I really don't rank Vol 2 that high. I think Vol 1-3 are good but, honestly, Reasonable Doubt and then.... ..... ... The Blueprint. y'know? And then it's like BP was the beginning of his really interesting shit.

does he mean "Sunshine" kills the album in a good way or bad way? I love "Sunshine."

Dynasty if pretty meh to me for the most part.

"So Ghetto" right on. That track is awesome.

meant it should be TOP 4. :)

yes, great song.

"Sorry critics, it's good."

haaa true!

after a lot of thinking.. just completed my top 10 rap projects of the year:

1. Kanye West - Yeezus
2. A$AP Rocky - Long.Live.A$AP
3. Chance the Rapper - Acid Rap
4. Danny Brown - Old
5. Death Grips - Government Plates
6. Drake - Nothing Was the Same
7. A$AP Ferg - Trap Lord
8. Migos - Young Rich Niggas
9. Denzel Curry - Nostalgic 64
10. The Underachievers - Indigoism

Well I'm gonna say it. I really don't get what the love for A$AP Rocky was all about. Just a very meh album for me.

Kanye is already working on his next album.

said it'll have 8 songs. Rick Rubin and Q-Tip are involved.

is my wish coming true? wow.

--

EDIT:

Kanye Compares His Next Album To Born In The U.S.A.

http://www.stereogum.com/1581902/kan...st-club/video/

Kendrick gets nominated for album of the year at the Grammys. crossing my fingers!


album of the year:

rap album of the year:

best new artist:

Vampire Weekend, they suck. i've seen Yeezus topping a bunch of other lists though. it's going to top P4k's list as well.

I don't really understand the Grammy's calendar. GKMC came out in 2012. Yeezus 2013.

I think they go from October to October, so this year will include any album from 10/1/12 to 10/1/13. Which means they TOTALLY overlooked Yeezus, as well as other super obvious choices from Neil Young and David Bowie.

I really thought the Next Day was going to dominate the Grammy's. But fuck it.

Kendrick is not going to win, either. :(

Oct to Oct is stupid. I've never understood why they don't do literally a Jan 1st - Dec 31st of a single year.

The Next Day barely got any recognition. such an underrated album.

Well, it received really really great reviews when it came out, and it was hyped like hell, and definitely served as a veritable comeback album for a classic artist.

That's Grammy gold, man. Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, McCartney... they all get a nod every time they release an album that grabs attention. Isn't David Bowie in that class of artists?

Just out of curiosity, what did the hip hop categories look like?

I can't believe Yeezus didn't get an album of the year nod. He's never won Album of the Year, and only his two least awesome albums have been nominated.

Meh. Fuck the stupid Grammys anyway.

i don't know.. The Next Day received pretty good (edit: ok, GREAT) reviews, but people kinda forgot about it after a week. :(

Yeezus was nominated for the rap category.

this though.

Whoah, man. 12 Reasons, the first truly badass hip hop album of the year, is not even in your top 10?

I'm just asking because this has been a pretty ferocious year, and the competition has been heavy, so I have a hard time remembering all the great ones at once.

Wait... NO PUSHA-T EITHER? And what about MIA?

And... Oh my god, man, you even left out Earl.

Are you sure you don't need more time?

I think my list might have to be divided into mix tape and trad album in order to keep it from being 25 records long.

Right now, I think I'm going to go with the album that I've never turned off half way trough, Yeezus, as #1. Ghost will be #2 most likely. The rest... Shit. Too much good shit.

As for my NON hip hop list, this is what I'm thinking for best of the year:

Black Bug- Reflecting the Light
Fuck Buttons- Slow focus
Botany- Lava Diviner
Flaming Lips- the Terror
and six other albums... lol.

I think I might publish my list on Blogger or something. I've got some excellent commentary to accompany my list, and explain my decisions.

i don't really consider M.I.A. hip-hop (although there's some rapping on her album).

Pusha's album has too many songs i don't care about. i really like King Push, Hold On, Nosetalgia.. that's it.
well, there are a bunch of other good songs, but i never bump them anymore.

i like 12 Reasons to Die, but not as much as you guys, it's like a 7/10 to me.

Doris is really good lyrically, Earl's lazy delivery and most of the features make it hard for me to sit through.. i prefer his mixtape.

as far as non hip-hop goes, i like Sky Ferreira, MBV, Iceage, M.I.A., Deafheaven, David Bowie, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Lorde..

haven't heard any of those albums. anything you think i'd like?

man does Tuscan Leather suck.. it's like a 6 min song and Drake says absolutely nothing on it. who cares how much time you spend on an intro? instant skip. the next song is classic material though.

I think you'd like Botany. It's got a definite hip hop influence. Madlib and J-Dilla are two artists that really influenced its production. It's not a hip hop record, and is mostly instrumental, but it's sick as fuck... super laid back, chill, and epic all at the same time.

I don't know how you feel about punk, but since you listed Iceage on your non-hip hop list there's a chance you'll appreciate the sorely underrated Black Bug album I mentioned. I've been digging the shit out of it all year. It's the kind of album that keeps the world from spinning out of orbit. Hozac records nails it again.

And as for Fuck Buttons.... I don't know. It's a beast of an album. It's dark as fuck, and electronic, and kind of hellish, but also has some very lush moments. It's noise rock that sounds to me like Daft Punk and the Melvins getting into a colossal car accident, blood and metal everywhere. Also instrumental. It's worth listening to for anyone.

And the Lips... well, if you haven't already listened to the Terror and made a decision about it, this post probably isn't going to move you to do so. Top shelf fucking album though.

But you seriously need to listen to Doley. Why haven't you done so? Especially being such a fan of A$AP? Doley's mixtape shares production credits with Long.Live. And the kid ain't fucking around either.

One thing that pissed me off about a lot of the year's hip hop albums was that they tended to devolve into sentimental/overly serious R&B tinged bullshit halfway through, only to bounce back in the end. MNIMN and Nothing Was The Sane are two examples of this.

Doley doesn't let up, and raps like a fucking fiend throughout Just In Case, which is really one of the most consistently badass rap records of the year. I can't believe how badly it was overlooked.

Terror was my least favorite Lips album in a long long time. Just not feeling it.

Man, "You Song" should have been on ACID RAP.

And yet it's one of the better tracks on an album you placed above GFK, Earl, Pusha-T, Black Milk, Tree, Killah Priest, Deltron, Slum Village, and tons of others.

I love you louder, but you can be one fickle fair weather fan, bra ;)

actually, i think it's one of the weakest. i don't hate it, it's just meh lyrically. the track with Jhene Aiko on the hook is absolutely the worst. what a snoozefest.

Furthest Thing, Worst Behavior, Too Much and Pound Cake are all song of the year material, in my opinion.. i also love Own It and Connect.

"eyes closed, just swangin'..".

Well on a non hip hop note, you should check out some of the year's post punky rock type shit. I'm curious what you think will own the year from the greater indie genre.

And, Jesus, did i hear you correctly, NR? The Terror was a disappointment? What the hell?! Why am I like the only person who thinks that album is extraordinarily awesome? It's like the "well, we lost the fight" sequel to Soft Bulletin.

Happiness reflected upon through a lense stained by years of corporate evil, and a communal sense of self that has become tied completely to machines and app software.

i'll check out everything you've recommended to me soon.

E-40 just dropped 3 albums today.

sorry yo, I've tried w/ the Terror multiple times. Just won't click. Get really really bored. :\

Rolling Stones' "10 BEST MIXTAPES OF 2013"
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/li...d-rap-19691231

top 3 is solid.

i'm glad that Teefli and Young Thug got some recognition, too.

they forgot about PartyNextDoor though.

also Indigoism, BetterOffDead, Joey Badass' tape, TREE, etc..

I liked about half of Indigoism. Didn't hold my attention all that long.

Summer Knights is great though.

I also really like that NYC Renaissance mixtape that Peter Rosenberg compiled this year.

Public Enemy meant shit politically. Rob, I think it's great that people make records without political agendas. It makes it all more artsy and pretentious and fun.

Hip Hop was inherently political from the get-go, because it was a music that sprung from a marginalized and completely ignored subset of America (poor black and hispanic inner city youth). I think it is more about personal politics than the governmental politics. mainstream (shit-stem) Hip Hop stopped being personally political a while ago, when it became more about preaching a fabricated persona (NWA).
Ice T was an ex pimp, drug pusher, gangbanger, etc., and he rapped about what he had learned, seen, etc., personal politics. NWA was a bunch of poser fucks pretending to be hard ganstas.

Hip Hop "stars" have too much money to lose,a nd the powers that be have too much invested in them, to ever let them be political in any respect. JayZ and Kanye may be impresarios and tycoons, but the REAL money and power behind those guys sits in lush madison avenue corner offices, earning million dollar bonuses off off white kids buying Jay Z albums.

Public Enemy meant a LOT politically, especially when it comes to disseminating the radical leaders of black culture, and including marginalized people who are not discussed by the white media's treatment of the civil rights movement, in the 80's.
It may not have been the same in the UK. different country, different politics.
I consider U2 a "political" band in that vein. I consider The Clash a political band as well. The Wailers, Dylan, anyone who sings about what is really happening around them is political. Katy perry sings about being mildly retarted. That is NOT political.