SLEEPER
ALBUMS OF 2006 |
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1.
Mobb Deep – Blood Money & Cam’Ron – Killa Season (TIE):
Misguided alliances and pointless beefs made these two projects play the
backburner in 2006. Mobb Deep put together a mainstream/street album that
would make Biggie come up from the grave and give them a pound, but when
you’re affiliated with 50 Cent and your core fan base turns their
back on you and calls you “sell out” there’s a problem.
The album slowly went gold, but didn’t live up to its full potential.
Cam’Ron put together another solid effort, but fucked his swagger
up with a pointless beef with Jay-Z and a terrible (yet entertaining) movie
to accompany the release. While Jay-Z shut down his records on New York
radio and Cam deciding to play second fiddle to this main man (former hype
man) Jimmy Jones; Killa Season did some decent numbers, but like Mobb Deep
didn’t live up to its full potential. |
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2.
Yung Joc – New Joc City & Dem Franchize Boyz – On Top Of
Our Game (TIE): So you hate these stupid Down South idiots snappin’
carrying on with their annoying nonsense raps??? Oh well, that doesn’t
mean they can’t be successful. Overall these two releases reflect
the lighter side of the art and deserve a place on our lists. This was definitely
the year we “Leaned Wid It & Rocked Wid It” and did that
cute motorcycle dance while it was “Going Down.” Joc and Dem
Franchize Boyz didn’t put out bad albums; they just put out records
when the “Hip Hop” purists wanted to hear something more true
to the original art. Well my niggas welcome to the new era! I KNOW YOU SEE
IT!!! |
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3.
Lupe Fiasco – Food & Liquor: Lupe Fiasco what can we
say but, “tough luck young boy.” Gimmicky rap has always been
a risky business when you’re trying to touch a fan base that pretty
much can see right through you when you rock Vans and talk about kicking
and pushing a skateboard. One thing about Lupe that amazes us is that artists
and critics embraced him so much… WHY??? A huge marketing budget maybe
or it’s a case of why Hip Hop is in the state it’s in. If you
really listen hard and pick apart this project you’ll understand what
we’re talking about. We all need a change, but to put it on a kid
that can’t hold his weight is a bit of a stretch. This album will
slowly reach a certain level of minor success, but will soon be forgotten
once the next trend in the culture hits. |
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4.
Da Backwudz – Wood Work & Back 2 Da Basics: One of the
best albums of 2006 that no one heard. Creative singles and a fluid vibe
that a lot of critics and fans missed all together. This one is a must have
if you miss old Outkast sound. |
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5.
Clipse – Hell Hath No Fury: Label issues, bad marketing and
dated material messed this one up. If it came out in early 2004, like it
was suppose to, it would be one of the best albums ever, but it fell short
of the critical hype once it hit the selves. Hell Hath No Fury was one of
those shoulda, coulda, woulda albums of 2006. Shoulda never been held up,
coulda had more current material on it, woulda done better if it had stronger
singles. |
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6.
Styles P – Time Is Money: We strongly believe that Interscope
followed 50 Cent’s lead on this one. Its ironic how Style’s
suddenly gets a push after they decide to release Young Buck in early 2007
rather then late November 2006. Like the Clipse - Hell Yet No Fury, Time
is Money is mostly dated material. Although it is strong and well rounded
it was lost in the 4th quarter clutter of stronger releases. We love this
record here and hope it gets its run going into 2007. |
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7.
2Pac – Pac’s Life: Ten years later and homie can still
move units. We can’t even tell if it’s recycled material anymore.
It’s just Pac and when he drops by years end his momma collects another
gold or platinum plaque. |
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8.
Lloyd Banks – Rotten Apple: Sad to say it, but Banks didn’t
come with anything memorable since his second single off his first album…
This album was pushed a few times and they picked a very forgettable lead
single with “Hands Up.” Overall you can see his growth as an
artist, but the production and timing of the album were all off and we think
that people were just sick of G-Unit after 2005’s market rush with
50’s projects and The Game. |
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9.
DMX – Year of the Dog… Again: X has been slowly sinking
with every release… On this album it seems like he went back to his
original formula again and it turned out a decent product, but it kind of
shows how one dimensional X can be too. You’ll see some good moments
and some bad here and this time with no Def Jam machine behind it…
The hype wasn’t there. |
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10.
Method Man – 4:21… The Day After & The Roots – Game
Theory (TIE): Meth came out silently and didn’t do decent
numbers, so he bitched about it. With his label (Def Jam) and mainstream
radio/television not showing him love anymore Meth became a “Mad Rapper.”
I Meth’s case it can be justified because the business really turned
their back on Meth this time around. It happens though big homie…
So go independent Meth! The Roots… They should have never signed to
Def Jam. When this came out the buzz was almost negative. Def Jam as a label
has never been good at marketing niche Hip Hop acts like the Roots. With
no real lead or marketing behind this Roots project. It was quickly forgotten;
even though it was one of their stronger releases to date. |
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Robin Thicke - Ms. Sexy
