December 14th, 2005
NATHAN RABIN
1) Edan, Beauty And The Beat (Lewis)
Given the stagnant nature of hip-hop this past year, it seems fitting that the year's best album comes from an artist hopelessly stuck in the past. After resurrecting rap's Golden Age on his cultishly adored debut Primitive Plus, Edan brilliantly synthesizes psychedelic rock and back-in-the-day hip-hop to create a mind-bending half-hour musical time warp, a magical mystery tour through Edan's fevered imagination.
2) Common, Be (Geffen)
Kanye West's The College Dropout was the consensus rap album of the year in 2004, but its wildly uneven follow-up, Late Registration, wasn't even 2005's best West-produced album. That honor instead belongs to Common's Be, a tight, cohesive, and often transcendent return to hip-hop fundamentals after the spacey, self-indulgent weirdness of Electric Circus.
3) Little Brother, The Minstrel Show (Atlantic)
Even without its somewhat shaky, half-realized concept about the minstrelization of hip-hop and black pop culture, Little Brother's The Minstrel Show proved it was possible to jump from an indie to a major without losing his soul in the process. Thanks to brilliant albums, fantastic mix-CDs, terrific solo projects, and a revelatory, life-affirming live show, Little Brother's name has become synonymous with high quality hip-hop.
4) Big Pooh, Sleepers (6 Hole)
Little Brother mainstay Big Pooh couldn't have given his solo debut a more accurate title. It's the kind of album that initially seems solid but unexceptional, but reveals fresh new layers of depth and richness with each listen, in the process disproving any lingering notions that Big Pooh is Little Brother's weak link.
5) Quasimoto, The Further Adventures Of Lord Quas (Stones Throw)
This was the year of disappointing hip-hop follow-ups. Kanye West, Blackalicious, MF Doom, and Quasimoto all released sometimes-amazing albums that proved ultimately disappointing in respect to the expectations they created. Still, some were the apex of an unusually weak year. Though it doesn't measure up to The Unseen, Quasimoto's debut, The Further Adventures Of Lord Quas, takes Madlib's gonzo basement experimentation even further into the stratosphere, greatly expanding on its predecessor's sonic palette, but losing much of its warmth and cohesion in the process.
6) Danger Doom, The Mouse And The Mask (Adult Swim)
7) Kanye West, Late Registration (Roc-A-Fella)
8) Zion I, True & Livin' (Amp Truth)
9) The Perceptionists, The Perceptionists (Definitive Jux)
10) Boom Bap Project, Reprogram (Rhymesayers)
Beef Of The Year: 50 Cent Vs. The Game
Vitriolic attacks from 50 Cent killed off the careers of Ja Rule and Benzino, and brought the once-mighty Source to its knees. But in 2005, he fired off lyrical shots at rappers people genuinely liked and respected, veterans like Fat Joe, Nas, and Jadakiss. His biggest beef was with former ally and short-time G-Unit compatriot The Game, who not only survived 50's much-publicized disses, but emerged from their beef stronger than ever. After 50's attacks, The Game quickly morphed from loyal solider to cocky renegade, returning 50's lyrical shots on tracks like the epic 15-minute freestyle dis "300 Bars And Runnin'." Not only did 50 fail to destroy The Game's career, but the press and controversy their feud inspired helped insure that the Compton rapper's next album—which may be produced by Dr. Dre, depending on whether you ask 50 or The Game—is likely to be nearly as anticipated as 50's own.
Best 12-Volume Compilation That Finally Recognizes The Historical Importance of AMG's "Bitch Better Have My Money": Tommy Boy Presents: Hip Hop Essentials 1979-1991
Tommy Boy's Hip Hop Essentials series spans subgenres, labels, and eras as it explores hip-hop's weird, halting progression from old-school to golden age, eschewing simple chronology for a more wide-ranging and eclectic overview of the songs and acts that helped define a great American art form. Finally, there's a box set that realizes hip-hop's evolution was furthered by half-forgotten also-rans like Mellow Man Ace and Egyptian Lover and icons like Run DMC and Public Enemy.
Best Worst Rap, Celebrity Spouse Division: Kevin Federline's "Y'All Ain't Ready"
Who could have guessed that Britney Spears would represent the talented, brainy half of any marriage? Yet the Internet leak of material from the rap debut of Spears' spouse/walking punchline Kevin Federline only confirmed that he lacks even his wife's negligible talent. With a flow that can only be described as sub-Vanilla Ice, Federline waxes moronic on the leaked track, "Y'All Ain't Ready," arguing passionately, if idiotically, that "y'all wishin' you was in my position / 'cause I keep gettin' into situations / that you wish you was in, cousin." No wonder K-Fed feels so strongly that heads just aren't ready for the style he "creates straight 2008." Word, cousin.
Questionable Commercial Strategy Of The Year: Public Enemy's Upcoming Onslaught of Releases
In a desperate attempt to rekindle interest in Public Enemy, Chuck D has vowed to release 18 different projects over the next few years, from comic books to DVDs to re-releases to three CDs of new material. The idea seems to be to release such a huge avalanche of material that hip-hop will be forced to pay attention, but his plan seems likely to backfire by foolishly oversaturating the market with more product than even the most zealous Public Enemy fan could possibly keep up with.
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