End of the year festivities usually call for excessive amounts of alcohol, herbal consumptions and a single round table to discuss the past and what’s in store for the future. Hip-hop took a left turn during the year of 2010 and parked its vehicles in the lot of many listeners’ computer hard drives. Leaked singles, mixtapes and the infamous weekly music series took over blogs, tweets and Facebook shared link posts. If one was not fully aware of what the art of hip-hop consist of, then this year definitely helped in their reassurance. Grab a seat at the round table while Greedmont Park reflects on the year that hip-hop arose from [what Nas may say] the dead and manifested the origin of creativity in ways that pleased the ear and inspired the mind.
Genre Door Breakers
During the winter months of January and February, all one can think of is the next possible way to avoid being outdoors. While this scheme was in the process of creation, listeners continued to vibe to Weezy’s No Ceilings and count down the days before he was a free man of the prison system [along with TI]. With the absence of Weezy came the arrival of Drake, who stepped out of the shadow of his boss and landed on most of this year’s hit singles, let’s not forget the 2008 classic So Far Gone and his hit single Forever. Although word of an all R&B mixtape has been discussed throughout the year, it seems as though we will have to wait until 2011 to hear brand new music from the singer/rapper.
While hip-hop heads may still have Lupe Fiasco’s Enemy of the State in heavy rotation, February also brought the attention of another Chicago artist. Rockie Fresh began his career in 2007 and his hard work was compiled in his first mixtape, Rockie’s Modern Life. His eclectic musical and lyrical style gained critical acclaim and praises throughout various blogs, including Chitown based hip-hop blog, Gowhere Hip-Hop. In December, Rockie released The Otherside, which featured Phil Ade, Mr. Hudson, Kidz in the Hall member Naledge and Rich Hil. Naledge, Ade and Hil also released mixtapes of their own during the year. Greedmont had the pleasure of chatting with Mr. Hudson earlier in the year about future projects that are in the works.
As the cold temperatures continued to take over the mindset of our lives, it did not stop hip-hop artists from visiting the studio to perfect their craft. When the term “genre bending” occurs in a music discussion, songstress Janelle Monae comes to mind. Her vocals and creative image appeals to many, however, an Atlanta-bred male carried his guitar and individuality into the music scene for all to see and hear. Bobby Ray Simmons, also known as B.o.B, released the highly anticipated May 25th mixtape as a prequel for his debut album, The Adventures of Bobby Ray, which was originally set to hit stores on that date but was pushed up due to positive responses from the lead single, Nothing on You. B.o.B freestyled and sang over classic hip-hop instrumentals and self-produced beats on the mixtape, spreading more anticipation for his debut album. The rapper has had a phenomenal year: earning 5 Grammy nominations, an Adidas endorsement and topping the charts with hit singles. No Genre is the latest mixtape released by the rapper, a compilation of old and unreleased tracks. We can only expect more from B.o.B as 2011 arrives.
Who Dat!? Who Dat!?
One artist that was featured on the May 25th mixtape was Roc Nation signee, J. Cole. Cole entered 2010 with 2 solid mixtapes and memorable features on critically acclaimed albums, including Wale’s Attention Deficit and Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3. As the year moved on, Cole’s name was stamped on blogs with positive approval. Although the St. John’s graduate had been on his music grind since 2007, there were still hip-hop heads asking the question “Who is this kid?” J. Cole set out to prove who he was with his Friday Night Lights mixtape, released in November. Cole grabbed artists and pulled beats from any part of his cranium to make this project as complete as it was to the human ear. Along with this project came Drake, who was featured on the popular In the Morning track that was from Cole’s previous mixtape, The Warm Up. The irrelevant comparison between the two newcomers was a common conversation throughout the year. Cole has also been compared to Nas and the late Tupac. Cole World, the tentative title of Cole’s debut, is set to hit stores early 2011, but it has been noted that Cole used the positive feedback from Friday Night Lights to recreate his debut from scratch. So all we can do for now is continue to listen to Who Dat and wait patiently.
In between the lines of the Roc Nation brand stands an emcee who has been holding his own for the past several years. Wale is a DC rapper whose lyrical demeanor has stood out amongst the bland crowd of radio emcees. His debut album, Attention Deficit, failed to gain as much sales and fan base as expected. Mr. Folarin, a name he likes to call himself, released the sequel to 2008’s Mixtape About Nothing, titled More About Nothing, during the sizzling days of the summer. The mixtape was an instant hit; shutting down servers to various uploading sites and helping him gain more believers along the way. The mixtape received the most cheesy but accurate award that a few other 2010 mixtapes proudly earned: a trending topic on Twitter. Fans across the website sent praises to the rapper on the project. Since the mixtape’s success, he’s been featured on radio hits such as No Hands and continues to release freestyles via twitter for fans to enjoy. The hard work is just beginning to payoff for Wale. What other rapper can inform us of the awesomeness that is Seinfeld?
Gang, Gang, Gang
After the chill days of winter and before the heat waves of summer, spring was a sneak peek of what was to come in the year 2010. Kush and Orange Juice was released days before the 4/20 Stoner Holiday, becoming one of the most successful mixtapes of the year. Women, money and, of course, weed was the primary focus of Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa’s bars throughout the tape. It’s not a day that goes by when one doesn’t hear or read a tweet pertaining to the lyrics “in the cut, in the cut rolling doobies up” or “I don’t love em. I don’t chase em. I duck em” thanks to Khalifa’s witty wordplay. K&OJ also earned the trending topic honor during its time of release, with an overload of new Taylor Gang followers. Khalifa’s success continued with the release of his first single Black&Yellow and his signing to Warner Brothers Records in late July. His debut album is expected to hit shelves sometime next year. Taylor Gang or die! That’s what Khalifa suggests anyway.
Marketing with an Edge
Greedmont’s own, Aware and Corey Davis, also known as the duo Mach Five, dominated the year with their various projects. Their album, Sex on a Sunday, hit itunes earlier this year. They also released Millennia in March. The guys use this site as a unique marketing strategy to help promote their music to readers who may not know what they have to offer. The plan is continuously working as their fan base grows. Double Dare EP was the highly anticipated 8-track compilation with features from Donnis and R&B singer Nivea that was released in October. The duo will continue to produce the goods that their fans expect and then some. Saturday School is the latest project in store from Aware, which will be available January 24. Make sure to stay up-to-date with the site to get all these goods.
The ending of summer meant school for most and cold weather for the rest. Leave it up to hip-hop extraordinaire, Kanye West, to switch gears in the art of promotion. His fifth album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, had a fall release date and the leading single, Power, was heard on everyone’s radio. Although the hype for the album was great, Kanye took it to another level by releasing a new track every Friday through his website and his twitter account. G.O.O.D. Friday was an upside to the G.O.O.D. Music Day that never happened. Ye grabbed labelmates, hip-hop legends, newcomers and R&B artists to help create these tracks. Fans waited anxiously every Friday night as Ye informed them via tweets of the progress of the weekly tracks. Some of the tracks were featured on MBDTF, making the series more of a sneak peek to what the album had to offer. The series influenced producer Swizz Beatz to create his own weekly series, known as Monster Mondays. Besides the album promotion, G.O.O.D. Friday introduced artists on the G.O.O.D. Music label that listeners were not too familiar with. CyHi Da Prynce was one of the artist whose features on the tracks made him an overnight success. The Atlanta rapper released his Royal Flush mixtape during the hype of the G.O.O.D. Friday craze. 14 tracks were released so far in the series and Ye plans to continue the tradition into 2011.
Boombox on Blast
As annoying as hearing the same song rotation every 2 hours, the radio has helped shape a lot of hip-hop artists who we are not as likely to listen to. Recent Jive signees, Travis Porter, received the trending topic honor this summer with their Proud to Be A Problem mixtape. Their current single, Make It Rain, can be heard on stations throughout the city of Atlanta and is slowly becoming a hit for the club anthem threesome. “Flocka!” can be heard from the most unorthodox mouths as the adlib became popular during the year of 2010. Waka Flocka Flame may not have the highest IQ level, or high school diploma for that matter, but his catchy singles have been a favorite for radio stations. His singles O Lets Do It, Hard in the Paint and No Hands cannot be missed on a Friday night. Soulja Boy continued his reign of radio hits with Speakers Going Hammer, a track that will probably carry over to 2011.
Popular adlibs were said throughout the year and will not be a thing of the past in 2011. Former The Pack member, Lil B, took over word of mouth with his based language. The terms swag, based and woo can now be heard in the vocabulary of hip-hop listeners. When you see something you like, your response is “swag”. Simple as that. The love-hate relationship hip-hop heads have with this artist will continue as he heads into 2011 with his “swag”.
Let’s not forget the gang of believers who thought they were Big Meech and Larry Hover.
Or the Barbie princesses who worshipped the queen, Nicki Minaj’s way to convey multiple personalities through her hit radio singles and features throughout the year.
The Alumni
Khalifa, Cole, Wale and B.o.B were a few of the XXL Freshmen alumni that received success after their honorary feature. Hip-hop heads anticipate the list of up and coming rappers in the game with the release of the magazine’s annual Freshmen List issue during the early months of the year. G.O.O.D. Music member, Big Sean, was featured in this year’s list and has been on the climb since. Besides the constant pushbacks, Finally Famous 3 received positive responses and opened the eyes of listeners who were not aware of the Detroit rapper’s lyrical skills. I’m Better Than You was the point 2009 honoree, Mickey Factz, was set to prove with the release of his latest mixtape. Fellow 2009 Freshmen artist, Asher Roth, released 2 mixtapes this year with the intent to persuade listeners that he is not another Eminem. Seared Foie Gras with Quince and Cranberry and the Nottz assisted, Rawth, showcased the I Love College rapper’s lyrical skills outside of his higher learning memories with the production to match. Atlanta representer, Donnis, also released 2 mixtapes, The Invitation and Fashionably Late, this year and was featured on Greedmont’s Playground Compilation Volume 1 along with fellow Atlanta natives Hollyweerd and Fat Kids Brother, just to name a few. The ‘cream of the crop’ sets may have a lot or a little to offer individually, depending on the blog hype, fan base and album sales.
Let’s not forget about the many and plenty of 2009 Freshman Charles Hamilton mixtapes that were released throughout the year. Moving on..
Soon to be Heard
What will 2011 have to offer listeners? Who will be discussed in December 2011’s Greedmont Park round table? The rapid success of Diggy Simmons, his mixtapes Airborne and Past Presents Future were both released during the fall, will have hip-hop heads craving for more of the youngster’s old soul through his remarkable flow along with his trendy threads. Recent high school graduate, Mac Miller, has stunned the lovers of stoner rap with his take of genius production to match his catchy wordplay. His mixtape K.I.D.S. was released this summer and blogs have been buzzing about the rapper ever since. Miller is part of a group called The Smoker’s Club, including Khalifa and his sidekick, Curren$y and two other newcomers whose names and talent are guaranteed to raise eyebrows in 2011. Big K.R.I.T’s debut [free] album, Krit Wuz Here, sparked fireworks in the ear and soul of most hip-hop worshippers. The reality that the Mississippi rapper painted through his rhymes was not enough to complete this mixtape. K.R.I.T, also known as Krizzle, also produced the project himself. Dom Kennedy’s From the Westside with Love helped carry his hype onto the New Year. George Kush Da Button is an underrated mixtape by Smoke DZA that will, hopefully, lead to better things within the next few months. 2010 XXL Freshman, Freddie Gibbs, has more of his Midwest meets West Coast persona to offer fans after Str8 No Killa.
Diggy, Dom, K.R.I.T and Miller are all possible 2011 XXL Freshmen contenders. West Coast cruiser, Kendrick Lamar, gained a Dr. Dre cosign after his Overly Dedicated mixtape. On that note, let’s note put Nipsey Hussle on the back of our minds with the recent release of The Marathon. Fellow West Coaster, Shawn Chrystopher, is climbing his way to the top with the help of his website and the release of his mixtape, The Audition and his album You and Only You. In the spirit of social networking, Texas holder, Hollywood FLOSS, teamed up with Greedmont to help release his blog-worthy Xperiment 2 mixtape. Alabama star, Yelawolf, put down his skateboard and grabbed a mic for his remarkable Trunk Muzik effort. 9th Wonder’s group, Actual Proof, released their Genius EP, filled with classic production with help from the legendary producer. The DMV area continues to shine with artists such as Marky, who released his Rest Stop series this year. While youngster Casey Veggies taught us how to sleep in class this year with his Sleeping in Class mixtape. Overall, every region of the country is represented popularly with these talented artists. Greedmont, and other blogs, will continue to show support for these up and coming musicians. There’s so much more to come in 2011.
The Beginning of a New Era
Radio singles, weekly series and mixtape hype through blogs were all part of the formula to hip-hop’s plan to redominate the music industry. As 2011 enters the walls of our calendars, the new age of marketing will determine the fan base and record sales that artists will gain. It’s a process, but 2010 was an excellent start. Until next year, continue to listen to hip-hop and we’ll save a seat for you at Greedmont’s round table!!