Best of 2011 Hip Hop

Below are my top 25 Hip Hop releases from 2011 (listed in order by release date).

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1. Fowl / Live from the D (1/7/11) - Young up and coming Detroit emcee dropped a solid mixtape to kick off the year. Favorite tracks - Live from the D, All Up In My Mix, Ambassador Bridge
2. The Game / Purp & Patron (1/24/11) - This double CD had a lot to choose from. Favorite tracks - Bad Intentions, Supastar, & History
3. Pac Div / Mania (3/7/11) - What's not to like about this mixtape? The whole thing was knocking (pardon the pun) from start to finish. Favorite tracks - The Mirror, Take Me High, Fallin', Nobody's Perfect, Chief Rocka, Somethin'
   
4. Dom Kennedy / The Original Dom Kennedy (3/10/11) - Dom continued to put it down for the west. Favorite tracks - Bet You Want Me Now, Designer Shit, and When You See Love.
5. Pharoahe Monch / W.A.R (3/22/11) - Pharoahe delivered another classic. Favorite tracks - Black Hand Side, Let My People Go, Assassins, Grand Illusion.
6. Sandman / Mt. Crushmore (5/1/11) - Former Re-up gang member went in over classic hip hop instrumentals. Started off slow, but finished up strong! Favorite tracks – Flowrocious, HOMDP, Think About It, Real Rap
7. Elzhi / Elmatic (5/10/11) - This was truly one of Hip Hop's finest moments. Favorite tracks - The World is Yours and Halftime. Easily my 2 favorite tracks of the year.
   
8. Tyler the Creator / Goblin (5/10/11) - The OFWGKTA front man's album got weirder and weirder after each listen, but I loved it. Favorite tracks – Yonkers, She, Tron Cat & Analog.
9. Bad Meets Evil / Hell the Sequel (6/13/11) - Em & Royce did not skip a beat with their long overdue reunion. Favorite tracks - Welcome to Hell, Fastlane, Living Proof
10. Random Axe / Random Axe (6/14/11) - Very solid album with the beats and lyrics. Favorite tracks - Random Call, Black Ops, Jahphy Joe, Another One
11. Jean Grae / Cookie or Comas (6/23/11) - My 2nd favorite female emcee (Lyte will always be #1) served up a nice appetizer to her long awaited Cake or Death. Favorite tracks - Cake Basket, RIP, Blame Game
12. Dom Kennedy / From the Westside with Love II (6/28/11) - Dom delivered with his second release of the year. Favorite tracks - Dom's Prayer, Grindin, Come Over, She Ain't Love, Dream to Me, Graduate
13. Cory Gunz / Son of A Gun (7/6/11) - This mixtape started off strong, but lost steam when he started letting his crew get on the mic. Looking forward to his first studio album. Favorite tracks - 1 Of a Kind, Young Mula, Outta My Mind, Bed Time
14. Kendrick Lamar / Section 80 (7/20/11) - Kendrick Lamar repped well for the West and the new generation of Hip Hop in general. This stayed in heavy rotation all summer. Favorite tracks - ADHD, No Make Up, Poe Man's Dreams, Keisha's Song, Rigamortus, Kush & Corithians, Blow my High, High Powered
15. Chuuwee & Jonathan Lowell / Be Cool (7/30/11) - I first heard Chuuwee when he was featured on Talib Kweli's mixtape. I've been checking for him every since. This is another one that stayed in heavy rotation all summer. Favorite tracks - Check it out, Past Tense, Chez Plays it Cool, My Place, Bein Cool
16. Kanye West & Jay-Z / Watch the Throne (8/8/11) - One of the most talked about albums of the year. Most people either loved it or hated it. I was 50/50 on it. Half of the tracks were great and half were straight up garbage. Favorite tracks - No Church in the Wild, Ni**s in Paris, Gotta Have it, Murder to Excellence, Made in America, Otis, HAM
17. Royce Da 5'9" / Success is Certain (8/9/11) - Royce has been in a zone for a minute, and this album only added to it. Favorite tracks - Legendary, ER, I Ain't Comin' Down, Security, My Own Planet (Remix)
    
18. Lil Wayne / The Carter IV (8/29/11) - Lil Wayne may have hit his peak on Carter III, because Carter IV was clearly a step back. Nevertheless, it still had its moments. Favorite tracks - Nightmares of the Bottom, She Will, Interlude, President Carter, It's Good, Mirror
19. Mr. Muthafuckin eXquire / Lost in Translation (9/12/11) - The fact this this is the only new NY emcee on this list speaks volumes to the sad state of NY hip hop. However, dude more than made up for it. He repped hard for NYC. Favorite tracks - Huzzah, I Should be Sleepin, Michael Dudikoff, Lou Ferigno's Mad, Build A B**ch, The Last Huzzah
20. Phonte / Charity Starts at Home (9/27/11) - Phonte found the perfect blend of his rapping side and signing side. Fortunately for me it was more rapping than signing. Favorite Tracks - The Good Fight, Everything is Falling Down, Ball and Chain, The Life of Kings, Who Love you More
21. Pac Div / the Div (11/8/11) - After dropping classic mixtape after classic mixtape, Pac Div did not disappoint with their first studio album. These guys have a bright future in Hip Hop. Favorite tracks - The Greatness, Posted, Move One, She, Chaos (the Recipe), Top Down, Brown, Number 1 (remix)
22. Drake / Take Care (11/15/11) - This album was not as good as Thank Me Later but it had its moments. Favorite tracks - Over My Dead Body, Headlines, Underground Kings, Lord Knows, HYFR
23. Chuuwee / Watching the Throne (11/16/11) - This mixtape came out in 2011, but I heard if of the first time last night. I knew Chuwee was nice, but I ain't know he was that nice! He's hungry for the throne and goes hard at Jay, Kanye, and anyone else who wants it. Favorite tracks - Joe Jackson, Watching the Throne, Off With Their Heads, Global Warnings, the Dungeon, Reign, Cold World, Absolute Monarchy
24. The Roots / Undun (12/6/11) - This was the most consistent Roots albums I heard in a while. Favorite tracks (4-10) - One Time, Kool On, The Othaside, Stomp, Lighthouse, I Remember, Tip the Scale
25. Common / the Dreamer the Believer (12/20/11) - Common capped the year off with an excellent comeback album. I thought the whole Drake beef was just a marketing ploy, but the fact is, he didn't need it. The music spoke for itself! Favorite tracks - The Dreamer, Blue Sky, Sweet, Gold, Lovin' I Lost, Raw, Windows, Believer