Best Hip Hop Songs of 2011 | Yeti Style

1. Killer Mike - "Burn"

Came out early in 2011 and nobody topped it since.

2. Blueprint - "Radio Inactive"

Blueprint's rebirth in 2011 was an awesome surprise. He's basically been touring all year, but an album this good needs that kind of treatment.

3. Kendrick Lamar - Hiii Power

2011 was definitely Kendrick Lamar's year. One of the few runaway success stories in hip hop that was 100% deserved and awesome.

4. Mr. Muthafuckin eXquire ft. Despot, Das Racist, Danny Brown, EL-P - The Last Huzzah

Add Necro on the beat and this is just an overdose of good things. Video of the year finalist, too.

5. Open Mike Eagle - Dishes

His album Rappers Will Die of Natural Causes was Top 5 material. This cat is a serious talent.

6. Blu ft. Edan - Ronald Morgan

Holy shit. I don't know if No York even technically came out yet but damn, what an album.

7. Ka - Cold Facts

Came from out of nowhere, now has my full attention based on this flawless song.

8. Nas - Nasty

Easy.

9. Zilla Rocca ft. Has-Lo - Full Spectrum

Powerful song, breathing new life into a classic concept over an exceptional Dr. Quandary beat.

10. P.L.O. - The Heat (American Language Remix) feat. Has-Lo, Zilla Rocca & Curly Castro

Facemelter. Yeah, this is the same artists twice in a row, but this song has been in heavy rotation.

Humpasaur Jones - "2011 Anthembanger"

Last day that we can promote this. Big thanks to @SoundsCustom for a great year.



what kind of half-assed last laugh circus is that?
stumbling home, drunk and alone, purple and black
woke up soaked in blood, open cuts
swollen up, still drunk and my throat is numb, YUP
I got a broken a mic and motherfucking dumb name
and she's a trophy wife with a custom mustang
and if you think I got no chance at all
you can lick my itching hot romantic balls
what's that? you're thug rap? is that so, buttercup?
keep your flaps closed and your asshole buttoned up
still hustling beats and quality tracks
fuck it, it's nothing unique but it's all that we have
writers block is bullshit, I force it out
beat five pages from a dead horses mouth
if I eat my own flesh and speak to the dead
then exactly what the fuck am I competing against?
and can I build a machine to kill major labels
when I'm still waiting tables too filthy to clean?
relax with weed heads and some quality pot
I mean the kind that re-sets your biological clock
came up with these sentences I wanted to drop
it's not a deep message, just a possible thought
...you bought them fame, then watched them rot away
now kids are robbing graves and THAT SHIT IS NOT OKAY
but fuck it, man...I don't even trust my fans
cuz I do rock, and you treat me like a Tupac cover band
show respect cuz I'm known for broken necks
like, I might be stoned, let me grab this microphone and _____
but that was cocky of me...see, it's opposite week
and I'm actually a sensitive and conscious emcee
from Vermont and I'm free of STD's and college degrees
left a condom or three inside your Moms but it's PEACE
I got a broken mic and motherfucking dumb name
and she's a trophy wife with a custom mustang
and if you think I got no chance at all
you can lick my itching hot...

...and that's positive feedback
naked hippie chicks burning bras in a weed patch
most dudes would be afraid of REAL nudity
a bunch of virgin minds in gated communities
shocker, I know: Hump Jones, cocky and stoned
like "Your whole city sucks and I just wanna go home"
head banging, bloody forehead at the chess game
and checkmate your left brain in less than ten plays
run around hunting down girls in town...
and tell 'em we're representing for the WORLD AROUND
just kidding...you're all failures with dumb women
and my new stuff is too much for only one listen

ANTiERTHANG - The Deadliest

New Chicago project featuring...a lot of talented-ass rapper-ass rappers. Dig it:

ANTiERTHANG: "The Deadliest (Bionik Mix)" feat Mikkey Halsted, SuaveDaLyricist & Tommy Nova by Griffen

Best Hip Hop Video of 2011 | Wiley - "Numbers in Action"

Brilliance. Taking familiar ideas further. Playful and powerful. Runner up: "The Last Huzzah" remix.

PremRock - "The Writers' Block"

Way to take a pun to the next level and then some. The video and verses are both on point, very slick, subtle and smooth hip hop right here. I can dig it.

More info: Planet PremRock

Witness & The Family Secret - "Yesterday's Wake"

More shit like this in 2012, please. More live band / emcee collaborations in the future. Word to Treehouse holding it down in Chicago. Witness is outta PA and The Family Secret is a hella young band of motherfucking wizards from Albany, NY. They're fam with the homie Daimyo...small Universe, especially where good music and dope rap overlap.

Highly recommended: The last album Witness dropped is a unique jazz-rap masterpiece. Lyricism and production both shine -- this project is worth your attention. Behold The Everafter LP...

Phillip Morris - "Why You Have To Go And Break Phillip Morris' Heart?"

Always good to get a new track from this cat. One of my favorite Chicago emcees returns with a fascinating mix of comic detachment and first-person confessional.

Side Note: I don't know why he calls himself nerd rap, since he can actually spit and "Nerdcore" as a genre is defined by absurdly shitty emcees. Phillip Morris is a much more interesting breed than his own hashtags give him credit for.

Louis Mackey - "Everything, Everywhere, Always"

Tasty new piece from my #daug Louis Mackey. This is some shit I can leave on repeat for a full day...jazzy, dirty, funky as hell.

Louis Mackey - Everything, Everywhere, Always by World Around Records

Louis Mackey just got named one of the Top 5 MC's of 2011 by DJ Jazzpants, which is dope. Lou's working on a shit-ton of new projects, which is no surprise. If you want to dig into more of Lou's instrumental work, start with Destroyer of All Things...

Que Billah - The Conspiracy

Dope video, creative flows, I can dig it. Que Billah just released a mixtape called Bird Shit that the Real Yeti Rap team has yet to review. This here, though? Quality work, enjoy the trip.

The Black Opera - Villains

Fire. This is simple and powerful, strong photography and tight narrative cuts keep things moving...an iconic video.

Every single thing that this project has released is high quality. Really impressive project. If you've never heard of The Black Opera before, buy their album. This shit is that "Good Hip Hop" everyone's always talking about.

Dig their website - their operation is on point and if you're a rapper or producer, take notes. Also a case study in project planning and tight branding.

#CLASSIC: Alaskan Fishermen - Oh God!

Way too many quotables. Godforbid's solo track off the fucking classic Fire & Ice. FLOWS.

"women want me for the beautiful kids
stick around, put food in the fridge
take your tools and fix junior's bed
his room is a mess...I ain't doing that shit
must be some guy that you're confusing me with..."

"when I get cuts, scientists are lining up to buy the blood
but you better have Budweiser trucks, or drive a bus
of girls gymnastics, in them classes that teach 'em how to bend backwards
...that kinda stuff"

What is Godforbid doing now? If you didn't already know about That Handsome Devil, that's pretty stupidface, I won't lie. They're Wikipedia type big. One of my favorite cuts off their last album:

Holy Shit, New Blu & Exile Album

Arty, self-indulgent and consistently amazing. About what I'd expect from their second album: a lot of unexpected shit. Interludes are pointless, there's a couple throwaway tracks where Blu is mumbling over minimalism, but the gems? Some of the finest cuts I've heard this year from anyone.

Then again, like it says down in the liner notes: Unfinished, Unmixed, Unmastered...



LULZ: $15 though? Seriously? Kids these days, I swear.

MAN MANTIS - "Gonna Die Here"

Sneak attack from Man Mantis. This monster keeps evolving. Future space funk that thumps...dig it.

GET CONNECTED: FACEBOOK | TWITTER

Man Mantis Interview via Audible Hype


CITIES WITHOUT HOUSES -- COP THAT

Local Nobodies - "One"

One of the best projects of the year. Thanks to CNTRBND for giving me the heads-up on Sulaiman when I first landed in Chicago. Mathien, of course, we've done been up on...thanks to Louis Mackey for that, way back when.

This "mixtape" is actually a pretty flawless album. Only two cuts on here I don't bump weeks later. Music is incredible. Consistently catchy without being pop bullshit. Two dope artists having fun.

HUMPASAUR JONES - "The Patience"

Flows. Louis Mackey on the beat -- he also recorded and mixed the track.

Roku - Music for Misfits

Great beat tape -- mellow, tasty, perfect for rapping...or cleaning up a small LSD lab with some friends.



Dig it.

12/15 HUMP JONES @ Springfield, IL

Third Thursday Art Show - 12/15/2011 @ Hickox House
Hump Jones | Fortune 5000 | 95 Mental | Corn tha Coon
Art show starts 6 pm ... Hip Hop starts at 11 pm.
518 E Capitol Ave. in Springfield, Illinois

http://www.humpjones.com
http://humpjones.bandcamp.com
http://www.twitter.com/humpjones

Lyrics:
It's true: the Hickox House is hosting hip hop now
yeah, there goes the neighborhood, shit's gone downhill
still, if you like to get incredibly high
and you're stuck here in Springfield, where everything dies
remember: December One Five - the fifteenth, at exactly Eleven, I'm live
and when they let me inside?
I'll drop a set that ignites an epidemic of consensual sexual crimes
I'm lewd & lascivious, ready to rhyme
and leave the crowd tweaking out off the adrenaline high
that I provided for your vegetable minds
YOU KNOW YOUR SCENE NEEDS ME
I'm bringing you dope cinema flows on free CD's
I'm performance art without the boring parts and stupid costumes
my musics' hot, smooth and funky, you should stop through
I drop #TROOF - not another impostor on pop grooves and stolen beats
...I'm just a local nobody
but most MC's don't approach my knees unless they're quoting me
I'm going deep - and besides, fuck it, man, the show is free...

Algorhythms - "Ram Nam Satya Hai" - s. maharba Remix

"Ram Nam Satya Hai" - The name of Ram is truth. When you're naming songs after Hindu funeral chants, you know it's going to be dark & heavy stuff...and this s. maharba remix delivers the goods. Cosmic, cold, but still boom bap.

Recommended: The original Algorhythms EP.

Big Thanks: The Tairy Hesticles channel.

No Humans Allowed - "Not of This Earth"

but easy chump, this beat is just a reason to be breathing demons up
til I’m seeing leaking guts, steeping in sea of blood
he told it clear the little prick only had to speak it once
his whole career is moldy beer, cigarettes and seedy blunts
I’m awfully sick of settling for small kicks of adrenaline
half-wit women, liquor and prescription medicine
-Louis Mackey

Bandcamp link Check out this unusually awesome review of the No Humans Allowed project via DJ Jazzpants.

Further: Last.fm | Donuts & Milk