My Top Album Picks of 2009

The mixtape Drake released on February 13, 2009 was his break through album, if I have ever seen one. This was the work of a hungry artist. This kid has not stopped since its release and this album was by far the most frequently played on my iPod this year. I hope his much anticipated album can live up to the mixtape.

Jay-Z did it again with BP3, although something tells me this is the last time he is going to be able to  get away with an album like this. He needs to start talking about different things, at times he can seem repetitive in his lyrics. There were plenty of featured artists and producers-Jay has the means and network to do it big and he did. We'll see how he is live when I go see him at the Verizon Center in DC in March. Until then...we on to the next one.

Although in my opinion The Vault Vol I was a better album, Eric is one of the most slept on artists I know-and this is tragic because the man is so talented. He's definitely not starving but he doesn't get the recognition he deserves. I saw him live at the Black Cat in DC and he is an amazing entertainer, he writes his own lyrics and he can SAAAANNNGG. Check out his blog at http://blueerrosoul.blogspot.com/ and buy his album: you will not be disappointed. Below is a video of Eric performing live at the performance I attended at the Black Cat in DC.

I will say that myself and many people I know have been waiting a long time for Mos Def to bring it back like he finally did in his The Ecstatic album. Mos spit a track entirely in Spanish, teamed up with Talib Kweli again (on a track produced by J. Dilla himself), and simply gave us what we needed. He utilized Madlib as his producer for many of the cuts-which always makes me happy because I'm such a fan of Madlib. My favorite songs off the album hands down are; "Auditorium" ft. Slick Rick (YES!), "No Hay Nada Mas", and "History" ft. Talib Kweli. http://bit.ly/61Kc4A

This album had been in the works for at least 4 years, and finally Raekwon of the infamous Wu Tang Clan released Pt. II of his Only Built for Cuban Linx series. As expected Raekwon has featured much of the Wu Tang Clan crew on many of the songs and has brought star quality credits to the production department of the album with the likes of J. Dilla, RZA, Eric Sermon, Dr. Dre, and Pete Rock. My favorite track on the album is "New Wu"- since I'm partial to Method Man. Beware if you decide to purchase this album and you aren't already a fan of the Wu this is REAL rap music with lots of gutter words being used.