I did 100 songs that took me forever, now I'm going to do my 25 favorite mixtapes. Again, there was a lot of good music, but these are the mixtapes and albums I listened to the most throughout the year. Looking down at my list, I was thinking it's probably hard to gauge my tatse, i guess I'm kind of all over the place.
Lano was great for big singles this year, and even though I expected more, he did keep me jamming his mixtape for a while.
Lenwood dropped late in the year, and even though it had a lot of old material, it was nice to hear it all in one place.
I spent a LOT of time ignoring E Major before I started this blog. But when he dropped this I felt that I HAD to listen because he always gets great feedback from other media and blogs. And guess what, I loved it.
I grabbed this off AllBmoreHipHop with no expectations haven't hearing him before every joint was a banger.
I reviewed VIP's mixtape before this when he was going by J Child and new he had potential, he had chosen a lot of soulful industry tracks for that. For this one, he came with a lot of soulful originals and really knocked it out the park.
Because I listen to a lot of local hip hop, compilations don't normally do it for me. But the homie Darryl McCready put together a GREAT project...even if it did seem like a Team Arson compilation.
Sheila D had me guessing ever since I found out she existed. And when she dropped her mixtape I fell in love. She's got all the right pieces and can shine in any areana you put her in.
There is a lot to be said about those emcees who still believe in lyricism. A lot of rappers claim it, and it's cool to say, but not many actually DO it. DDS is one of the last of a seemingly dying breed.
Rome Cee is far beyond this blog, with accolades from just about every major media outlet in the city he put down arguably the best album this year, signed or unsigned. At one point I forgot about it in the midst of all the music I listen to, but it never gets old.
I made a HUGE mistake in my review mistaking Trace-O with Trace Blam, but never the less, this joint ROCKED!!! He definitely set himself apart.
Mully is an underdog's underdog. Somehow, he has outlasted, outsmarted, outhustled and simply ousted anyone else's in the city's buzz and made large strides towards success. And this was his crowning achievement.
Forbidden puts out a LOT of mixtapes and albums, but this year he did a tribute to producer Burnie Dozier that was locked up that also featured a song to slain B-more rap legend CDS. Besides the hoopla, this is the one album he dropped this year that was just all heat.
FREE HUNNID!!! This mixtape was an event and lived up to it. It had singles galore and showed off hunnid's comedic side.
Bossman really did channel BIG's hunger on this one. He was shameless and honest about how his long awaited sophomore album tanked and he moved on.
Billy Lyve did it big with this one. After all all the publicity as DMV Award recipient of the Best Promoter, he HAD to remind us that he raps.
This was a straight dope album. I was hyped for it because I thought these guys still had a ways to go before they were >there< but they proved me wrong. They drop a dope album together.
Again, it's hard for me to really enjoy compilations, but after not hearing Barnes in a long time, DJ Jabril made a power move getting Bto the A-A to host this installment of the popular mixtape series. And besides Barnes, the songs on here just cranked!
I'm convinced Skarr will never do an album. That that is cool as long as he keeps taking the mixtape to higher heights with releases like this one.
Wish is just above and beyond any expectation you could have of a local artist. She has been signed to Jive for a while and this 'wishtape' is more than enough evidence why. She jumped from pop to B-more club to rnb like it was nothing and she has a style all her own.
While Los was putting together "The Crown Ain't Safe" he gave us this to hold us over. Really, this could have BEEN 'The Crown Ain't Safe' the way he killed everything in sight on this.
Shout out to the Black Daddy Gang! Being a father changes us, makes us think about our fathers, or the men who we looked up to like fathers. Young emcees need to look up to OOH like a father, it's evident by this mixtape he son's you all.
Hands down, 2011 belonged to StarrZ. He really outdid himself with this mixtape.
Smash had a lot riding on this one and pulled it through. He proved he wasn't a one hit wonder and that he does this.
Caddy made us proud, he repped the city well and put out a smash single. Then he came back with a CLASSIC!
I never officially reviewed Rickie's mixtape on the blog, I won't go into why; but it was hands down my favorite album of the year. I listen to it constantly. It bangs from beginning to end and is near flawless. This is definitely the soundtrack to my life right now.
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