The Year That Was: 2011′s Best #10-1

#10 The Physics Love is A Business

Love is A Business is a beautiful piece of music.

From front to back you won’t be able to escape the all encompassing mood that it espouses: happiness. I swear, if you are having a shitty day put this record on and you won’t be any more. If I could count the times I’ve stepped off the floor at work to get a breath of fresh air and bump a cut off this album, only to step back in revitalized, feeling good, feeling great.

Musically its splendid. Full of arrangements that bring to life the stories about ladies and the town present in Thig and Monk’s bars. Justo lays down most of the grooves, often forgoing heavy drums for softer sounds, complex melodies and an airy groove that let’s you drift away with them to an alternate dimension.

Once you are there, you are at the homies backyard BBQ, kicking it with friends and fam, eating good, living good. Or maybe you are lounging in Seward Park, could be sipping a brew with a lime on Madrona. Dancing with a fine lady as the sun sets, burning that good good on a rooftop observing the natural beauty that surrounds us. These are the moments that they rap about in the aptly titled “These Moments” and the moments that are conveyed via simplicity and consciousness throughout Love is A Business.
-Will J.

The Physics “Most Days”
<a href="http://thephysics.bandcamp.com/track/most-days">Most Days by The Physics</a>

#9 ASAP Rocky Live.Love.ASAP

Don’t get it twisted: That stretch of trendy, shimmering new bars and restaurants along the Frederick Douglass commercial corridor between 110th and 125th Streets is not “the new Harlem.” That would be the sagging skinny jeans, tricked-out beach-cruiser aesthetic of ASAP Rocky’s newly-founded ASAP Mob, a crew of young rappers who share the anti-establishmentarian viewpoint of the opposite coast’s Odd Future, minus the invasive pop culture ubiquity. At least for the time being.

Live.Love.ASAP was the clarion call for the Mob in 2011, a refreshingly lo-fi, independently released debut by its lead member that said “Fuck you” to rap’s traditional regional delineations in sound and “Hello” to norms heretofore considered taboo within the genre (such as post-adolescent white girls in grills lip-syncing the n-word). Substantial lyrical content may have been lacking on the mixtape, but simmering energy was not thanks to the heady cloud rap of producer-flavor-of-the-month, Clams Casino. Harlem’s oblivious gentrifiers can keep their immaculate new beer gardens and wine bars. The real New Harlem is chopped, screwed, swagged-out, and trill. Most of all, though, it’s one pretty motherfucker.
-Chul G.

ASAP Rocky “Palace”

#8 Jay-Z & Kanye West Watch The Throne

People are still drooling over Watch The Throne, the ostentatious, gold cased collaboration album between Jay-Z and Kanye that didn’t even make my top 25 list, although to play the devil’s advocate, I can see why people salivated over it. The production was pretty spectacular, with usual suspects like Pharrell, Kanye and Swizz Beatz, but also with Hit-Boy, RZA, Q-Tip, 88 Keys and my boy Lex Luger, among others, contributing to the effort. The duo continued to push the musical and lyrical confines of mainstream with the dubstep “Who Gon Stop Me Now,” and content about black on black crime on “Murder to Excellence.”

Nonetheless, Watch the Throne was an idea that sounded perfectly amazing on paper, but when I listened to the final thing, it didn’t tug on my heartstrings. This was further exemplified when I saw their show in Tacoma, which was a good show, but demonstrated no chemistry between them. Fortunately, they performed their solo songs which crowd ate up, just like I can go back and listen to their older songs and appreciate them.
-Julie J.

Jay-Z & Kanye West ft. Frank Ocean “No Church In The Wild”

#7 Big K.R.I.T. Return of 4 Eva

I’m just about the only one in my circle that doesn’t hold K.R.I.T. in high regard. Don’t get me wrong, he can rap and he is saying things of more importance than the majority of his peers. His production is great too. Yet I didn’t include his album in my top 25. Did I mention that he was one of my most listened to artists of the last year as well?

I spent a lot of time with Return of 4 Eva mainly due to the overwhelming amount of love it saw. Everyone was raving about it from my aforementioned circle to bloggers and rappers. I couldn’t be deaf could I? Maybe.

Talking about the album with Julie today, and listening once more, I think I found what it is that turns me off and probably helps ingrain it into the hearts of many: It’s comfort food for the ears. K.R.I.T. makes no secret of the fact that he is a southern artist and across the twenty odd tracks found on Return of 4 Eva we are given his emulation of the last twenty years of Southern rap. It’s done well and he keeps his bars up, covering topics few desire to touch. The beats bang too.

All of this can’t overcome the fact that we’ve heard it all before.
-Will J.

Big K.R.I.T. “Highs & Lows”

#6 Nacho Picasso For The Glory

I unabashedly loved Nacho Picasso’s For The Glory, putting it at the top of my list over at my blog. Nacho’s weirdo raps were perfectly complimented by Blue Sky Black Death’s beautifully intricate production, and to be honest, I probably wouldn’t have loved this project as much as I did if it weren’t for Blue Sky Black Death. That is not, however, to undercut Nacho’s rapping, because he constantly amused me throughout the project.

I really felt like the combination of BSBD’s instrumentals, that were at times enigmatic and a little spooky, really helped to cultivate the persona of Nacho Picasso, lover of smoking, comic books, Greek allusions, and just being a “Bad Guy.”

Somehow, some way, Nacho’s one liners didn’t get old to me, and I am always amused by Nacho’s witty little phrases that border on nerdy and creepy. It’s really un-PC of me, but I always laugh when he raps that he “called a girl special, I just meant retarded” in “Dynamite,” or thinking how cold it is when he casually raps that he “just logged in my Facebook to defriend you” on “DMT.”

Overall, For The Glory entertained me, but had an artistic depth that kept me captivated.
-Julie J.

Nacho Picasso “Sweaters”
<a href="http://nachopicasso.bandcamp.com/track/sweaters">Sweaters by Blue Sky Black Death and Nacho Picasso</a>

#5 SBTRKT SBTRKT

Oh, dubstep. You aren’t what you used to be, are you? You aren’t the romanticized notion of some dirty British jungle enthusiast moving to the projects with a stolen laptop and a pirated copy of Ableton, strung out and doped down creating skeletal pastiches to the cold, lonely urban landscape. Nope, you bro’d out pretty hard this year, but in a few instances you got pretty soulful too. You became melodic and less urban-centric, more accessible, but still maintained your understated resonance.

SBTRKT pushed bass music forward by going the opposite direction of melting faces. His self-titled debut, my personal pick for project of the year, dabbled in the cold beauty of heart ache (“Hold On”), introspective slow crawls (“Trials of the Past”), and explosive dance tracks (“Wildfire”). Reeling in several collaborators, none shine brighter than Sampha and his wounded, limited range.

Restraint may be SBTRKT’s smartest trait, going the opposite of bellowing divas and dramatic build-ups, as may be his compositional emphasis on creating songs — songs that are interesting, progressive, and repeatedly listenable. SBTRKT’s production does not steal the show, but neither do any of the guest vocalists; instead, his debut is an exercise in exceptional musical teamwork, striking balances between that of canvas and adornment, progress and accessibility, propulsion and complacency. It’s something this evolutionary step could teach its balls-out brother.
-Joe G.

SBTRKT “Hold On”

#4 Frank Ocean Nostalgia, Ultra.

Frank Ocean came out of nowhere with Nostalgia, Ultra., his shelved Def Jam debut album that he leaked himself. With Tyler, The Creator, and Odd Future as a whole gaining attention early on in their year with their youthful notoriety, Frank Ocean’s sweet singing set him apart from the rest of his collective (though to be clear, I don’t think he’s technically signed, but more so affiliated).

Either way, Nostalgia, Ultra. was a great record full of Frank’s icy vocals over R&B and poppish music from producers like Tricky Stewart, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Mr. Hudson, Radiohead, and Bei Maejor, to name a few. I actually thought about how to describe his style of music, and my iTunes says “bluegrass” so that isn’t very helpful. Being unable to reach a definite conclusion as to his genre, however, is probably what helped the project stand out to me.

On the whole, Nostalgia, Ultra. felt like an upbeat, happy sounding project that always put me in a great mood, that I loved singing to in the car. There were plenty of great songs, like “Novocane,” which eventually made it’s way to Clear Channel, as well as his take on “Hotel California” and “Lovecrimes,” which boasted an ill tempo change toward the end.
-Julie J.

Frank Ocean “Lovecrimes”

#3 Kendrick Lamar Section.80

“Gather round,” the ominous voice says. “I recognize all of you, every creed and color. With that being said… FUCK your ethnicity. You understand that? We gon’ talk about a lot of shit that concerns you.” So begins the latest offering from West Coast hiphop’s torchbearer. If the story goes as Kendrick Lamar tells it, he’s just an infant looking for answers. According to him, Lesane Parish Crooks visited him in his sleep with a command: “Don’t let me die.” That’s a heavy order. The way he tells it Section.80 wasn’t a choice, and the way he raps will make you believe.

“You know why we crack babies? Cuz we born in the 80s,” the Dr. Dre protégé continues on “A.D.H.D.” That’s the theme of Section.80 in a nutshell, the problems of our generation: carelessness, poverty, violence and racism. His answer is HiiiPower, a three-finger salute that stands for Heart, Honor, and Respect. It’s also the name of the J.Cole-produced best track on the album and one of the finest of the year, the type that could lead you to lazily slip into comparisons with greats like the man he cites as his inspiration. K.Dot’s earnest approach underscores his passion, citing Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X one moment and lamenting money, hoes and clothes the next.

The thing is, Kendrick is easily one of the most technically gifted rappers in the game. And he’s just 23 years old—the best is yet to come. Just like most reviewers, you reach a point speaking on Section.80 where there are no more words: dope does the trick, or for us in the Northwest, just plain filthy. Generation Y’s issues aren’t going anywhere, and we could only be so lucky as to have the Compton native as our resident philosopher. Like he says: “Don’t ask for your favorite rapper. He dead. I killed him.” Amen.
-Nick F.

Kendrick Lamar “HiiiPower”

#2 Danny Brown XXX

Danny Brown turned 30 this year and decided to give us XXX. Detroit native, long time hustler, and Tony Yayo conspirator; the album is the maturing of the hardest G-Unit Soldier that never was. Growing up in Linwood and Detroit Michigan he has the street cred to go toe to toe with any of them. Having been in the game for almost a decade, his lyrical and technical skills are on par with the best out there. As street as they come Brown reminisces about selling crack, and scrapping to survive, but as Brown turns 30 he shows a little maturity and humanity. Via free-association he works through relate-able real world problems like drug addiction, poverty, and a lack of positive adult influences. XXX is Browns best work to date, and hopefully a sign of more to come.
-David P.

Danny Brown “DNA”

Danny Brown turned 30 this year and decided to give us XXX. Danny Brown is indie label Fools Gold’s new darling and the record is his way of saying fuck 30. At any age Brown is the rock star hiphop needs right now. He’s ahead of the train, defining cool. Often found laid back in LA with a blunt, skinnies and vintage concert T. His lyrics are witty, clever and painfully raunchy. XXX is loaded with hyper sexualized punchlines that will have you cringing and laughing at the same time… that is if you’re not dancing your face off. His beats are manic and progressive. His delivery is fluid, he changes speed on a moments notice and effortlessly slides along every twist and turn on every crazy beat. XXX is Browns best work to date, and hopefully a sign of more to come.
-David P.

Danny Brown “Radio Song”

#1 Shabazz Palaces Black Up

Some of the most definitive albums are the ones that have to grow on you. There may not be an attraction to what’s being introduced through the speakers initially, but more so a curiosity of the sound that lingers in the mind after. You try and make it understand what that was it just attempted to process. My appreciation for Shabazz Palaces came about through the collective influence of multiple factors. First, taking notice to all the positive recognition the record was receiving from fellow colleagues, frequencies, publications, promoters and other respectable sources impacted its preview from their shared perspectives. Next were the consciously creative career choices made on the Palaceer and Tendai’s end. From signing on with Sup Pop to releasing their first full length in the black and gold-flecked velvet casing, it was clear there was significance behind each concept chosen. The final one was becoming aware of the subtle brilliance hidden amongst the layers once I listened to the project in its entirety, making the universal themes found throughout the songs hold more truth as a whole. Now every time I find myself returning back to Black Up I seem to discover something new… whether it’s questioning the use of primitive instrumentation or overanalyzing the complexities weaved within the context, what’s achieved as an end result makes it worth finding the time to clear some space out and take fresh content in. As many memorable pacific northwest performers from the past developed their identity by maintaining originality and mystery in their music, Shabazz Palaces stand out as two thousand eleven’s top artists whose path proves to show the same promise.
-Kayte O.