1. Joell Ortiz - Project Boy
This DJ Premier produced monster also got one of the better videos, too. But honestly, I'm a sucka for black-n-white vids...
2. The Jacka & Ampichino - Devil's Reject (f/Rydah J. Klyde)
Outside of the Bay, Jacka is seriously slept on. It doesn't help that he comes out with 10 mixtapes a year that got a lotta filler on there, but when he's got a gem, it's somethin.
3. Young Gully - 93 Freestyle (f/Pep Love, Hongry)
Another Bay cat who's slept on, he's been getting some attention this year over his Definition Of Gas and Oscar Grant tribute mixtapes. Him and Hongry absolutely destroy this old Souls of Mischief beat.
4. Curren$y - Airborne Aquarium
I never paid attention to Curren$y cuz I knew that he used to be on No Limit and Ca$h Money back in the day, but his two albums this year (Pilot Talk 1 & 2) and almost exclusive production from Ski Beatz has forced me to appreciate.
5. Celph Titled & Buckwild - Eraserheads (f/Vinnie Paz)
Buckwild gave Celph Titled a whole album of beats he made from the mid-90s. Even though Celph is a pretty average MC, the production is childproof. You could through a 7th tier Wu-affiliate from Lithuania and it would knock. Let's hope folks like DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Da Beatminerz, etc. do the same with their vaults...
6. Scarface - Lyrical Assualt (f/Malice, Mr. Low Key)
Facemob can never go wrong. Anything he's had a hand in (aka not those Rap-A-Lot ripoff compilations) is guaranteed to be decent. This is off his Dopeman mixtape.
7. Termanology & Statik Selektah - The Lottery
Don't know how this didn't make their 1982 album, as this is better than every track on that.
8. The Jacka & Lee Majors - Can't Get Enough
This is off one Jacka's 10 mixtapes from 2010.
9. Black Milk - Keep Going
A lot of people have been hating on the live instrumentation featured on Black's new album, but fuck them. Hip-hop is 30+ years old, we ain't gotta keep doin' loops and samples.
10. dead prez - Malcolm, Garvey, Huey (f/Divine)
Hearing DJ Drama scream 'Free Mumia' is probably one of the biggest bizarro moments of 2010. How did this happen? Well, dead prez did a Gangsta Grillz tape with em! Good stuff.
11. Drake - The Resistance
I know you can lose your hip-hop cred over openly liking Drake's stuff, but that's some bullshit. I don't always wanna listen to 'drill a hollow tip in a niggas head' shit. We need a break once in a while. Yeah, he's soft as hell, shit, I even kinda agree he's a label manufactured imposter, but there's been worse in the game that get acceptance. Rick Ross was a fuckin prison guard for chrissakes...
12. Smiff-n-Wessun - Follow Me
Off of Statik Selektah's 100 Proof album.
13. Ruste Juxx & Marco Polo - Pre-eXXecution 10
Real short track that was put out in the lead up to their eXXecution album, this track smashes buildings down.
14. Reks - Pray For You (The Homicide Note)
Any song that disses Obama, ringtone rap and Solaar is worth my time. Reks ain't got no self-censorship guy in his head at all. I can dig that.
15. The Left - Reporting Live (f/Guilty Simpson)
Guilty Simpsons album with Madlib was probably the biggest disapointment of the year. I'm really into Detroit hip-hop and I had high hopes for it. Fortunatly, The Left came through and dropped one of the best albums of the year. This is the best track off Gas Mask.
16. Andre Nickatina - 1 Flight (f/Lawrence W)
Most likely one of the more cheesy, but disturbing, videos I've seen in recent memory.
17. Kanye West - Devil In a New Dress (f/Rick Ross)
After 808 & Heartbreaks, Kanye really needed to redeem himself. Well, that's just what he did. He even made Rick Ross tolerable to me.
18. Joell Ortiz - Battle Cry (f/Just Blaze)
All bars, no hooks. Joell sounds like he could go another 10 minutes on this.
19. Young Gully - Heaven & Hell (f/Young D)
Gully put out a whole mixtape called The Grant Station Project, which is centered around police brutality in the Bay and specifically the Oscar Grant murder.
20. Apollo Brown - Beauty of a Day (f/The Regiment)
Detroit producer Apollo Brown had 2 excellent projects this year: The Left's album and Reset, which is all remixed tracks.
21. Big K.R.I.T. - They Got Us
K.R.I.T. made a lotta noise in circles that aren't known to have good taste in hip-hop (hipsters, Rolling Stone), but this time they're right.
22. DJ Muggs vs Ill Bill - Illuminati 666
Loony conspiracy theories over Muggs beats, what's not to like?
23. Kno - I Wish I Was Dead (f/Tonedeff)
Depressing emo-rap that sometimes make me wanna smack Kno and say get over it....but it's still amazing.
24. El Da Sensei & The Returners - Nu World
25. E-40 - I Get Down (f/B-Legit)
