2006 is half-way in the books, and there's been quite a few solid rap records (I bought fifteen of them), a few with only one or two solid songs (Brotha Lynch/MC Eiht's record and Roscoe's record come to mind), and then Kurupt's record, one of the worst hip hop records I've had to sit through in a long damn time.
So far, my favorite rap record from 2006 (and this is coming from a die-hard, Cali-bred, West Coast rap fan), is...
Ghostface Killah-Fishscale
Nobody would even need to mention Ghost is from the Wu, this record stands by itself in a way not many Wu solo records do, IMO. Ghost hardly relies on the rest of the group except on a track or two, and the beats are definitely a welcome change from yet another Sha Money XL or Lil' Jon track. MF Doom & J Dilla shine brightest w/ six of the better tracks on the record (especially "Underwater", "Beauty Jackson", and my favorite track, "Jellyfish"), but there really isn't a bad track in the bunch, except maybe the "bonus" track w/ Biggie & Diddy. Ghost sounds inspired, in a way I might have expected Busta to sound on his new record, but Ghost on "Crack Spot" and especially "Shakey Dog" alone more than make up for "Tush" and half of The Pretty Toney Album.
I am tired-as-fuck, so for now, here's a list of my top ten of the year, so far:
1. Ghostface Killah-Fishscale
2. DJ Quik-Live at The House of Blues
3. Murs-Murray's Revenge
4. Suga Free-Just Add Water
5. Ice Cube-Laugh Now, Cry Later
6. TI-King
7. Dogg Pound-Cali Iz Active
8. E-40-My Ghetto Report Card
9. Busta Rhymes-The Big Bang
10. Bizzy Bone-The Story
Honorable Mentions: Dilated Peoples-20/20, The Coup-Pick a Bigger Weapon, Aceyalone-Magnificent City
How about the rest of you? Rap record of the year? Please keep the Mobb Deep votes to a minimum, please, I don't want to throw up too much
So far, my favorite rap record from 2006 (and this is coming from a die-hard, Cali-bred, West Coast rap fan), is...
Ghostface Killah-Fishscale
Nobody would even need to mention Ghost is from the Wu, this record stands by itself in a way not many Wu solo records do, IMO. Ghost hardly relies on the rest of the group except on a track or two, and the beats are definitely a welcome change from yet another Sha Money XL or Lil' Jon track. MF Doom & J Dilla shine brightest w/ six of the better tracks on the record (especially "Underwater", "Beauty Jackson", and my favorite track, "Jellyfish"), but there really isn't a bad track in the bunch, except maybe the "bonus" track w/ Biggie & Diddy. Ghost sounds inspired, in a way I might have expected Busta to sound on his new record, but Ghost on "Crack Spot" and especially "Shakey Dog" alone more than make up for "Tush" and half of The Pretty Toney Album.
I am tired-as-fuck, so for now, here's a list of my top ten of the year, so far:
1. Ghostface Killah-Fishscale
2. DJ Quik-Live at The House of Blues
3. Murs-Murray's Revenge
4. Suga Free-Just Add Water
5. Ice Cube-Laugh Now, Cry Later
6. TI-King
7. Dogg Pound-Cali Iz Active
8. E-40-My Ghetto Report Card
9. Busta Rhymes-The Big Bang
10. Bizzy Bone-The Story
Honorable Mentions: Dilated Peoples-20/20, The Coup-Pick a Bigger Weapon, Aceyalone-Magnificent City
How about the rest of you? Rap record of the year? Please keep the Mobb Deep votes to a minimum, please, I don't want to throw up too much
