Ryan’s 2012 Year End List

Im the newest blogger to the DEHH Hip Hop Team, and this is my year end list. I know its a lot but this is all the music that made 2012 a great year for me. Lets hope 2013 is even better!

Hit The Jump

Top 10 Songs

1. Kendrick Lamar – “Bitch Dont Kill My Vibe”

incredible songs by K Dot. . I found myself listening to this song over and over again. Just one of those records that hits you. My personal favorite from GKMC also.

2. Pusha T – “Exodus 23:1”
-Another record this year that I Love. I love that Pusha Ton came out of no where and went at 2 of the biggest in the game (Wayne & Drake) and gave no fucks about it. Raw raps right here, and I love it.

3. Ab-Soul Featuring Kendrick Lamar – “ILLuminate”
Ab Soul is one of the most underrated rappers in the game. With an incredible album to come out this year, Soul was on fire. This record right here was Soul rapping to the world about how hard he goes even without chains and jewelry., and he showed it on this one. Also love the production. Kendrick also kills it.

4. .Joey Bada$$ Feat Capital Steez – “Survival Tactics”
-This is the record that made me a Joey Bad fan. For a 17 year old kid, this is an incredible record for his first single. He absolutely destroys this record. And so does STEEZ. “King Arthur when he swung his sword
A king author I ain’t even use a pen in like a month or four” Done.

5.Jhene Aiko – “2 Seconds”
Another amazing R&B record. A free track she just gave out off her upcoming debut “Souled Out”. She has a voice that when she sings certain lyrics, it just works. And i love this record more than most of R&B stuff this year.

6. Rick Ross Featuring Andre 3000 – “Sixteen”
-Another one of the best records to drop this year. 3 Stacks murders it with a great 2 minute verse about being 16 years old. Can always enjoy a good 3 Stacks verse.

7.Tyler The Creator & Domo Genesis – “Sam Is Dead”
This is the Odd Future I love. Real gritty, talking about killing people. Domo and Tyler both murder it, and a great video goes along with it.

8.Ab Soul – “Bohemian Grove”
-Great raps, great production.

9.Ab-Soul – “Lust Demons” feat. Jay Rock & BJ The Chicago Kid
-Another Great Soul Record

10. Schoolboy Q – “My Homie”
What can I say? Q knows how to make a catchy record.

-Mention: Kendrick Lamar – “Sing About Me”  – I love this song, and really in my opinion it brought the whole GKMC album together, but I didn’t want to overcrowd my list with Kendrick records like everyone else. People know how much I love GKMC, so i wanted to show people other records. Same thing with “The Art Of Peer Pressure”

Best Singles (Best Singles = songs that get a lot of radio play and we’re huge this year)

1. Kendrick Lamar – “The Recipe”
-I dont know why, but this song hits me a certain way. I haven’t been able to stop listening since GKMC Dropped. And The Recipe is one of the best songs i’ve heard all year.

2.Kanye West, Big Sean, Pusha T, 2 Chainz – “Mercy”
Crazy record. Everybody went hard on this one, and perfect placement for 2 Chainz at the end of this one, this is really the breakout moment for 2 Chainz this year. I love this song, and it shows even more how much of a genius Kanye is.

3..Frank Ocean – “Pyramids”
This is one of the best R&B records i’ve heard all year. On This record he compares a modern day strip club to a Pyramid. Great story telling, great beat, great change up half way through. You barely realize its 10 minutes.

4. – Pusha T & Kanye West – “New God Flow”
Another reason why Kanye is a genius. This beat is incredible, and Pusha just sounded mad on this one. Pusha always knows how to make an incredible rap record, and they did it again. The remix with Ghostface is dope too.

5.Ab- Soul Featuring Danny Brown & Jhene Aiko – “Terrorist Threats”
-Ab Soul made a dope record here, talking about how the police are the real terrorists in america, which is questionable, but still a good topic, and a dope record. Danny Brown & Jhene Aiko add a great aspect to this one as well. Dope.

6. 2 Chainz Featuring Drake – “No Lie”
-Drake gave 2 Chainz a dope record here. Lets be real, Drizzy wrote the hook, and the idea for this one all by himself, and gave it to Dos. Not taking anything away from 2 Chainz, but Drake made this record a Number 1. And a dope banger this year as well.

7.Big Sean, Kanye West & Jay Z – “Clique”
-This is the biggest record ever for Big Sean, and he delivered a dope verse to hang with Hov and Ye. I love this beat, and I also love this Kanye gave no fucks in his verse, he said anything he wanted to and killed it.

8. 2 Chainz feat. Kanye West – “Birthday Song”
-This record is really funny to me. “She Got a big booty so i call her big booty” Come on… But this beat bangs, and Ye drops a dope verse along with 2 Chainz’s very catchy hook. And you find this song stuck in your head a lot.

9. Rick Ross feat. Drake & French Montana – “Stay Schemin'”
-Ross put together a dope song here. But lets be real, the reason people bump this song is for the Drake verse. And Drake had one of the best verses of 2012 on this one. We all know he was taking shots at Common. And with one of the best phrases of the year with “Bitch You wasnt with me shootin in the Gym!!” Dope.

10.Wiz Khalifa feat. The Weeknd – “Remember You”
-This is another record (similar to Crew Love) that we know The Weeknd & Illangelo were completely behind. The Weeknd & Illangelo put together a really dope song with a dope concept and handed it over to Wiz. Even though Wiz was just ok on this one, The Weeknd made me love it.

Top Albums of 2012.

1. Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d. city – This is without a doubt the best album of the year, and one of the best albums of the past 10 years. Kendrick made an instant classic with this one. I couldn’t stop playing this album forever, and still bump it regularly (actually listening to m.A.A.d City as I write this). Kendrick wrote stories on this album, they’re more than songs, and I love that about this album. He made a conscious hip hop album, still interesting. Congrats again to Kendrick for having my favorite album of the year 2 years in row.

2. Ab – Soul – Control System
-This album was crazy. Really the introduction to Ab-Soul to a bigger audience. This was my favorite album of the year until GKMC, but this album is not far behind.

3. Frank Ocean – Channel Orange
-Yes i know this is an R&B album, but I still love it, storytelling is incredible. Amazing album.

4. Schoolboy Q – Habits & Contradictions
-Another TDE album that I love. Really a crazy album. He’s the more “Drug” rapper from TDE but still can get busy. Its a shame it dropped at the beginning of the year and was forgotten by many.

5..Good Music – Cruel Summer
-Even though this isnt classic Kanye you expect, Its still dope. But I realized, Its not meant to be a Kanye album, so i can’t judge it that way. I really love this album, and I think Ye and Hit Boy did a good job production wise.

6.. Nas – Life Is Good
-This is the Nas I was waiting for. A couple joints i would get rid of completely. But I like how personal Nas was on this album, and No ID and Saleem Remi didnt fail production wise

7.Wiz Khalifa – ONIFC
– Here comes the hate, I love this album. I KNOW WIZ CHANGED AND HE TALKS ABOUT MONEY NOW I GET IT. But I love the production on this album, and No Limit (Part 2) goes to hard.

8.Big Boi – Vicious Lies & Dangerous Rumors
-This was originally higher on my list, and I still love this album but the more I listen to it the more the hype died for me. But its still an awesome album. Didn’t disappoint at all and people still sleep on Big Boi.

9.Game – Jesus Piece
I was expecting this album to be trash, but I love the beats on this thing and the subject matters. Game is RAW on this album on records like “Heavens Arms”, “Name Me King” and “See No Evil”. I was really surprised how good this album was.

10. T.I. – Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head
-I really love this album. This is classic T.I.P. to me. And if this came out a little earlier it would have been farther up the list. But It came out late And i still love this album.

Honorable Mention – Rick Ross – God Forgives I Don’t
Yeah the album could have been better, But I still Love a lot of these songs. And I feel like Ross did a good job on a lot of these songs. But lets be real, the album can only be so good when you really didn’t live the life you’re rapping about. Which is why Jeezy & the Clipse are so good at it.

NON HIP HOP ALBUM OF THE YEAR
-Ed Sheeran – + – I know this album is way left field, but its really great. At age 21, this kid is a great story teller and he really put a great project together. if you’re looking for something non-hip/R&B, check this out.

Top 10 Mixtapes

1.Big Sean –Detroit
-Was really excited when this tape dropped. Everyone knows how much of a Big Sean fan I am. I’ll admit, I was scared for a minute what He would do, But I love this tape. GOOD Job Sean Don.

2.Joey Bada$$ – 1999
-My introduction to Joey Bad. And I must say, he didn’t disappoint. Hearing a kid 17 years old making such great hip hop is amazing to me. Gritty NY sound. And I love it.

3.Stalley – Savage Journey To The American Dream
-First Tape from Stalley that I loved. I also find myself going back to a lot of these songs on this project.

4.Big K.R.I.T. – 4evaNaDay
-Ill admit, and even the DEHH guys know I was never sold on Big KRIT. I found his sound generic, and like most south rappers, but this tape changed my mind. It even made me like his previous tapes. Even though KRIT put out a great album this year, I personally prefer this tape to the album.

5. Hit-Boy – HITStory
-It takes a minute to get used to Hit Boy. But when you really listen, he’s a dope Emcee. And when you listen to the beats he put together, nothing but dopeness on this tape. I suggest everyone give it a listen.

6.Rick Ross- Rich Forever
-This tape also was incredibly dope, Ross had some really dope production, and dope bars over this one. But to be honest, like Feefo says, this tape bumps in the whip. Ross had a good year. And this tape helps that.

7. Wiz Khalifa – Taylor Allderdice
-This tape gets a lot of hate, but I am a Wiz Khalifa fan. And a lot of these songs are classic Wiz to me. I know his style has changed up a lot, but I still found myself going back to this tape.

8.Fabolous – Soul Tape 2
-Dope Fab. Just wish the mixing and mastering was better.

9.Mac Miller –Macadelic
-Ill admit I’m not the biggest Mac fan, but I found myself going back to this tape over and over. Good job.

10. Meek Mill – DreamChasers 2
I had nothing else to put on my list and I wanted 10. Like 4 joints on here I enjoyed. Whatever.

Random Songs – (Alphabetical Order of my favorite songs this year that didn’t make the top 10.)

Ab-Soul – Pineal Gland
Ab-Soul – A Rebellion
Ab-Soul- Empathy
Ab Soul (Black Hippy)- Black Lip Bastard Remix
A$AP Rocky – Pretty Flacko
A$AP Rocky Featuring 2 Chainz, Drake & Kendrick Lamar – Fuckin Problems
Big Sean Featuring J Cole- 24K Gold
Big Sean – How It Feel
Big Sean Featuring King Chip & Juicy J -Experimental
Big Sean Featuring – French Montana – Mula
Chief Keef – Love Sosa
DJ Drama Featuring Common, Kendrick Lamar & Lloyd – My Way
Domo Genesis & Tyler The Creator – No Idols
French Montana Featuring Drake, Rick Ross & Lil Wayne – Pop That
Good Music -(Raekwon Featuring Pusha T, Common, 2 Chainz, Cyhi The Prynce, Kid
Cudi & D’Banj) – The Morning
Good Music – (Pusha T Featuring The Dream, Ma$e & Cocaine 80s) – Higher
Good Music -I Dont Like [Remix]
Hit Boy Featuring Big Sean – Option
Hit Boy Featuring Kid Cudi – Old School Caddy
Hit-Boy -East vs West
Joe Budden Featuring Ab-Soul – Cut From a Different Cloth
Joey Bada$$ – Waves
Juicy J Featuring 2 Chainz & Lil Wayne- Bandz a make her Dance
Kendrick Lamar Featuring Gunplay – Cartoon And Cereal
Kendrick Lamar – Art of Peer PRessure
Kendrick Lamar Featuring Jay Rock – Money Trees
Kendrick Lamar -Sing About Me
King Louis Featuring Juicy J & Pusha T – My Hoes They Do Drugs
Lil Reese Featuring Drake & Rick Ross -Us (Remix)
Lil Wayne Featuring J Cole – Green Ranger
Loverance Featuring Young Jeezy, T.I. & 50 Cent -Up! (Remix)
Mac Miller Featuring Juicy J -Lucky Ass Bitch
Mac Miller Featuring Casey Veggies & Joey Bada$$- America
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Ab-Soul – Jimmy Iovine
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Wanz – Thrift Shop
Meek Mill & Big Sean – Burn
Meek Mill Featuring Drake – Amen
Meek Mill – Traumatized
Meek Mill Featuring Rick Ross – Believe It
Meek Mill- Young Kingz
Mellowhype – 65
Mellowhype Featuring Frank Ocean – Astro
Mellowhype Featuring Earl – P2
Rick Ross Featuring Nas- Triple Beam Dreams
Rick Ross – Amterdam
Schoolboy Q Featuring A$AP Rocky-Hands On The Wheel
Schoolboy Q Featuring Kendrick Lamar – Blessed
Slaughterhouse – Hammer Dance
Stalley featuring Wale – Home To You
T.I. – Trap Back Jumpin
T.I. Featuring Andre 3000 – Sorry
Trinidad Jame$ – All Gold Everything *Kanye Shrug*
Wiz Khalifa Featuring Cam’Ron – The Bluff
Wiz Khalifa Featuring Pharrell, Tuki Carter, & Amber Rose – Rise Above
Wiz Khalifa – No Limit (Second Part)
Wiz Khalifa Featuring Juicy J – BlindsFolds

Top Producers

1.Hit-Boy – Clique,I Wish You Would, Cold, Higher, My Way, Goldie.
2.Young Chop – if it wasn’t for him, Chief Keef would be nothing
3.Mike Will Made It – He had big hits this year with “No Lie” And “Bandz a make her dance”
4. Pharrell – He had a big comeback this year. Curren$y, Rick Ross, Wiz Khalifa, Kendrick Lamar and more.
5. Cardiak – Cut From A Different Cloth, Diced Pineapples, Amsterdam and many more.