter a fact, with the amount of time I now have on my hands, I could list them all (but I won’t because nobody wants to read all of that). With that said, I’ll keep this list brief with ten random songs (with brief descriptions on why I picked them). Starting with a rapper who has the best Twitter account; Vince Staples. Vince Staples; Lift Me Up: Summertime ‘06 Vince’s rapping ability is pretty darn good. In this song, his rap voice is pretty commanding. The production on the song keeps me interested and as far as subject matter is concerned, it’s there. It’s real. Vince is a pretty smart guy and so far has not said any of the wrong things. This guy is someone to watch for in the future (spoiler alert). Big Sean; Paradise: Dark Sky Paradise Big Sean has improved in a span of over a year. This Mike WiLL Made-It assisted song is a good example of his progress. The wordplay and bars on this song were captivating. The extended version of the song is what really hits home though. Definitely a favorite of mine this year. Kudos to Mr. Sean. Wale (Feat. J Cole); The Pessimist: The Album About Nothing I’ll be honest. The melody and J. Cole (Surprise!) saved this song. Saved enough where I like it a lot. J. Cole does not have a verse on the song but his hook here is money (This isn’t the first time where Cole has outshined Wale). If it weren’t for those two elements that I liked so much, I’d probably dislike the song because of Wale’s “respectability politics” verses personally. Earl Sweatshirt; Off Top: I Don’t Like Shit. I Don’t Go Outside Earl may very well be the best technical rapper on this list. (Actually, he is). His music tends to be dark yet so good. Off Top to me is short and sweet to the point. The track is under two minutes and Earl just comes right at you in under two minutes. I enjoy the beat on this as well. Drake; Know Yourself: If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late My feelings on Jimmy Wheelchair (no I will not call him the 6 god) fluctuates. I feel like he’s dope yet pretty lame at the same time. However, this banger is catchy, energetic, and gets me in a better mood when I hear it. Boi-1da also deserves an award for being a part of the production process by the way. Mac Miller (Feat Chief Keef); Cut The Check: GO:OD AM Anytime you get Chief Keep to speak clearly on a song, you get major points for that. Kanye did it before and now Mac as far as I know. Chief’s verse wasn’t bad at all on this track and Mac did his thing on their as well. This song was good enough where I was curious to check out Chief’s album which came out not too long after Mac’s did. As of today, I realized that was a mistake. Curren$y (Feat Riff Raff); Froze: Pilot Talk III Spitta usually has good tracks to offer with his mellow/reserved vibe. He has a good ear for beats and Riff Raff (yes Riff Raff), was a good fit for the song (like Chief Keef, I checked out one of his projects after hearing this verse and I regret the decision). The cadence of the song was to my liking so therefore it was enjoyable. Jay Rock (Feat Busta Rhymes & Macy Gray); Fly on the Wall: 90059 A laid back west coast song which has some personal history on it between artist, Jay got me with this. It’s a smooth song with smooth instrumentals to boot. The hook on this song is a nice touch as well. Kudos to Jay, who had one of the better projects that were released back in early fall. Kendrick Lamar; Alright: To Pimp a Butterfly The hook is uplifting, the melody/beat which incorporates some Jazz is great, and K. Dot himself delivers on the verses. The hook of this song is often chanted at Black Lives Matter protest around the country. Which shows its importance to many. Also, this song is often heard at parties too. A dual threat? I think so. Future; A song of your choice: A project of your choice Of course Future aka Future Hendrix, Future Vandross, Dirty Sprite Legend, and the Freebandz General was going to make this list. He’s had an incredible run within a year. Don’t know many who’ve topped him this year. With that said, it is pretty hard to choose ONE song from him. Therefore if you want, pick a song from any album/mixtape of your choice and claim that as your favorite. There aren’t many bad options (unless you pick from What a Time to Be Alive with ekarD). The decision is all up to you. If your mind is already made up, great. If not, find one. If you don’t want to, I won’t be mad at you. To each their own! A few shout outs to some other artist who’ve provided me with some other favorite songs of the year; Migos, Anderson .Paak, Action Bronson, Chance the Rapper, K Camp, Kyle, A$AP Rocky, A$AP Ferg, Pusha T, Travis $cott, Freddie Gibbs, Big Boi, Lupe Fiasco, Dr. Dre and Goldlink. December 4th is known for plenty of things. One of those things happens to be the birthday for one of the all-time greats in music, none other than Jay Z himself.
For over 20 years, hip hop mogul Jay Z has been a force on an off the mic for the genre of hip hop/rap. With over 12 studio albums in addition to 3 collaboration albums, his longevity and consistency speaks volumes. Also aside from his business on the mic, Hov is also exceptional on the businessman aspect. His involvement with Rocawear, the Brooklyn Nets, the 40/40 club, Roc Nation, Budweiser, and Tidal (yes Tidal), among others are well documented. He is pretty hands on as an entrepreneur as he, Dr. Dre, Russell Simmons, and Sean “Diddy” Combs, are all elite in that department. Many rappers should try and emulate what they do when it comes to things that go beyond rap itself. Going back to the tunes, Jay is arguably the best in the genre when it comes to making exactly that. He knows how to put the pieces in the right place to make a good song. The guy is talented at rapping knowing how to sell himself while being witty and clever. In recent times however, he has not been the Jay Z of the old. Rap is more of a young man’s game and while his name will continue to be a good draw, the quality of his verses usually underwhelm (good examples would be Pound Cake with Drake and the remix to Don’t Kill My Vibe with Kendrick Lamar off the top of my head). Dudes just get old and that’s fine. However that’s the thing, as he ages, his projects age pretty well which is the key. People like to bring up that he’s overrated compared to his generational contemporaries like Eminem, Nas, Tupac, KRS-One, or Guru but the thing is, a lot of these guys don’t have albums that age particularly well among the masses. Eminem is spectacular at what he does and is a legend in his own right but if people had a choice, I’d bet the majority would prefer to listen to Reasonable Doubt over the Marshall Mathers LP. Jay Z creates music that can extend through instead of it having to age like a banana which happens to be a problem some hip hop artist have. Mr. Carter may not be the best straight up lyricist in history but his overall craft and ability pits him close and the influence he has is unquestionable. He definitely has a place in my top 5 greatest rappers, maybe even top 3. If you disagree, that is fine. To each their own. He does have his high points like Reasonable Doubt and American Gangster then he has his low points like MCHG and Kingdom Come. However, it’s important to take notice of his impact and career. If you’re aware of who he is but haven’t taken the time to listen to some of his work then I encourage you to do so. If you have any comments or facts you have, list them in the comments section or shoot me a tweet or an email. |
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