2006 Recap - Part 1 - Remember & Top 10 Albums

It's been a minute since I posted anything up on here for y'all, but here goes the 2006 recap. Better late than never right??
For starters, two HUGE losses in the music industry this year:



















J. Dilla or Jay Dee (02/07/74 - 02/10/06)
For those of you who don't know, J. Dilla was an excellent hip hop producer and very talented musician. He had been working with the Stones Throw label for most of his career releasing many memorable albums: Welcome 2 Detroit (on The Beat Generation), Jaylib - Champion Sound (Jaylib was J. Dilla and Madlib), and the most recent prior to his death due to Lupus and a rare blood disease was Donuts. He died only 3 days after the release of donuts and many artists have been using beats off that album in their own work in memory (i.e. Ghostface, The Roots, etc.). R.I.P. J. Dilla!!














James Brown (05/03/33 - 12/25/06)
James Brown was one of the most influential names in all of soul and funk music hence his nickname The Godfather of Soul. His career spanned five decades and countless albums and top 100 singles. He was performing up until the day of his passing and even had a tour planned where he was going to come through Calgary in January this year. Even in his 70's he was an unbelievable singer, dancer, and all around performer. I'm not 100% sure but I believe he is the most sampled artist in the hip-hop genre, but if not he has been sampled by many an artist including most notably Eric B. & Rakim. A great ear for music, an insane work ethic, and a fantastic performance will be surely missed by all and I'm sure his music will span many more generations. RIP James Brown!!

Top Hip Hop Albums of 2006

#10 - Field Mob - Light Poles & Pine Trees



















One of the most slept on albums of the year. Field Mob's two members, Smoke and Shawn Jay, killed it on this album. Probably the most one liners in this album of any all year. "My paint change faster than the cast of Road Rules" is just a taste of what they give on this album.
Tracks to listen for:
My Wheels
So What ft. Ciara
Sorry Baby ft. Bobby Valentino

#9 - Baby & Lil' Wayne - Like Father, Like Son



















On first listen I thought Cash Money had lost it on this one after losing everyone except these 2 men right here. But after a few more listens the album is actually really good. Baby still needs to step his game up to be on the same level as Wayne on a few of these tracks, but other then that there's some crazy bangers.
Tracks to listen for:
Army Gunz
Stuntin' Like My Daddy
Know What I'm Doin' ft. Rick Ross & T-Pain

#8 - E-40 - My Ghetto Report Card



















The Hyphy movement seemed to be on the up and up this year with the release of this album. The king of slang, E-40, had some new stuff for us here with going dumb and gettin gouda, and I'm sure everyone has now tried to ghost-ride the whip at one time or another under the influence of E-40. Album was great, but didn't have the lasting power to push it higher on the list.
Tracks to listen for:
Tell Me When to Go ft. Keak Da Sneak
Go Hard Or Go Home ft. The Federation
White Girl ft. Bun B., Pimp C., and Juelz Santana
U and Dat ft. T-Pain and Kandi Girl

#7 - Jedi Mind Tricks - Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell



















Jedi Mind Tricks are back again for some more satanic punishment of the mic and this time kills it again lyrically. It is hard to match their last outing, Visions of Ghandi, but this one came damn close. The beats seemed a little softer than the last album but the lyrics are still on point. The track Uncommon Valour just shows their lyrical ability to tell stories.
Tracks to listen for:
Uncommon Valour: A Vietnam Store ft. R.A. the Rugged Man
Heavy Metal Kings ft. Ill Bill
Gutta Music ft. Reef the Lost Cause and Chief Kamachi

#6 - Cam'ron - Killa Season



















You can try to hate on Dipset all you want, but you just can't do it! I don't know why but their shit is always bangin! On Cam's third major release he comes hard on almost every track and even gets emotional on a track called I.B.S. talking about his problems with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Great album from one of the best newer artists.
Tracks to listen for:
Touch It Or Not ft. Lil' Wayne
Wet Wipes
Get Em Daddy (Remix) ft. Hell Rell, J.R. Writer, and Jim Jones

#5 - T.I. - King




















T.I. comes hard on his third outing here. On my first listen I brushed it off as a mediocre album for 2006 but that was only because it didn't quite match up to his last album Urban Legend. After I got past that it was still a great album just not as good as his last, it went up the rankings in my books.
Tracks to listen for:
What U Know
Front Back ft. UGK
I'm Straight ft. B.G. & Young Jeezy


#4 - Ghostface Killah - Fishscale




















Ghost is probably the most consistent of all the Wu Tang members. He has the largest following maybe only rivaled by Method Man because of his mainstream success, but Ghost is a close second. This album is another great one, maybe his best since Supreme Clientele (he even states "You ain't even been hungry since Supreme Clientele" on the album). He has a couple J Dilla tracks on here and a couple my underground legend MF Doom. Overall another great banger from front to back.
Tracks to listen for:
Kilo ft. Raekwon
9 Milli Bros. ft. Wu Tang Clan
Clipse of Doom ft. Trife

#3 - Rick Ross - Port of Miami



















Rookie of the year Rick Ross comes strong with his first album based out of Dade County, Miami. His first single Hustlin' was one of the most played tracks of all year and the remix with Young Jeezy and Jay-Z just added to the crazy popularity of this new Rick Ross character. Along with him being on everyones albums he was easily the best newcomer in the biz this year. This album bangs from front to back and still about 9 months after the release I'm still bumpin it on the regular.
Tracks to listen for:
Hustlin & Hustlin (Remix) ft. Young Jeezy & Jay-Z
Cross That Line ft. Akon
Boss ft. Dre
Streetlife ft. Lloyd
... forget this, listen to every track!

#2 - Young Jeezy - The Inspiration: Thug Motivation 102



















""Last album did 2, I'm just tryina do three!" Jeezy did it again, straight burners from front to back, and you know I'm talkin bout those pots and pans. This album hits the triad of hip hop; Coke, Money and Death. Not too many guests on here, but enough to get by, and great guests at that. Kels kills it on Go Getta and same with T.I. on I Got Money. Nuff said bout Jeezy, either you know and love the man, or you think he's destroying hip hop. My take is he's giving the game a new face, as much as everyone says it's just straight coke and streets garbage, some of the lyrics have a slight bit of consciousness to them.
Tracks to listen for:
I Luv It
Bury Me A G
Go Getta ft. R. Kelly
J.E.E.Z.Y.

Before we get to the #1 here's a couple honorable mentions for the year 2006:
The Roots - Game Theory
Outkast - Idlewild
J. Dilla - The Shining
Akon - Konvicted
Dj Khaled - Listennn!

Drumroll please......
#1 - Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury



















The brothers from VA have done it again! Fresh of a 4 year hiatus and a bunch of label troubles (Fuck Jive!), they come back with a short but sweet (no crappy skits) album. As always it comes produced by The Neptunes and every single track works to a T. Limited to only a couple guests, and they didn't really need any. Insane wordplay, crazy beats, would you expect anything less from one of the greatest rap duos of all time? I didn't think so!
Tracks to listen to:
Chinese New Year
Wamp Wamp (What it Do) ft. Slim Thug
Trill
...just listen to every single one of the 12 tracks again and again and again and again!!!