Jay-Z
It's hard being at the top of your game, especially when other folks in your category aren't up to the task. Fuc sympathy, the spotlight is focused on the stage and your expected to perform, making up for the lack of diversity in your trade by being everything to everyone.. teach the children.. flip your lyrics this way.. stop talking about money, hoes and clothes .. The only thing Jay-Z has ever claimed is being a hustler who happens to know a lil something about rappin. Despite the pressure and hating Jay-Z held another summer down with "Give it To Me," lit R Kelly's "Fiesta", tried to give Michael J some street cred, went back in the studio to bang out The Blueprint, bumped mics with Nas, and gave the purists something to stew with when he partnered with The Roots to record yet another album.. completely live. Ain't nobody fucking with that.

Jay-Z "The Blueprint"
This year was notable not only for the terrorist attacks in NYC, but for the ridiculous amounts of cameos on supposedly, solo albums. At one point, it felt like you would never stop hearing the damn collabos. Jay-Z is guilty for his share of them but when he laid down The Blueprint  the two way was deactivated. Doing what most others this year haven't, he made a true solo album, only one song included a guest rapper.. and it wasn't used as a lead single.. go figure. The album is also light on the champagne and money references, taking things to a more soulful level.. musically and lyrically.. "Song Cry".. "Heart of the City".. "Never Change".. it's like one long blues session. More depth in the lyrics, it's what people have been asking for.. but you still got the candy with "Girls" and "The Takeover." Why not Stillmatic? .. Yall voted.. No love in the city.

Nas
Nasir is a victim of his own genius. When he delivered Illmatic  to the world he garnered critical acclaim for his cinematic poetics. They sucked you in so close that you could smell the pissy corners in the hallways of the Queensbridge Projects. The visions he put on tape were a snapshot of a point in his life and just that, a snapshot. So when it came time to record the next album he flipped the page to the next chapter in the book, but some of his fans were still reading the first chapter and were upset when he started reading ahead and changing the storylines as he went along. Despite his lack of sustained commercial success, one thing you could never say is that Nas is wack.. His only fault is that he's thinking two steps ahead. When he settles down to focus on a subject you get the best pieces of Stillmatic  and heat like "Ether."

Ja Rule "Put It On Me"
Is Ja Rule a rapper? Sometimes I forget and this is the song that began the spiral of his now trademark singing/rapping collaborations. "Put it On Me" launched Ja Rule into super stardom and put a chick named Lil Mo on the scene. With Ja Rule on his knees singing his heart out, talking about never leaving his woman because she was always there for him through good times and bad, and she in turn letting him know that she would always be with him.. it was just what the ladies wanted to hear. For a change someone was talking about loving a chick instead of smacking the shit out of her or hearing how their back would be broke at the end of night.. The guys appreciated it too. Real men don't spit that bitch shit.. only when it's relevant. But I think we've gotten the point.. the many collabos?.. Again I ask the question is Ja Rule a rapper?

Ludacris "Southern Hospitality"
What the fuck is a bow? "Drop bows on em, Drop bows on em.. Throw dem bows.." Muthafuckas was swingin their elbows back and forth not knowing what the fuck a bow was. Okay, I'm talking about myself. As I type this I'm just realizing that he was talking about elbows. That didn't stop me from twisting them in the spot. When the DJ flipped this song on it was pandemonium. Get out the muthafuckin way cause I'm comin through.."Drop bows on em, Drop bows on em.. Throw dem bows.."

The video was notable for the scene right there. The upside down shot. Ludacris was born to be in front of the camera he has a "star" look to him and this scene probably wouldn't have worked for someone else.. it's the fro and the cartoon grill.

Jadakiss "Kiss the Game Goodbye"
I'm not gonna front and act like I was hyped about this kid's lyrics. From the genesis of The Lox the chatter in the streets was that Jadakiss was the nicest out of them and when their first album on Ruffryders did.. okay.. they demanded that he go solo. I didn't think he was ready for that, but Kiss The Game Goodbye  is a validation of the people's claims.. dude can spit.

Sure he talks about guns and drugs.. a lot ..but looking at music as a form of entertainment, I'd place his style into the action/thriller bin. The John Woo flicks, slow motion drive bys.. it's hardcore, undiluted syrup spooned out heavy and sweet. Why did it flop? That'd take whole nother paragraph..

Ludacris
What would this year be without Ludacris? Why it would be all about Fabolous and that's down right frightful. Luckily Christopher Bridges was doin the damn thang, showing that the South wasn't all about Cash Money, No Limit, or even Outkast.

He made room for his own unique style, one that's hard to label.. Hmm, maybe it's somewhere in between two round, brown, butt cheeks.. he does have a love for strip clubs.. his physical features which scream out..make a cartoon out of me.. or his lions roar of a voice.. there's no mistaken if Ludacris is on a track. He made Russell Simmons Def Jam South move look brilliant. Let's hope that he doesn't burn himself out though.. in the long run too many cameos isn't good for the soul or the pockets.

Roc-A-Fella
I was a little hesitant about even having this category. Just for the simple fact that their aren't that many tight families out there. Put up your right hand and count em off.. Murder Inc - Disturbing Tha Peace - Dungeon Family - Ruff Ryders and Roc-A-Fella. Those are the majors. This is tough to figure out, so let's do a lil elimination process: Dungeon Family - lives off of Outkast, Ruff Ryders - lost DMX's luv and are searching for a hit maker, Murder INC - have Ja Rule, but the bench is filled with rookies, that leaves Roc-A-Fella. This trio doesn't like to lose and have more than dreams of growing the company, they're doing it. With a successful clothing line, movies in production, the slow development of artists and the recent addition if Camron to the label, they look to be a solid pick for now and the near future.

Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys had to get this award, she was the first artist that we covered in the quickie section and I've watched her grow from Alicia who? to the star of every awards show across the country. Her success is based purely on her individuality. She's thick in that way that us men love, but she didn't use her body to sell records. Her pitch was based strictly on her voice, whenever she steps on a stage she converts a whole new batch of people into believers. She can hold a note, but she doesn't hold a note like an Apollo amateur, but yet the notes drip with passion.. you can tell that she loves what she does. There is something intimate about her work. She's surely not the only artist who put their heart into the music this year, but she was best able to display it and the year truly would have been different without her contributions.

Alicia Keys "Songs in A Minor"
Five million and counting. That's where Songs in A Minor  is after 9 months on the charts. When J Records ceo Clive Davis signed her to his new imprint, he knew that she was talented but had know idea that she would give the label such an incredible boost. When it came down to production tasks she didn't dial up Timbaland or the Neptunes. It was a lot of bangin on the piano and drawing upon her influences. "Fallin" launched the album but it was the video that pushed it over the top. Here was this song about falling in love and in the video you find that she's talking about her man who is locked up. There she is, on the bus, making the trip upstate (or down) and talking to the guy through the glass window of a waiting room. It gave her a lot of credibility on the street.. once people found out she could actually sing.. it was over. "5 million and two "

Aaliyah "Rock the Boat"
Aaliyah Haughton's death was on a much smaller scale than the WTC disaster, but to the hip hop community it was just as shocking. The media spoke about how internet forums came alive with people expressing their grief and anger over the attacks.. them using the web to do so was suprising to the unenlightened. But when Aaliyah's plane went down the web was just as active with up to the minute reports with the news of the plane crash. With the obvious tragedy of the event, how appropriate is it that "Rock the Boat" was tagged as the next single? The soothing, breezy quality of the music combined with the imagery of blue water and sunny skies.. immortalized Aaliyah in a peaceful setting, giving credence to the "angel" references. Heaven. Peace. it's a place we all hope she's resting in.

R Kelly "Fiesta" remix
I was tempted to hold off on this award. R Kelly needs to clean up his mess before he can claim a prize, which he must be busy doing because he hasn't been seen since the Olympics. Anyway, grudgingly, this award is given to R Kelly for what was definitely the hottest R&B club joint this year.
The beat had pina coladas, sunshine and summer bunnies dripping all over it, a floor filler for sure. Great artists have a keen sense of timing, hitting with just the right song when their careers are somewhat dulled.. R Kelly was doing ahite, then with not much warning this remix appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and the result was a smash that proved to be the seedling for The Best of Both Worlds.  Can you imagine what could have been if those infamous tapes had never existed?

India.Arie "Acoustic Soul"
I was suprised to hear that India.Arie got seven Grammy nominations. But it was no surprise when she didn't walk away with the Grammy in even one of the categories. With Alicia Keys snatching up plaques all over the place, Grammy officials were trying to get attention for the show by implying that everyone else had got it wrong.. Alicia Keys was talented, but India.Arie was really  talented. Then they pulled the ol switchero, tossing all of the plaques in Alicia's arms.. just like everybody else did. India.Arie's album was promoted very poorly. After "Video" they didn't know what to do with her.. but with the attention from the Grammy's, Motown is giving it another push with the sensuous and warm video "Ready For Love." Just a smidgen of what the entire album contains, too bad it took them so long to recognize what they have.

Missy Elliot "Get ur Freak On"
"Bad Boy For Life" was my pick as video of the year - the Ben Stiller scene put it over the top. But the only person who really loves P.Diddy these days is P.Diddy. So when the votes came in, he was well short of winning this award.
Missy has suited up in every kind of costume you can think of, at the Halloween Ball she cant fool nobody. She can come dressed as the back end of a cow and people would be tapping her on the ass saying "Come out here Missy, we know you in there." "Dang! How yall know it was me?".. "Get ur Freak On" was tight but if I see her in another jumpsuit type outfit I'ma slap her with a citation for blatantly trying to hide the fat. We know your a lil overweight.. bouncing around, talking bout "get ur freak on, get ur freak on," make that shit sexy and we just might be freaking off.

Jay-Z
The epitome of the Gift and the Curse.. how could Jay-Z be voted for best artist and also get a ticket for being out of bounds? The comeback home notice serves as a sign that an artist is losing his base audience and slipping into the sugary pop tart world.

Typically this is caused by pandering to those who showed the artist no love at the start of his career, and shunning those that bought and promoted the music when the artist was still on white labels. Last year Lil Kim justifiably received it.. she's long gone and lost as fuck. But Jay-Z?.. I don't know, but the people have served notice. I guess you'll answer the charges on The Gift and the Curse  in November. (remember what I said about timing?)

Alicia Keys "Songs in A Minor
For all of the attention Alicia gained from her album some people thought that it wasn't all that. "Sure she can sing," they said, "but there are only a few good songs on it."

The Gift: A young chick steps out and gets on by going against the grain.
The Curse: Once the bar is raised you have to perform at that level at all times and the quality must spread across the body of your work.
Hey Alicia, I can't stop the flow. It could be worse, the dissatisfied folks could send the CD back looking for a refund. Instead you get this.. a *smack*.. the Whudat Award Winner for "The Most Over Hyped Album of the Year." Put it on your piano and prove them wrong on your next go around.

Jimi Hendrix "Voodoo Child: Slight Return"
What do you know about some Jimi? The original guitar funk rock lord. Jimi Hendrix was one of the most innovative artists to bless the planet. This is the type of stuff I play on Saturday morning, when I'm in the mood for some other shit. Throw on "Voodoo Child: Slight Return" or "Across the Watchtower" or "Purple Haze".. it's crazy. just crazy. And play it in the car, with the subs in full control, you'll shock people as you ride down the streets of NYC blaring a wailing guitar out of a tinted up truck. A guilty pleasure for sure. Like a lot of geniuses his life was cut way too short; there are only about five albums of original work. The rest of the endless parade of albums are pickings from live performances and unreleased studio tracks. If you want a starter set, pick up Voodoo Child: Slight Return  it's a boxed CD set with 30 tracks of some of his best joints.

Jimi Hendrix isn't an embarrassing choice, but some of your guilty pleasure picks.. with Amil, O Town, Backstreet Boys, 3LW, Lil Bow Wow, Mariah Carey's Glitter  soundtrack, and Lil Wayne .. yall need some help. :P

Then there are those that you MIGHT be able to understand.. Destiny Child's Christmas Album, JD Instructions, MTV Hiphopera "Carmen", QB's Finest, Alien Ant Farm .. well maybe not.

But these aren't bad at all.. Radiohead, Staind, System of the Down, Celine Dion, Prince, Lenny Kravitz, RES, Linkin Park

It all goes to show you that hip hop fans don't necessarily keep their stereos tuned in exclusively to the so-called popular rap song of the day, when you walk out of the room they're sliding in a Willie Nelson disc. :)

See you next year.