Hip Hop in 2008- A year in review

December 30, 4:00 PMNY Hip-Hop Music ExaminerSamantha Greaves

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Hip Hop in commercials?!

Memph Bleek does Garnier Fructis

I know Hip Hop has gone commercial but never did I expect this! Yes kiddies, that is the Memphis Bleek, you know Jay-Z’s good friend and personal professional hype man, in a Garnier Fructis commercial…my my my! I don’t know about you but I was mortified to see this commercial as well as dumb shocked. There are just some places that hip hop needs to stay away from, shampoo commercials being one of them. (see him at the 2:59 mark)

Mase & Twyla infomercial

Need I say more? My shock when I saw this commercial earlier this year! Kudos to Mase finding a new path in life, but an infomercial?! Seriously?!

The Year’s Most Memorable Performances

Jay-Z at Glastonbury

Hush up about rap not being suitable for Glastonbury! How in the world is it not for Glastonbury when everyone in the audience knew Jay-Z lyrics better than he did?! I loved this performance so much that I would’ve given away my $81 metrocard and a year supply of soy vanilla chai’s from Connecticut Muffin to have been there. I loved the fact that he came out with a guitar strapped on prepared to sing Gallagher’s tune. Loved it! Take that haters!

Kanye West at the Grammy’s

This performance had to have been the best performance he ever gave in his entire career (in my opinion of course). It was like every child’s dream to wear a glow in the dark vest and glasses. And that pose he struck when he delivered the line (..act like you can't tell who made this/ new gospel homie take six/and take this…haters!) I could so see him doing that when he was 7 years young on top of his bed in his Transformers pajamas using a hair brush as a mic. No one had ever performed in the dark before as far as I can remember and it was timeless and classic. This performance was done shortly after the abrupt passing of his mother, so it was done with so much passion and intensity. Leave it to Kanye to be original.

The Year of Auto-Tunes

The real success story goes to the reemergence and overuse of the plug-in phenom, auto-tunes. We can personally “thank” T-Pain for that. Everyone and their fathers (literally) were using auto-tunes in place of real singers. Kanye West even jumped on the ban wagon to shell out an album (808’s & Heartbreak) using just the plug-in. Notable artists that suffered the fads doom were Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Lil Wayne, and Young Jeezy to name a few.

Case in point:

Heartless - Kanye West

Lollipop - Lil Wayne

To Swagger Or Not To Swagger Tis A Tricky Question

The story goes like this. T.I. decided to compile a collection of artist for HIS song entitled “Swagger Like Us”. Some artist were “offended” at the fact that they weren’t asked to be on said song so what did they do? They made their own versions of the song. Notable artists to take a swing at the swagger like us ball Jim Jones and Diddy. (Sigh) it really wasn’t that serious…or was it?

Click here to read up on the Swagger Drama.

Nas’ Controversial Album Name

After months of speculation about if he was going to name it &%^g*# , Nas decided to name his much anticipated and controversial album…well nothing. The album debuted as Untitled instead of &$%#@! (< this is done on purpose lol). Either way, it did make for an entertaining read and watching people hold their breath to see what he was going to do was a little funny. Plus, there’s no better way to promote an album than with a little controversy. The album cover speaks volumes though, wouldn’t you say?

Image

Standout song:

Hero - Nas

My Picks for the Hottest Hip Hop songs of 2008. 

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