33jones.com - Mobile

As we are in the last week of 2005, I decided to do what every other blog on the internet is doing and compile a top 10 list. The plan here is to post a different top 10 list each day until we hit Friday. Then we spend the whole weekend getting trashed (though to make this weekend different from the previous 51,we might put on a party hat too).

Most music blogs are posting what they think are the top 10 albums of the year, so you can go hit one of them up to find that. The theme behind today's list I'm putting up here is: 10 albums that came out this year that you probably overlooked (catchy title, right?). Most of them were put out on small labels, so you should be able to pick them up on the cheap. They may not be strictly hip hop, but they all have hip hop elements to them. Feel free to post your comments telling me how great or horrible these picks are. Presented in no particular order:

1) Danger Doom -- The Mouse And The Mask
M.F. Doom rapping, Danger Mouse djing, The Cartoon Network executive producing. Bizarre, but it works. Better to go buy it (for about 9 dollars), then to read my attempts at describing this collabo.

2) Lady Sovereign -- Vertically Challenged
Lady Sov is a female rapper, from the U.K. So that's two reasons why you probably didn't pick this album up when it first came out. Get past that, though, because Sov can rap, better than most of the rappers that have put out albums this year. Here's a sampling of her lyrical skills, flipping the script on Southern (American) slang:
Well, im right thur,
Na' tell a lie cus I'm Right there,
Right hurr Na' right here,
Now get off your churr, I mean Chair,
Some English MC's get it twisted,
Start sayin' cookies, instead of biscuits!

3) M.I.A. -- Arular
The best way to describe this album is American Hip Hop mixed with British Dance music and a bit of Brazilian Favela. Produced by Diplo, you've probably heard at least parts of this album in a lot of the mash ups that have come out in 2005. M.I.A. drops one of my favorite lines of the year, on URAQT: Tighter than J-lo in her jeans / Tighter than R.Kelly in his teens

4) Re-Up Gang / The Clipse -- We Got It 4 Cheap Volume 2
Easily the best hip hop mixtape to come out this year. In fact, in my opinion this is the best hip hop cd to come out this year, period. The Clipse (plus the Re-Up Gang) drop rhymes over other rapper's beats, and in every single case the Clipse version sounds better.

5) Caps and Jones -- Moving in Stereo
I'm going to quote a review from Stylus' Magazine's review of this album: In one of the most beautiful moments on their new Moving In Stereo mix, during the segment titled Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah, elements of Magnetic Fields� 100,000 Fireflies, ExposT�s Point of No Return, and JJ Fad�s Supersonic all gorgeously collide, before giving way to Smashing Pumpkins� 1979 first atop JJ Fad, but then for a good 20 seconds, all on its own. The key to Caps & Jones is that they�re not studio artists, they�re DJs, and you can hear it in their work.

6) DJ Aristocat -- A World of My Own
I've linked to DJ Aristocat a few times on this site. In my opinion, he's the best Mash Up dj out there, and one of the only mash up djs who puts out CDs worth paying money for.

7) DJ /rupture -- Gold Teeth Thief (link to Free Download)
This is a live DJ Mix, featuring everything from Reggae Dancehall breakbeats to Paul Simon. It has a bunch of artists on there you've never heard of, but who you'll be checking for after hearing this. And all it costs you is about 5 minutes of download time.

8) Matisyahu -- Live at Stubbs
Its a hasidic Jew spitting hot fiyah over reggae beats. Do you need any more reasons to go pick this one up? The music is actually pretty good, and Matisyahu is talented enough to keep you listening once you get tired of the novelty of the whole concept. He cites Nas' It Was Written as his inspiration for picking up a mic. The lyrics tend a bit more toward the religious side than what you might normally have bumping out of your car speakers, but you can find the cd for about 7 bucks so give it a chance.

9) Mylo -- Destroy Rock & Roll
Ok, this one actually came out in 2004, and its not hip hop. However, the beat from Drop The Pressure appeared on about 50% of the mashups that were made this year (a few of which I've linked to in the past), so it is worth checking out. Its electronica, so many of you will probably not be into this, but for those of you who are, its one of the best cds of this genre to come out in the past few years. 10) Tony Yayo -- Thoughts of a Predicate Felon
Yeah, right. This album is garbage, don't waste your money on this. Yayo is easily the weakest of the G-Unit rappers, and that's saying a lot. I wanted to keep make this list an even 10, but came up one short, so I'm using the 10 spot here to warn you all about this album.

Thirty Three Jones | Desktop Site