2011 was the peak year of the blog-Rap era, which was both a gift and a curse: on one hand, I found so much quality music via blogs; on the other hand, the Rap internet was awash with terrible blogs by delusional Wavery lads desparete to ride Yams' coattails. Whateva, man - variety is one of life's spices rather than one of its vices, so 2011 is a Helluva enjoyable Rap year to turn into a list.
E-40 ft. B-Legit & Stresmatic - Rear View Mirror
Juicy J - Who Da Neighbors
Mic Terror - Chief Sampson
Hollywood Holt & Million $ Mano - The Show
Meek Mill ft. Young Chris - House Party
Gunplay - No Arm And Hammer
Lady - Pussy
DJ Quik ft. Suga Free & Ty Dolla $ign - Nobody
Tyga - Rack City
Danny Brown - Lincoln Continental
Bo Deal ft. Mello G Blanca - Safe Sex
Husalah - Da Mob
The Jacka ft. Laroo & J. Stalin - All We Do (Remix)
Joe Blow - The Dopest
Sir Michael Rocks ft. Shorty K & Tris J - Too $hort Back
Max B - South Wave
French Montana ft. Charlie Rock - Shot Caller
Chinx Drugz - Superlight
Treal Lee & Prince Rick - Shoes Up
Kreayshawn - Gucci Gucci
DB Tha General - Upgrade Em 2
N.O.R.E - N.O.R.E Shot Somebody
Fam-Lay ft. Project Pat - Money Makin' Trick
Rich Boy - All I Know
TREE - Trouble
A-Mafia - Foldin' $100 Billz
Mouse On Tha Track - Swagger Fresh Freddie
Foxx - Friends
Webbie ft. Lil' Phat - What's Happenin'
Lil' Phat ft. Mannie Fresh - Talk Some Mo Shit
Boosie & B.G. - 187
Black Rob - Up North
Mysonne - In Jail
Jackie Chain ft. Bun B - Parked Outside
King Louie - We Like To Party
Travis Porter - College Girl
Rich Kidz ft. Young Thug - $100 Autograph
Fat Trel - Rolling
LoveRance ft. IamSu & Skipper - UP!
Roc Marciano - My Persona
$tarlito - Rather Be With You
Yo Gotti ft. Zed Zilla - Bang Bang (video version)
Pac Div - Posted
Waka Flocka Flame & Slim Dunkin - Twin Towers 2 (Intro)
Wooh Da Kid - I Prefer
TKO Capone - Louis Gucci
Ike Eyes - Blue Roxies
Katie Got Bandz - I Need A Hitta (O.G video version)
Rittz ft. Yelawolf & Big K.R.I.T - Fulla Shit
Kendrick Lamar - A.D.H.D
Soulja Boy - Zan With That Lean Part 2
Boldy James ft. Tennille - Concrete Connie
HD Of Bearfaced - 40 Glock USA (Remix)
Future - Same Damn Time
A$AP Rocky ft. A$AP Twelvy & A$AP Nast - Trilla
Giggs - Monster Man
Bonus thoughts: one of the many great things about Young Bleed's Stamp On It is that you can have the edited low bitrate video version in your 2006 list and then put the explicit CDQ album version in your 2011 list; of course, you could have Young Bleed's Holla At Uh Dog in your 2011 list instead and it'd be an equally great selection; Trilla is the ONLY song which justifies A$AP Mob's existence as rappers although 80% of that song's appeal is the beat & the hook; I don't care that King Louie's We Like To Party is still officially unreleased a decade on because I first heard that song in 2011; Giggs' Monster Man absolutely deserves to be on this list because it's as good as any American song and it's a song no American could ever make; I'm annoyed to learn that Cousin Fik's No Gravity is #actually from 2010 because I love that song like Frank Bruno loves Harry; the saddest song of 2011 was Dhat Fam & Mista's Expose One since both members of Dhat Fam were murdered for making it.
Was Ty Dolla really on that Quik song? I don’t hear his vocals
ReplyDeleteI was expecting Travis Porter but not THAT song LOL
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, he's credited on it. Maybe the backing vocals are him pitched up?
ReplyDeleteJmil, most underrated Travis Porter single imho.
Juicy J's "Who Da Neighbors" and Waka Flocka & Slim Dunkin's "Twin Towers Intro" might be two of the songs that convinced me that a life of being a milquetoast boom bap apologist wasn't as enticing as I'd previously thought it would.
ReplyDeleteThat was the year everything changed...
ReplyDelete"Rear View Mirror" is the best E-40 song I have ever heard.
ReplyDeleteThe other E-40 & B-Legit song from 2011 is another late career highlight - 43.
ReplyDelete@ anon Ty$ wasn't actually on Nobody even though he's in the video. It's possible that he was involved in the writing/production possibly?
ReplyDeleteCouple other favorites from 2011 for me:
Main Attrakionz "Perfect Skies"
Mob Figaz "Killin Em Slowly"
G-Side basically anything from The ONE... COHESIVE
Shady Nate / Jay Jonah "Real N**** Recipe"
Starlito & Don Trip outtakes
fuck i feel old all of a sudden
I was gonna go for Loyal To The Mob as a Mob Figaz pick but ditched it since I already had Jacka and Husalah songs.
ReplyDeleteThe blurst of times for me as a sometime yams coat tail rider (r.i.p.), it was the only year I put out an end of year rap list myself (presumably heavily plagiarised from you and the other usual suspects). Seems bizarre that I didn't include Who Da Neighbors on there over Bombay Gin Dance. Also, back then I was a Curren$y Stan and I will bump Covert Coupe today in memorium.
ReplyDeleteHere's the list FWIW https://www.google.com/amp/s/dirtnap2.tumblr.com/post/15778298253/dirtnap2-presents-dirt-raps-2011-so-obviously/amp
The Yams coattail riders were the Wavery lads who all thought they were gonna be managers/a&rs too, which ultimately resulted in Kitty Pryde-gate in 2012 😄
ReplyDeleteI could never quite get into Covert Coup because it was a different lane to the Curren$y I liked. Maybe I'll give it another try one day.
Re: your list. Shit, I thought Mask On was from 2012 😳 Also, great call on Scotty because I couldn't come up with a Gucci pick for this list.
Another 2011 Road-Rap song I like a lot is Big Squeeko by Squeeks. Total Westwood classic of that era.
Ah, 2011. Readin' blogs, trying to like the Tyler The Creator album, being in love with Kreayshawn, listening to HACKSAW BEN THUGGIN on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge...I think that's all I remember. Oh, and Malki Means King! I just checked youtube and he's still at it.
ReplyDelete@ Wave Benson Phillips
ReplyDeleteGreat list! I forgot December 17th was 2011, that tape fucking whipped, Trouble was so distinctive on that.
My Young L pick would be Loud Pockets, or Toucan Sam if I'm being contrary. and Shady Blaze is deeply underrated, "Dirt On My Name" absolutely kills.
Actually, my god, Shady Blaze had like five full tapes of weird hazy doubletime cloud rap in 2011
ReplyDeleteand Squadda had I Smoke Because I Don't Care About Death which is incredible and remains in the running for hardest ever mixtape title
2011 an interesting time in Rap music the blog era was good and bad. It introduced me to some rappers who’s music I still check for to this but it also had everyone and there grandmother trying to be a rapper which is how we’ve ended up with the over saturation of music we have today.
ReplyDeleteThat probably pre-dates blogs to when physical releases started dying out in the mid 2000s, blogs just made it more apparent 😄
ReplyDeleteAm I crazy or was No Jumper not initially a post-Tumblr blog by some aspiring bloggers-turned-managers (think they managed Main Attrakzionz?) that seemed to die before popping up years later as the Adam22 channel we all know?
ReplyDeleteMan, I remember that era pretty vividly. Hitting up nahright and 2dopeboyz for new music, then finding out they invariably posted the same songs with roughly the same basic bitch pr bullshit for every song.
ReplyDeleteCan't say I ever really followed any of the Wavery affiliates. I remember being more up the Steadybloggin/T.R.O.Y./Unkut/cocaineblunts type blogs, but most of them seemed to have died out by now.
Yeah, it was run by that Yayodancing cornball who was trying to manage some cloud-rapper called Khalil Nova 😂
ReplyDeleteAdam22 put the money up for the o.g NoJumper website which is why he now owns it, but it was originally a buncha Tumblr guys writing puff-pieces about artists they were friends with/managing/aspiring to work with. Always a terrible site.
Haha I knew i wasn't imagining that. Must be quite humbling to see Adam22 run a more successful media venture than you.
ReplyDeletehH=ahahah
ReplyDeletetears of melancholia, joy and reminiscence stream from the hustlin ass kid's eyes as I read the post and the comments. 2011 was so exciting, I feel almost excited about 2021, especially with all the Detroit/Flint rappers and the new rappers coming out the soil in Stoccghanistan and South Sac Iraq (r.i.p bris), oh and all the new grimey rappers from frisco like Ice, Ke , Drew beeze, etc.
ReplyDeleteI started a new blog www.snitchytycoon.tumblr.com and have been uploading lots of zips to download so please go and steal music from there
-Nyquil
I already added you a few weeks back in my sidebar 😄
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Iw0-U9OknI
ReplyDeletewe need to reconnect all the lost bloggers together!
Get Thomas on the phone and tell him that Orange County Hardcore is wack as fuck.
ReplyDeleteMad late to this. My Gucci pick would probably be either "Recently" with 50 Cent or "Up My Alley"
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIsnbig_MJM