Pure Hip-Hop Blogspot: PHH's End Of The Year Wrap Up 2010

Well, there went 2010....yet another year in the books over here at PHH. Looking back I feel immensely proud about how long I've been able to maintain this blog and in some cases develop it further from where it started. I don't enjoy too many more things than being BIG D O and getting on here and trying to help keep real Hip-Hop music and culture at the forefront. To all my regulars like Jaz, The Kool Skool and the rest of you that check PHH on the regular, I'm grateful that you take the time...there are so many Hip-Hop blogs out there w/ so many dope writers, the fact that yall come thru over here is dully appreciated and noted.

Okay, enough of that, lets get down to the picks...As usual, these picks reflect REAL Hip-Hop aesthetics...so don't be surprised if my selections vary drastically from ya favorite mainstream Hip-Hop blog or website...those guys make political picks, I just give yall genuine rankings and opinion...

-BIG D O

The 20 Best Hip-Hop Albums Of 2010:

20. Black Sheep - From The Black Pool Of Genius

19. The Roots - How I Got Over

18. John Robinson & Lewis Parker - International Summers

17. Canibus - C Of Tranquility

16. Vinnie Paz - Season Of The Assassin

15. Blacastan - Blac Sabbath

14. Blame One - Endurance

13. Boog Brown & Apollo Brown - Brown Study

12. Eternia & MoSS - At Last

11. Q-Unique - Between Heaven And Hell

10. 7L & Esoteric - 1212

9. Homeboy Sandman - The Good Sun

8. Roc Marciano - Marcburg

7. Kno - Death Is Silent

6. Apollo Brown - The Reset

5. PackFM - I F*ckin Hate Rappers

4. DJ Muggs & Ill Bill - Kill Devil Hills

3. Celph Titled & Buckwild - Nineteen Ninety Now

2. The Left - Gas Mask

1. yU - Before Taxes

Top 5 Producers Of 2010:

5. 9th Wonder - "Fornever", "9th's Opus: It's A Wonderful World Music Group Vol.1", "Death Of A Popstar"

4. Marco Polo - "The eXXecution", "The Stupendous Adventures Of Marco Polo"

3. Damu The Fudgemunk - "How It Should Sound vol. 1 & 2", "Supply For Demand"

2. Madlib - "In Search Of Stoney Jackson", "OJ Simpson", "Madlib Medicine Show Vol. 1-11"

1. Apollo Brown - "Gasmask", "Brown Study", "The Reset"

Top Ten Most Disappointing LP's Of 10':

10. Slum Village - Villa Manifesto (Damn shame that inner group turmoil manifested in a subpar album effort..not even some prized Dilla donuts could save this album)

9. AG - Everything's Berri (Another album that only could muster a few worthwhile tracks an awesome let down w/ a cover so ill and Andre's rep.)

8. Reflection Eternal - Revolutions Per Minute (We waited a decade for a follow up and got an album that sounded like it had been recorded in a couple weeks)

7. Nas & Damian Marley - Distant Relatives (A lot of artsy types dug it, but to me it sounded forced and too clean)

6. Little Brother - Left Back (Too much R&B, No 9th Wonder and too short in length..another really tragic thing this wasn't all that great considering it's their supposed last album)

5. Cypress Hill - Rise Up (Without Muggs something was missing...something like congruent production and a signature sound)

4. Sadat X - Wild Cowboys II (Had some bangers, but wasn't worthy of bein' a sequel to the original)

3. Black Milk - Album Of The Year (With a title like this it was doomed from the jump...Also, Milk needs to chill w/ the live instrumentation and start messing w/ a bunch of records again.)

2. Eminem - Recovery (Hip-Hop's clown prince continues to slide downward musically. Glad he got off the sleeping pills, but this record was ass, sorry.)

1. Method Man, Ghostface & Raekwon - Wu Massacre (Perhaps the worst Wu-Tang release in 4 or 5 years, and with U-God out there puttin albums out that says a lot.)

Top 10 Best Compilations of 10':

10. Duck Down Records Presents 15 Years Of Duck Down Music

9. ThinkLoud - Droppin' Mirrors

8. Statik Selektah - 100 Proof The Hangover

7. M-Dot & DJ Jean Maron - Run MPC

6. Kyo Itachi - Musikyo

5. Mello Music Group - Helpless Dreamer

4. Snowgoons - Kraftwork

3. Doc Ish - The First Treatment

2. DJ Premier Presents Year Round Records - Get Used To Us

1. JR & PH7 - The Update

The Top 10 Mixtapes Of 10':

10. DJ Drama & Dead Prez - Revolutionary But Gangsta Grillz

9. Confidence - Recon

8. Co$$ & Numonics - Revelations

7. The Closers - Bullpen Sessions

6. Falside - Dollars Make Change The Mixtape

5. Smiley The Ghetto Child - Rap CPR

4. Magestik Legend - To Be Continued...Chapter 2

3. Reks - In Between The Lines Vol.2

2. The Returners - Nu Blend Order

1. Slaine - The Devil Never Dies

Top 10 Indie Releases of 10':

1o. Necro - Die! (Label: Psycho+Logical Records)

9. Zion I - Atomic Clock (Label: Gold Dust Media)

8. Kero One - Kinetic World (Label: Plug Label)

7. EQ - Out The Ashtray Of L.A. (Label: N/A)

6. Copywrite - The Life And Times Of Peter Nelson (Label: Man Bites Dog Records)

5. ESQ & Chikaramanga - The Succession (Label: Tres Records)

4. Dumhi - The Jungle (Label: Dumhi Productions)

3. Crown Royale [Buff1 & DJ Rhettmatic] - Crown Royale (Label: A-Side Worldwide)

2. Amad Jamal - Barely Hangin' On: The Chronicles Of A Brotha Like Rodney King (ABB Records)

1. Spectac - Looks Like Another Job For Spectac (Label: Domination Recordings)

Top 3 Verses Of 2010:

3.

"I make connections with the dots that shouldn't be connected
I make it simple, quite plain, so the folks can check it
New York rappers are complainin' 'cause they disrespected
While the rappers in Detroit don't get no recognition
Even the rappers in Oakland don't share the vision
Of the music of the famous and the wealthy-livin'
That's kinda strange like the story of the pied piper
Play a tune for the youth, lead 'em to hell's fire
There ain't no balance in the game and the need is dire
Refugees in need of food, their kids dyin'
There's a thin line in between a market scheme
And raw talent overshadowed by the glitz and gleam
This the way of the black face and the Sambo
So I'm rap forces of freedom, just call me Rambo
This shit is toxic, killin' the real to set the lies
It's The Left with the gas mask, we must survive"

-Journalist 103 off "Gas Mask" from The Left's album Gas Mask LP

"your physician got you worse than crackheads
man with the plan get you needin them damn meds
the corporations controllin the airwaves
they own ya brain, you ain't nuthin but their slaves
the feds readin ya twitters and ya facebooks
they be tappin ya cells trackin ya smells put you back in ya cells
on TV every politician flip flop and it don't stop
how much porn sites bitches lick cock
planned parenthood their bases
the sterilization of so-called genetically inferior races
Nazi's using eugenics to kill black babies
who better me and Heaven Razah take it back to the 80's
the boom bip bap in the bop in the rap
stolen cop car, hop in the back, poppin the cap, they ain't lockin the cat
rockin the track, cockin it back,
Hip-Hop I'm the doc to operate and never droppin' it wack
the White House diggin' through ya emails
entertainment industry run by homosexual she males
the climate change is irrelevant
the global warming fear mongers trying to bring in the world government
Ahhh!
Government poison us all with chemicals
human beings being born with horns and tentacles
the program keepin you in the damn hood
mentally raping you and taking ya manhood
Lon Chaney the phantom,
abandon ya plan and
examine the famine,
helping you to prepare'n and I'm sharin awareness
I'm caring, I'm blam blamming the cannon
like Yosemite Sam'n
the Sunz Of Man and the Wu-Tang Clan and the Rugged Man
and as a kid I wasn't interested in Transformers
wanted to be like Rambo and shoot rocket launchers
public relations, creations, rappers they're the free Masons
kissing dick for initiations
these are iffy situations"

-R.A. The Rugged Man off "Return Of The Renaissance", from Hell Razah's Heaven Razah LP

"We gotta hold someone accountable for this absurd amount of bull
They tell me words are powerful but this is insurmountable
So call me a hater, say im mad, it wont phase me
Cause the first step to changing things is getting people angry
So when I'm on this fuckin mic, speakin' through the wire
I'ma get an 'Amen' because I'm preaching to the choir
But I know my voice is reaching, when the heathens call me Sire
And they leave behind the legions of the demons in the fire
The fans don't demand it stops, the standards drop
The second they accept it, shit, its gettin' hectic
Supporters turn skeptic when the talent is neglected
They don't know what to expect from the nigga's they respected
The mark of the artist is who pushes the hardest
Not who strays the farthest, but stays true regardless
I step outside the box, you'll never question where my heart is
Like certain heads who try to set themselves apart for starters
If you played Common now, for Common Sense in '92
The 'Bitch In Yoo' woulda been the 'Bitch In Yoo Part Two'
But when the main aim is fame, you can't kick the same shit
When no one's listening, you gotta make some changes
Pride gets you nowhere, niggas become shameless
Used to go against the grain, now you ride the wavelength
At the end of the day, stand by your statements
"If I don't like it, I don't like it that don't mean I'm hating"
You gotta be more than ill to make green like Chlorophyll
You can take all the skill, invent some sort of pill
Throw it in a bottle, slap a sticker on it
And its STILL irrelevant, thats why you need a model to sell the shit
I'm beating a dead horse! So, I'ma scream til I'm hoarse
From tellin these dead beats get lost
Just abandon ship, lets ban this bitch
A sellout can't exist if he can't get rich
I just can't stand this shit! Hit the panic switch!
And put an end to this chapter, from here on after
Then no one will have to deal with the wrath of
These half-assed fucking bandwagon riding rappers"

-PackFM off "I F*cking Hate Rappers", from the I F*cking Hate Rappers LP

New Names to Watch in 2011:

Magestik Legend