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FIVE ELEMENTS: TOP 10 ILLEST MOMENTS OF 2012

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This year was particularly ripe for hip-hop. Bombshell blog posts were unleashed on the world, an icon passed away and beats and rhymes simmered with raw talent. Here’s an eclectic stew of goodness, in no particular order.

It’s a revelry-call to things you may have slept on and a compilation of essential jams.

10. Action Bronson’s Second Helping
“In only one year, considered as a veteran,” says the Queens rhymer on “The Symbol.” After bursting on the scene with Dr. Lecter and a few other mixtapes last year, Bronsolini remained as hungry as ever. He released Blue Chips, a project so gloriously lo-fi that the samples came from Youtube and the fuck-ups were left on record (see “9-24-11”). Following that up with Rare Chandeliers, a masterpiece co-masterminded with Alchemist, was the truffle oil—an exquisite finishing touch.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBJGLaL36ss

9. Black Hippy Blesses The West
Kendrick Lamar wrote good kid, m.A.A.d city, a “short film” that’s the closest the modern day hip-hop world has gotten to the Great American Novel. Critics blew a lot of chronic smoke up its ass, but it’s not without merit. Visionary story raps like “The Art of Peer Pressure” are as compelling as they are contradictory. And with Schoolboy Q and Ab Soul on the same squad, the team is scarily on-point. Schoolboy alone brought back the bucket hat—a true feat—and dropped “There He Go,” a singsong single so kooky and catchy that it refuses to leave your dome.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnnYiW5dnhQ

8. Mystikal Gets On The Good Foot
It’s been a minute since “Shake Your Ass” attacked dance floors worldwide—twelve years to be exact. A laundry list of legal problems kept Mystikal in jail and away from the lab. After getting out of the big house this August, he wasted no time in putting his singular voice back to good use. “Hit Me” channels the livewire energy of James Brown, complete with punchy horn blasts and pounding, primitive drums. It’s feral and ferocious. “Fuck the dumb shit/kill ‘em with the drum kick.” Indeed.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pMnTh4Xb8A

7. A Portrait of the Earl As A Young Man
The days of Dadaist rape raps are thankfully in the rearview for Earl Sweatshirt, the sharpest lyricist in Odd Future. But instead of watering down his style, he’s perfected it, letting his trademark dense rhymes mature. The post-Samoa Earl is understatedly brilliant: he’s feeling “as hard as Vince Carter’s knee cartilage is. On “Chum,” the minor-key piano and skittering drums serve up the perfect backdrop for spitting eloquent angst.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCbWLSZrZfw

6. Flying Lotus Pulls A Bo Jackson
Steven Ellison’s talent is truly otherworldly. He’s a double threat on both the boards and the mic, and this year he dropped some innovative shit in each league. As Flying Lotus, Until The Quiet Comes dazzled critics and dreamers alike, weaving psychedelic beat tapestries capable of inducing mystical states. As Captain Murphy, he pushed the enigmatic envelope even further, MCing as an unknown dude shrouded in mystery. In early December, he performed “Between Friends,” the Captain Murphy collaboration with Earl, revealing that the Murph was actually FlyLo who was actually Steve Ellison. Get it?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuQGfk9Gmgo

5. MCA Achieves Nirvana
On May 4th, the world lost the raspy-voiced, soulful Beastie at the far-too-early age of 47. Graffiti mural tributes went up, countless columns were written, but the most emotional response came from an unlikely source—Chris Martin. The haunting cover of “Fight For Your Right” continues to give me goosebumps half a year later. Hate on Coldplay all you want, but flipping this classic with creative pathos is a bold move.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVr4UP9ntLs

4. Kanye’s Cruel Summer
Guilty pleasure disclaimer: while the album itself was nowhere near My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in terms of cohesive genius, it featured two potent summer bangers. Blitzing the radio like a summer storm, “Mercy” and “New God Flow” quickly became my go-to pop jams. Even though the best TV is on HBO and AMC, sometimes the major networks have nuggets of big-budget gold. Black skirt aside, this is a certified super slapper.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Dqgr0wNyPo

3. Frank Ocean Loses His Religion
At this point, the coming-out blog post has been run into the ground. Still, his performance on Fallon—a week after dropping the news—remains unimpeachably beautiful. With the Roots backing him up, the existential taxicab of “Bad Religion” takes on a quality that can’t be captured on wax.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDSPybTFYHU

2. Rotten Apple Raps With Roc Marciano
New York hasn’t sounded this gully in a minute. Imagine the Gotham of French Connection—grimy scenes under elevated trains, Blaxploitation flicks and hookers at Times Square. This is Roc’s world. His rhymes contain cold wordplay, rugged beats and the vibe of corner L sessions. On “76,” he stays in his lane, evoking his single-minded worldview with surgical precision.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVm5b9TFi_Y

1. Joey Badass Resurrects the Boom Bap
Brooklyn’s golden child has had a bittersweet year. On the one hand, he and his Pro Era dominated the blogosphere, riding the hype from their “Survival Tactics” video all the way to internet superstardom. On the other hand, Capital Steeze, a key Pro Era collaborator, took his own life on Christmas Eve. It’s hard to imagine the pain, but the music still speaks for itself. Of all of Joey’s achievements, “Waves” stands out as the best example of the 17-year old savant’s talent. It’s an origin story. He ends it with: “All I can do is imagine.” It looks like that imagination is taking flight. RIP Steeze.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=51e1gIkzHgk



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