2007: Hip-Hop Heaven

I have to admit: Blueprint 3 and Kid Cudi's Man on the Moon are the only two albums I'm listening to right now. I've neglected all other music for these two. This got me thinking, when was the last time that I fell in love with more than one album in the same year? Well this dates me back to 2007. In 2007 I was a junior in high school and just turning 17. Five of my favorite artists dropped albums and I was in heaven. Now this may not be the same for everyone but my taste in music was beyond satisfied. You will probably get a more in-depth taste of what I like my music to be like.

I shall now reveal what was so good about 2007.


Lupe Fiasco-The Cool: Lupe Fiasco is my top favorite artist right now. I love anything he puts out and I'm sure anyone familiar with the Hip-Hop game knows Lupe is pure talent. After his debut album "Food & Liquor", The Cool was his sophomore album and lead singles, "Dumb it Down" "Superstar" feat. Mathew Santos and "Paris Tokyo". My favorite track off this one would be "The Coolest". I love this whole CD though, and could recite to you almost all of the songs. What is interesting about this album is that Lupe told a story about "The Streets" and "The Game" two fictional characters he made up and it was a continuation from the boy referenced in "He Say She Say" from Food & Liquor. His ability to tell a story and connect through real life experiences with great music production made this album a top five favorite of all time.


Common-Finding Forever: Common is one of my favorite artists likewise Lupe. I can't make up my mind so I love them all equal. This album dropped over the summer when I was really in a drought of some dope music. I took one listen to this CD and was hooked. The beats and production are amazing as he uses one of J Dilla's track on "Break my Heart". This album is almost near perfect, with his singles "The Game, "The People" and "I Want You" and Kanye's production that mirrored J Dilla as an honor really set it off. "Southside" and "I Want You" are probably my two most listened on the album but I can listen to the whole thing any day of the week. I'm praying that Common puts out something similar to this again, he saved my ears during the summer with this one.


Kanye West-Graduation: Well this is probably the most recognizable album in 2007. All-around nothing but pure greatness and a top 5 album in my book. "Can't Tell me Nothing" and "Stronger" are some of the greatest songs ever made. I remember very well, the hype behind this was Kanye vs 50 Cent both dropping on September 11th. Now of course 50 Cent will do almost anything to sell some records, but the battle was won by Kanye easily. I enjoyed this album overall. "Flashing Lights", "Homecoming", "Big Brother", and "Champion" all deserve some honorable mentions. Great producing and lyrics. Kanye, Ima let you finish, but this is your best album of all-time!


Jay-Z-American Gangster: When I first heard Jay-Z was debuting with this album, I thought it would go along very well with the movie. He did to "Heart of the City" for the movie but this album was not the soundtrack for it. Instead Hov was inspired by the movie to do an album about it. I loved this album instantly and the occasional Frank Lucas/Denzel Washington snippets through out the album. Features with Nas, Lil Wayne, Bilal, Bennie Sigel and the usualy productions from No I.D., The Neptunes, and Diddy were great. What's even more supportive of how good the album is, the eventual President Obama being a fan of the album!


Chamillionaire-Ultimate Victory: For anyone that loves Chamillitary knows this is a dope album. The Mixtape Messiah went back on his grind and produced some great tracks on this album. His ability to sing through hooks with a good flow (without Auto-Tune) makes his tracks even better. I wasn't feeling "Evening News" as the best track or first single but " Industry Groupie" a better one. "Rock Star" Ft. Lil Wayne was one of my favorite songs from the album along with "Welcome to the South". Cham covered everything from falseness in the industry to female love interests. "You Think I'm Crazy" was one of the sickest lyrical tracks he has in my opinion. Overall I hope Chamillionaire drops another album soon!

All of these albums I listen to two years later to this current day. I guess I can have some experience that my parents have when they hear an oldies song from back in their days. So no matter how old these albums get I will always listen and be a fan of them.

Honorable Mentions:

Alicia Keys-As I Am: While I wasn't entirely into this album, I took a few listens to it every now and then but it is one of the top albums debuted in 2007. Alica Keys, besides being my wifey, is full of talent from producing, singing, and acting. "Superwoman", "Teenage Love Affair", and "No One" are the top tracks I listened to from this album. Only reason I didn't list it above is because I didn't listen to it as much. It could be because Graduation, Finding Forever, and The Cool overshadowed it but this one definitely is a top album.


50 Cent-Curtis: I was about to give up on 50 before this album. He came out with some real BS and everyone wanted his "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" type of flow. I have to admit this was a solid album. I really have no complaints about it except for the few lame singles (Straight to the Bank and Amusement Park) he put out. Kanye out did him but only because of the quality Kanye managed to put out. This is a CD I could jam to if I wanted to hear some hardcore stuff. The production was decent and 50's lyrics weren't as bad on most of the tracks. "Ayo Technology" was more commercial but the feature of Timberlake and Timbaland's production put this track over the top. The other featured guests weren't a bad selection as well so I was impressed.