Top
Artists Of 2006 |
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1.
T.I.: Breaking out like a wild boar in 2006 with the King album
and the hit movie ATL; T.I. showed the world that he has a right to be king
of the south. He set it off by being the only multi-platinum selling artist
of 2006 and spreading himself out business wise as well. An endorsement
deal with S.Carter, acting, soundtracks, films… The list goes on.
Overall “King” was a turning point in T.I.’s growing career
and showed that he can appeal to the mainstream and streets like the other
“kings” in the game. |
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2.
Jay-Z: Jay has kept himself relevant on the music tip and behind
the scenes. He’s learning to take the good with the bad in the music
game and had a very good year in the process. Coming off a 2005 where he
put out more misses than hits- Jay has moved into his own as proper label
president and in the process created another album and contributed to various
charities and organizations to flex his philanthropy muscle in the mean
time. His Kingdome Come album was also a sales charts winner- clocking in
a cool 680,000 plus units the first week making it the third highest debut
this year. |
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3.
Jim Jones: Jim Jones really broke out of his shell in 2006 and
became the talk of New York in the process. He started off as Cam’Ron’s
hype man, developed himself into an artist and then an executive…
It’s been a crazy trip for Jimmy, but he persevered and made his mark
this year. 2006 was the year we were all “BAAAAALLLLLINNNN!!!”
and in the process we all got to know Jimmy Capo a little better. |
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4.
The Game: The Game is a crazy nigga and we all love em for it.
From flip-flopping on beef with G-Unit and Jay-Z; to telling people if he
doesn’t sell a million records in the first week he’s going
to retire, The Game has been Hip Hop’s favorite actor since he came
out. No doubt he can spit, no doubt he got records and no doubt he can entertain…
That’s why he’s on the list. Nuff said! |
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5.
Ghostface Killah: What more can we say, but Ghostface got in on
smash in 2006! Finally scored a successful “mainstream” record
with a little help from his label mate Ne-Yo and dropping two times in 2006
with back to back crack (Something that hasn’t been done since DMX
did it in 1998). Ghostface has been a fixture in the underground, the streets
and the mainstream with his collaborations and albums. He’s definitely
one of the best for 2006. |
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6.
Chamillionaire: His album dropped in late 2005 and was sort of
quiet until the “Ridin’” single slowly took off heading
into summer ’06. One million record later and Chamillionaire has become
one of Hip Hop’s premiere artists from Texas and proved he didn’t
need Paul Wall and Swishahouse to back him. |
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7.
Busta Rhymes: Busta is no stranger to success, but in 2006 he had
something to prove to New York City and Hip Hop. He took it upon himself
to “bring Hip Hop back home” and helped start a movement that
has made a lot of people angry, motivated and most of all helped take the
music back to its roots. |
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8.
Rick Ross: He’s been on his grind since 2002 and was just
a regional artist until he broke into the mainstream with the single “Hustlin’.”
After that single took off there was no looking back for Rick Ross. He’s
got a gold album under his belt and proved he can cut it as a mainstream
artist in 2006. |
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9.
Ludacris: Luda set out to prove he wasn’t a joke this year
and released his most well rounded project to date. Making his mark with
another platinum album and working extra hard to flex his creative muscle
in the process. This time around Ludacris scores high for just trying to
be different and prove that rappers in the South can talk about more than
just bitches, teeth, rims, money and what ever dance they are doing at the
moment. |
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10.
E-40: E put the Bay Area back on the map with his super club/radio
hit “Tell Me When To Go.” Along with that, E put himself back
into the mix of Hip Hop’s elite by dropping his most diverse album
to date. Indeed, 2006 was a great year for the “40-Watta.” |
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Robin Thicke - Ms. Sexy