ALBUMS OF 2009

so there had been a trending topic among many of my friends and co-workers about the album of the year. while it may be way too soon to tell, i would just want to throw my 2 cents in about some of the album that came out this year and my opinion about them. hopefully you can relate, if not hopefully you can enjoy the difference in perspective. i will be adding more and more as i go along because i'll probably leave albums and artists out at first, give me some time, i'll surely touch on as much as i can.

in no particular order, i'm just going to speak as i remember them. i wanna first speak about the Asher Roth album. i know that everyone who has first heard him says he sounds like Eminem. i cant lie, i thought the exact same thing. but there is a great difference in "sounding" like someone, and "flowing" like them. although he did sound like Em, he definitely does not flow like Em. i honestly enjoyed the album, from creative beats on "Blunt Cruisin" to jazze pha's "Be By Myself", the album was a definite dedication to how much fun hip-hop music can be no matter what vehicle its comes in. you cannot judge a book by its cover just like you can't judge an emcee by his radio single. "I Love College", while a good single, is probably the worst song on the album, so don't judge him by that alone

the next album i wanted to talk about was, in my opinion, the most slept on "The Ecstatic" by Mos Def. this is truly hip-hop at its finest. no gimmicks or purposely catchy hooks, Mos stays true to himself with amazing producers and classic cameos from Slick Rick to Talib Kweli. while this may be classified and "head-bobbin" music versus "club bangers", Mos seems to draw me into a different dimension with his futuristic beats paired with his vintage flow. while i could let this album ride out in its entirety, i do have a soft spot for certain songs such as "auditorium", "casa bey" and "history"...you know what scratch that, all the songs are worthy of being my fave.

Many comebacks this year have backfired according to many of the hip-hop sites, claiming that the artists have not lived up to their potential. among the most anticipated, Eminem's "Relapse" is something we hip-hop heads have been waiting for for a while. now perhaps because i grew up with someone who watch Em's every move, i may have more of a predisposition to like his work. i do believe that his flow has changed drastically compared to his previous albums, he does not seem as angry or disturbed as he once was, which was what made his music so powerful. we could listen to Em and think, damn i got it bad but this dude has PROBLEMS! and i believe it was his realness and his brick wall that made us take him with all his flaws. i'll admit, i would love to hear the drug-addict rap again versus the sober Em, but i understand his wanting to better himself. if there is anything i can say to people who didnt really feel "Relapse", listen to his diss track to mariah, or his recent cameo on "Forever" with kanye, drake and wayne and i sware all Em needed was a little fire under his ass to snap him back into his classic flow. Em will forever be in my top 5.

on a lighter note, the Maxwell album was also something i was looking forward too. as hard as  like my rap, is as soft as i like my R&B. with that said, i was very surprised that the album only had 9 tracks. at the same time, every single song is a single in itself. of course Maxwell is known for his ballads, he has so many classic two-steppin songs that i felt like the album represented summer very well. the ballads, although they may have been inspired by heartbreak, had a sense of hope and serenity. the faster tracks were definitely "feel-good" tracks that complimented his voice beautifully. Another slept on album for sure, if you are trying to hold on to summer, you must cop "BLACKsummers Night"

Skipping some, i'm dying to talk about the Blueprint 3, Jay-Z's anticipated addition to the Blueprint series. Now, while everyone had a very strong opinion about the album, which went from one extreme of hating it to the other extreme of loving it, you can't help but make you decision based on comparing Jay to his previous projects. What i can say is this, he is not the same person he was on "Reasonable Doubt", nor is he even the same person from "The Black Album" which i think is the reason why everyone's opinion seems to be iffy and negative. i have gone back and forth about the album and how i feel about it, and what i can say is that while there are a couple songs i could live without, overall it lives up to his level of artistry in that he is constantly trying something new. Whether it be the "Forever Young" track, which in my opinion is a classic already, or "Empire State of Mind" which honestly makes you think your from New York. Jay's music has that effect of wanting to close your eyes and see what he sees when he rhymes. you imagine the streets that he raps about and the encounters he faces. i believe it is not that his flow has changed, but the content, and we must accept that while people change, so does their craft and we must take it as is.

Oh man, where the hell do i start with this new Ghostface album? The Wizard of Poetry at Emerald City is literally ONE of my favorite albums of 2009. I can only speak for myself, but if you know a hip-hop head that happens to be a female, and you wanna bag her up? WHOOOO this album will do it. Not only does Ghost get so nasty on the tracks, and when i say nasty i mean straight up graphic dirty sex talk, no innuendos, he soothes my ears with smooth beats and R&B cameos from John Legend, Lloyd, Estelle and surprisingly Andrienne Bailon (Cheetah Girls). He stays true to his gritty form while still focusing on topics like telling a girl to stop playing games to a song called "Stapleton Sex" where he graphically raps about his encounter with another female. There is something about this album that really turns me on, whether it be relaxing nature of the beats or perhaps i secretly love those thug rugged love lyrics that Ghost spits that gets me hype. Either way, he definitely did this one for the ladies, and it was about time someone did a project for us that wasn't more than a single on an entire rap album.