Following our reveal of the best major label hip-hop albums of 2014 earlier in the week, we now present our favorite indie LP’s of the year. As per usual, it was hard to find 10 inclusions for the major label list, and hard to narrow it down to only 10 on the indie list.

10. Step Brothers (Evidence + Alchemist) – Lord Steppington – Rhymesayers - Lord Steppington is unlike anything either Al or Ev have done thus far, which is testament to their versatility. It doesn’t sound like a Dilated album without Rakka, nor does it sound like, say, Albert Einstein from a production standpoint. Evidence and Alchemist have challenged themselves here, and ended up producing a dope, unconventional underground rap album, most likely dreamed up in the smokiest of atmospheres. Here come the lords.

9. Bishop Nehru + MF Doom – NehruvianDOOM – Lex Records – MF Doom teamed up with rising star Bishop Nehru for NehruvianDOOM, a solid collaborative album that found him laying down tracks for the young emcee. While some complained about re-used beats, we didn’t mind, as we don’t really listen to Doom’s beat tapes anyway. Sewn together brilliantly with Doom’s off kilter samples from various different sources, it’s rare we find Doom producing a whole album for someone, which made this a real treat.

8. Your Old Droog – Your Old Droog LP – Droog Recordings – It started off as some kid on Reddit proposing the idea that Droog was actually Nas in disguise, leading to a whole bunch of people accidentally checking for the Coney Island, NY rapper. What we found was an incredibly solid LP from a budding emcee with an airtight flow and classic, sample based production. Released on “Droog Recordings” this is the definition of an indie success story.

7. Apathy – Connecticut Casual – Demigodz Recordings – Connecticut Casual is a concept album, but isn’t as heavy as say, The Roots …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin, for example. It’s a pretty straight-shooting, classically styled hip-hop record, but Ap ties the entire thing together by using his home state as a backdrop. Using the New England area’s rich history as a blueprint, he examines the state’s dichotomy of its Yacht-owning upper class, and it’s seedier crime ridden underbelly. Another well put together album, with very interesting, unexplored territory in hip-hop music.

6. Ras Kass + Apollo Brown – Blasphemy – MelloMusicGroup - Ras Kass and Apollo Brown’s, Blasphemy, is a concept LP that is more or less a crusade against organized religion. It’s also one of the best albums of the year, and quite possibly the most concise album that Ras has ever recorded. Ras has finally been given an equally yoked producer to match his sharp lyrical prowess.

5. Ghostface Killah – 36 Seasons – Tommy Boy – Where the Wu failed with A Better Tomorrow, Ghostface delivered with a literal “better tomorrow” releasing his excellent 36 Seasons LP just a week later. An incredibly tight-knit concept album with fresh, original live production from The Revelations, Ghostface Killah has long proven to be the Wu-Tang Clan’s most consistant member.

4. DJ Premier + Royce Da 5’9 – PRhyme – PRhyme Records – American dream team of DJ Premier and Royce Da 5’9 reunited after the success of their classic single “Boom,” for Preem’s first group project since the dissolution of Gang Starr. While the album showed both artists doing what they do best, we’d love to see how they mature as a group with consecutive albums as time goes on.

3. Statik Selektah – What Goes Around – Showoff - While not as high-profile as some of the other releases on this list, Statik Selektah’s What Goes Around was easily one of the most consistent LPs of 2014, especially considering its length. Stat has matured into one of the best producers in the game, able to zero in on that “golden age” sound, with an extensive guest list to help drive it home.

Pharoahe Monch – PTSD – W.A.R. Media – In his most focused and consistent LP since Internal Affairs, Pharaohe Monch has taken a real-life bout with depression and turned into one of the strongest independent LP of the year. He doesn’t try to recapture the success of “Simon Says”, nor does he try to crossover with Cee-Lo-esque gospel/soul tracks, despite his obvious singing chops. This is an unapologetically dark, incredibly well-written, musically sound LP that finds the emcee returning to greatness. Pharoahe Fucking Monch, ain’t a damn thing changed.

1. Run The Jewels (Killer Mike + El-P) – RTJ2 – Productomart / Mass Appeal – RTJ2 is a worthy sequel to the original that gets consecutively better with each listen, topping many of the industry’s year end lists across all music genres. It’s so far removed from what major labels have been pushing on us for the last few years, yet it sons them all with a smart, progressive, politically minded, and musically dope album that challenges the status quo, and reminds us why we still love hip-hop after all these years. It is possible that this album could mark a turning point for hip-hop music, so bump this shit like they do in the future.

Okay okay. The Best & Worst lists are coming, slowly but surely. We’ll try to deliver one of these per weekday over the next few weeks. In between juggling my duties for Medium.Com/Cuepoint, regular HipHopSite.Com updates, and DJing, it’s been hard to find the time to do these. So let’s begin with 2014′s best major label album releases. Indie label releases up next…

10. YG – My Krazy Life – Def Jam – Initially we didn’t love YG’s Interscope debut, but as time went on it slowly grew on us. Fully produced by DJ Mustard, the album captured and subsequently resurrected the sound of the west coast, harking back to early classics from Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and the Death Row era. We’ve heard the word “classic” thrown around when discussing this album, and while we have come around from our initial opinions on it, we still believe that it more borrows from the classics rather than lives as one. Still a solid out the gate debut from the young Blood.

9. Common – Nobody’s Smiling – ARTrium / Def Jam – Truth be told, Com’s Chicago-centric Nobody’s Smiling LP was better in theory than in execution. Despite No I.D.’s sometimes too experimental production, in terms of poignancy, what he was saying about the city’s gang violence epidemic far outweighs the topics of pretty much anyone else on this list. For that alone, it deserves inclusion. Lyrically on point.

8. Rick Ross – Mastermind – MMG / Def Jam – Due to his bloated, excessive persona, Rick Ross is the rapper we love to hate, however damn if he doesn’t pick good beats. At least he did on Mastermind, while Hood Billionaire was made up of more dumbed down, baller anthems. Mastermind found the then still heavy-set Ross channeling his inner Barry White with soulful samples and lush grooves, as he describes his over-the-top lavish lifestyle. We ain’t mad at it.

7. DJ Mustard – 10 Summers – Google Play – We’re going to go out on a limb and put Google in the “major label” category, considering they probably have more money than Def Jam. Mustard’s 10 Summers was the hottest producer of the year’s answer to Dr. Dre’s 2001, even paying homage to it in the opening sketch. He accomplished what YG’s My Krazy Life couldn’t – variation – by simply extending the guest list. The all-star cast of all the biggest names in hood hits rounded out 10 Summers nicely, creating an album of anthems suited for radio and the club.

6. Childish Gambino – STN MTN / Kauai – Glassnote / Universal – While Gambino’s Because The Internet topped a lot of the industry’s 2014 year end lists, it actually was included on our 2013 year end list. We had since moved on to his brilliantly crafted STN MTN / Kauai project, which is marketed as a mixtape and an EP, but really was an album in two parts. Gambino trolling in true fashion once again.

5. Eminem – Shady XV – Shady Records / Interscope – Face it, Eminem’s scraps and leftovers are better than most people’s albums. Who knows how much of Shady XV was meant for The Marshall Mathers LP 2, but this indirect sequel featured even more mind-blowing rhymes from the original rap genius, while showing off the talents of his Shady 2.0 roster. Lyrical miracles are back, bitches.

4. The Roots – …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin – Def Jam – …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin is a highly pretentious concept album. However, it’s also good. And it is very digestible, clocking in at just over 30 minutes, marking The Roots shortest LP to date. So it doesn’t require large amounts of patience. Like any solid album, it gets better with each consecutive listen, and its theme becomes apparent the more times you hear it. Bravo.

3. Schoolboy Q – Oxymoron – TDE/Interscope – Following Kendrick’s good kid, m.a.a.d. city, Oxymoron is largely an album that seems untampered with by pesky A&R’s. Amidst Q’s cinematic tales of gangbanging and drug problems, he also impresses with his delivery, lyrical styles, and dark, subterranian production. Oxymoron is a triumph of a rap album, because it signifies a return of “underground” rap to the major label scene.

2. J. Cole – 2014 Forest Hills Drive – Dreamville / Columbia – The best-selling rap album of the year (650,000+) is from a semi-conscious rapper who rhymes over his own self-produced beats built around funk and soul samples and drum loops. Sorry Iggy, sorry Nicki. A change gon’ come.

1. Big K.R.I.T. – Cadillactica - K.R.I.T.’s second LP for Def Jam may be one of the lowest selling albums on this list, but it’s also quite easily the strongest. It’s probably hard to market a Southern artist that raps about important topics, produces his own beats, and makes albums that sound like they belong in the Outkast catalog. Maybe that will change next year.

Maybe with Dr. Dre’s sale of Beats Electronics to Apple, we may finally see a release date for his final album, Detox. Fans have been waiting for it for so long, that they’ve taken matters into their own hands. Yes, the innanet has decided that if Dre won’t finish Detox, then they will finish it for him! Here are 10, terribly Photoshopped fake Detox album covers from the deepest corners of the internet. Viewer Discretion Advised: you will not be able to unsee some of these images.

10. Detox: What Could Have Been: Ah yes, if only. Feast your eyes upon this beautifully rendered, imaginary cover by Trid Tha Kid, giving only a fleeting glimpse of what could have been the album cover for Detox. Can’t you see, Dr. Dre? Can’t you see what could have been!?! THIS!

9. “The Walking Detox” – What will happen first, the undead apocalypse, or Detox? Be it the former, Zombie Dr. Dre will attempt to market and release Detox to the hordes of Z-Day, without worry of anyone leaking it to the now offline internet. Dre’s looking a little long in the tooth here.

8. Generic Detox – This one follows the post-millennial tradition of the “photo-of-artist-plus-fonts” album cover, used on best-selling magnum opuses like Mase’s  Welcome Back and Ja Rule’s Pain Is Love. Oh look, they used the 2001 font. Surely this is real.

7. “Xerox Detox” – Washed out photo of Dr. Dre, with slightly arched, crackling “Detox” text in red, and photocopied image of Southern California restaurant for the background. Platinum, bitch.

6. D.E.T.O.X.: The Acronym - How huge is Dr. Dre now? Everything black in this photo is his T-shirt.

5. Impact Detox – Whoa, Dre looks like he needs a detox for real here. Lay off the sticky-icky, greeny green. Doc’s orders.

4. SJoynson Presents…. Detox – We have to say, it’s a good thing that SJoynson watermarked the shit out of this potential Detox album cover. This way, Interscope can’t use it without his permission. Great thinking buddy.

3. Detox: Gateway Drug Edition – Ah that makes sense. The natural progression from Dre’s past weed smoking days would be to move on to heroin. Explains the delay, too.

2. Detox Is Eminem’s Album Now: Yo, what the hell is going on here? Seriously, look at this shit. Drug dealing goblins with backwards baseball caps. This is the internet clearly not giving a fuck at all.

1. Detox: Art Director Versus Artist – Imagine, if you will, that this were the real cover for Detox. The job-description handed down to the graphic artist might have read something like this: “We want a huge picture of the Dre’s face. HUGE. We want it so close, that the top of his head is cropped off. And really dark. So you can’t really see it, in a way. Then really big, we want the title of the album, which is DETOX: 2011: The Mixtape. But we want it in separate corners. Maybe the “Detox” part goes over his forehead, then the “2011″ part goes on his face, a little. Don’t even put Dr. Dre’s name on there. He’s a fucking icon, you peon. He doesn’t need his name on the cover. People know who the fuck he is! Jesus. Okay, then we want A LOT of marijuana leaves. A ton. I want a fucking Gucci Bag pattern of marijuana leaves on this thing. Just put them all over the place. Everywhere! Brilliant…. Oh, also, checks will be delayed 3 weeks. Sorry.”

Did you know that supreme evil corporation, Wal-Mart, indirectly has control over the rap industry? Until iTunes surpassed it 2008, Wal-Mart was the #1 music retailer in the United States, despite the fact that they only offer “clean/radio edit” versions of albums, something that we’ve all found out the hard way, at least once. That being said, Wal-Mart has been known to ask artists to remove “objectionable” songs from their albums completely, or even alter the cover art, as in the case of Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy LP. Even worse, some rappers have been forced to change their names, as Wal-Mart will refuse to carry anything that their shoppers of baby diapers and bullets might find offensive. Here is a list of 11 rap monikers that probably don’t “sit well” on Wal-Mart shelves.

11. Shorty Shit Stain - Of course one-time ODB affiliate Shorty Shit Stain would make this list. It’s not as if we ever expected each of the members of the Brooklyn Zu to venture off with successful major label solo albums, but if they did, what would he call himself to appease the suits at Wal-Mart? They answer is simple, really. We give you… Shorty Skidmarks!

10. Killer Mike – Killer Mike had a brief stint of using the alias of “Mike Bigga”, which didn’t stick with the fans. We may never know if this move was to insure that he wouldn’t be banned by Wal-Mart, but it never caught on. That might be because we bloggers were always re-labeling his tracks “Killer Mike”, so people would still click on it. Of course, it’s okay for Wal-Mart to carry the “Unrated Director’s Cut” of chicken-fellatio murder porn film, Killer Joe. Because that’s not offensive.

9. Smif-N-Wessun – Rap history tells us that the reason Tek and Steele called themselves “Da Cocoa Brovaz” in the late 90′s, for one album, was because gun-manufacturer, Smith and Wesson threatened to sue them. This might very well be true, but relabeling themselves as such might have also had to do with placement on the store shelves of the industry’s top music retailer, who also happens to carry a wide selection of firearms from Smith & Wesson. What we learned: gunning people down is okay, just don’t do it on wax.

8. Peedi Crakk – Wisely, Peedi Crakk removed the freebased half of his name by the time he appeared on The Roots’ How I Got Over LP, doubling it up as “Peedi Peedi”.

7. Kokane – Want to hear a double-standard? The only way something called “Cocaine” can be sold at Wal-Mart is if it’s spelled correctly and it’s referring to the song by Eric Clapton. That’s a helluva rub…

6. Joey Bada$$ – Somewhere in America, there are people that still think “ass” is a bad word. However these people also probably refer to the donkeys on their farm as such. The two dollar signs in the spelling of “ass” cover it up slightly, but the title of his forthcoming album, B4Da$$ (pronounced “Before Da Money”), may be the most clever use of censorship we’ve ever seen.

5. Ghostface Killah – Get your copy of The Pretty Tony album, and you’ll notice that “Killah” has been omitted from Ghost’s name entirely. This was a temporary decision by Def Jam in order to appease entities like Clear Channel and Wal-Mart, the latter whom has seceded and broke down, eventually carrying his full catalog. A small victory for the heads. Where my Killah tape at, god?

4. Gunplay – Gunplay’s been signed to Rick Ross’ MMG for a while now, but still no album yet. You can bet they are having a tough time convincing the suits to get behind somebody with “Gun” in his name. We’re guessing he’ll rebrand himself under his Don Logan alias by the time his album drops. Sounds cooler anyway….

3. Tity Boy – All that time Tity Boy was signed with Ludacris, they couldn’t break through to the mainstream. Then, he denounced his love for titties, changed his name to 2 Chaiiiiinz and took the world by storm. T.R.U. story.

2. Junglepussy – Rising new talent out of Brooklyn that is making some noise. Someone want to break it to her..?

1. Chinx Drugz – A racial slur and a drug reference in your rap name? Looks like it might be an uphill battle for Mr. Drugz, who is also a member of the Coke Boys, a group that seems to really have a thing for soda. Noted, he has taken steps to rectify this by just shortening his name to “Chinx”, but there is still at least one group of people that might have a problem with this.

No, we don’t have inside information, and no, these aren’t OUR picks, we just think we have a pretty good ear for what’s happening in the industry. So place your bets, here are our predictions for XXL’s Freshman Class issue for 2014.

1. Jon Connor – This Flint, MI emcee has been slaying tracks on the mixtape scene, and received great critical acclaim with the release of his album, Unconscious State. What the album lacked in polish will surely be made up for on his major label debut, as he is now signed to Aftermath. Shoe-in.

2. Troy Ave – We think its pretty likely that we’ll be hearing an announcement of Troy Ave’s major label signing any day now, if not right around the time the XXL Freshman 2014 cover is released. Troy has a huge buzz in New York City, with the intent to bring back the sound curated by G-Unit and the Ruff Ryders, after southern styles of French Montana and A$AP Rocky have taken over the region.

3. Chance the Rapper – As we detailed in our review of Acid Rap, we don’t really see what the hype on Chance The Rapper is, but that’s probably because we are old and we don’t know shit about anything. The numbers on Chance don’t lie, and if anything, he is a healthy alternative to the detrimental-to-society rap that’s currently coming out of Chicago from any number of rappers with “Lil” attached to their name.

4. Isaiah Rashad – TDE’s buzz couldn’t be stronger at the moment, and their youngest-in-charge, Isaiah Rashad, proved to be worth the label’s endorsement with the release of Cilvia Demo. A timely release, which is likely to cement his place on this list, and secure him a deal with Interscope for his next project.

5. Problem – LA’s Problem has been putting it down for a minute now, with a brief breakthrough back in 2008 with “I’m Fucked Up”. His buzz resurfaced in the last year or so, thanks to his verse on E-40′s “Function”, and his comeback hit, “Like Whaaat?”, which was one of the biggest west-coast hits of the summer.

6. IamSu & Sage The Gemini – It’s likely that these two Bay Area HBK Gang reperesentatives will be treated as one entry on the list, much like Schoolboy Q and Ab-Soul were last year, as they share an almost equal buzz, and Su was just as responsible for “Gas Pedal” crossing over as Sage. If it is narrowed down to one, Sage has the upper hand with “Red Nose” being an equally hot club cut of the moment.

7. Ty Dolla $ign – Ty broke through briefly in 2011 on “All Star”, which borrowed its melody from Swedish House Mafia’s “One”, as well as on YG’s “Toot It Or Boot It”, another artist who is currently receiving a second childhood. The success of both is owed to the DJ Mustard-led West Coast resurgence and creation of the “ratchet” sound, which is currently helping propel “Paranoid”-led Beach House EP to heavy buzz for a full-length debut.

8. Riff Raff - There’s always at least one melanin-deficient MC on the list, whether they have a legitimate buzz or not (ahem: Logic). We won’t be surprised to see walking trainwreck, Riff Raff, on this list, as he not only is making noise in the club with his current single, “How To Be The Man”, but also carries the backing of perhaps the most buzzworthy industry-wide producer of the moment, Diplo.

9. Rich Homie Quan – This list wouldn’t be complete without an Atlanta, GA representative, and aside from Migos, whom are likely to be excluded due to being a group, Rich Homie Quan held the biggest buzz this past year with “Type Of Way”. Mr. CEO is what his title say.

10. Gunplay - Although Gunplay’s legal troubles have gotten him more mainstream press than his music, MMG’s resident wild card is next to join the ranks of Meek Mill and Wale, thanks to his astute pen and underground buzz. The only thing we see holding him back is his name, which might not “sit well” on Wal-Mart shelves or Clear Channel radio playlists. 5-to-1 he’s called G-Play or GP when his album drops….

There you have it. We may be off slightly, but we’re guessing we’ll end up with at least a 70% by the time the list drops. Usually the list includes one female emcee as well, however perhaps not this year with such heavy male competition, not to mention the lackluster success of Angel Haze and Iggy Azalea in past years.

Nevermind the above graphic, Detox has been on this list the last ten years. Anyway, here’s what we can look forward to in 2014, in no particular order. 30% of this list will not come out, and this list represents likely only 30% of the actual amount of hip-hop albums that will be released this year. Feel free to fill in the blanks.

1. Killer Mike & El-P – Run The Jewels 2 – ???
2. Step Brothers (Evidence + Alchemist) – Lord Steppington – Rhymesayers
3. Fabolous – Loso’s Way 2: Rise To Power – Desert Storm / Def Jam
4. GZA/Genius – Dark Matter – Liquid Swords/Babygrande Records
5. Souls Of Mischief + Adrian Younge – There Is Only Now – Soul Temple Records
6. Rick Ross – Mastermind – MMG / Def Jam
7. Raekwon – F.I.L.A. (Fly International Luxurious Art) – IceH20 / EMI
8. Kanye West – Untitled Sixth Studio Album – G.O.O.D. Music
9. Lupe Fiasco – Tetsuo & Youth – Atlantic
10. Busta Rhymes – E.L.E. 2 – YMCMB
11. Pusha T – King Push – G.O.O.D. Music
12. Nas – Untitled 12th Studio Album – Def Jam
13. Schoolboy Q – #Oxymoron – TDE/Interscope
14. Ab-Soul – Untitled Interscope/TDE LP
15. Wiz Khalifa – Blacc Hollywood – Atlantic Records
16. Q-Tip – The Last Zulu – G.O.O.D. Music
17. Big K.R.I.T. – Cadillactica – Def Jam
18. A$AP Mob – Lord$ – ???
19. M.O.P. – Untitled Seventh Studio Album – ???
20. AZ – Doe Or Die 2 – ???
21. Jeru The Damaja – The Hammer – ???
22. Action Bronson – Untitled Vice Records / Atlantic Debut
23. Freddie Gibbs + Madlib – Pinata – Madlib Invasion
24. Joey Bada$$ – B4.Da.$$ – ???
25. Gnarls Barkley Reunion LP – ???
26. De La Soul – You’re Welcome – ???
27. Inspectah Deck – Cynthia’s Son – Urban Icon
28. Sean Price – Niggletius – ???
29. Pro Era – Secc$ Tap.e pt.2 – ???
30. Prodigy of Mobb Deep – The Most Infamous
31. Apathy + Celph Titled – Will Sing for Vengeance – ???
32. Army Of The Pharoahs – In Death Reborn – ???
33. Pharrell – Untitled Sophomore LP – ???
34. J-Live – Around The Sun – Mortier Music
35. Asher Roth – Retro Hash – Federal Prison Records
36. The Roots – & Then You Shoot Your Cousin… – ???
37. Ray West + O.C. – Ray’s Cafe – Red Apples 45
38. Slaughterhouse – Untitled Sophomore LP, Exec. Prod. by Just Blaze – Shady Records
39. Kid Cudi – Satellite Flight: Journey to Mother Moon EP – ???
40. Saigon – The Greatest Story Never Told 3: Hip-Hop My Way
41. Timbaland – Textbook Timbo – Mosley / Interscope
42. Riff Raff – Neon Icon – Mad Decent
43. Riff Raff + Action Bronson – Galaxy Gladiators – ???
44. 50 Cent – Street King Immortal – G-Unit/Interscope
45. Mac Miller + Pharrell – Pink Slime – ???
46. 7L & Esoteric + Inspectah Deck – CZARFACE 2 – ???
47. Twista – The Dark Horse – ???
48. Redman – Muddy Waters 2 – ???
49. Tyga – The Gold Album: The 18th Dynasty – YMCMB
50. Nicki Minaj – Untitled Third Studio Album – YMCMB

Mythical Albums
1. Dr. Dre – Detox – Interscope / Aftermath
2. Ghostface + MF Doom – Doomstarks or Swift & Changeable – Nature Sounds (?)
3. Ghostface Killah – Supreme Clientele Presents… Blue & Cream: The Wally Era – ???
4. Wu-Tang Clan – A Better Tomorrow – ???
5. Kanye West + Jay-Z – Watch The Throne 2
6. CyHi The Prynce – Untitled G.O.O.D. Music Debut – G.O.O.D. Music
7. Jay Electronica – Act III: The Last Will & Testament of Timothy Elpadaro Thedford (The Prestige) – Roc Nation
8. Andre 3000 solo LP
9. Outkast Reunion Album
10. Big Tymers Reunion Album

We pick hip-hop’s 10 best music videos and the 10 best viral videos of 2013.

2013′s Best Music Videos

10. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – “White Walls” (feat. Schoolboy Q + Hollis) – Directed by Ryan Lewis & Macklemore – The success of 2012′s The Heist gave Macklemore and Ryan Lewis a little bit of a budget to play with, which was used to great effect in this video for “White Walls”. Also marking Schoolboy Q’s first, true leap into the mainstream, this video was a visual tour-de-force, that you could not look away from. Multiple rap cameos from A$AP Rocky, Big Boi, Trinidad James, Wiz Khalifa, DJ Drama, Sir Mix-A-Lot, and more.

9. Kendrick Lamar – “Backseat Freestyle” - Directed by Kendrick Lamar & Jerome D – We’re not going to sugar-coat the reason we love this video, but it has a lot to do with one of the characters from Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City: Sherane. Literally the backbone of the album’s narrative.

8. Marco Polo – “G.U.R.U.” (feat. Talib Kweli + DJ Premier) – Directed by Todd Angkasuwan – Effects laden video that finds Talib Kweli giving a proper tribute to the one and only Gang Starr frontman. For longtime fans of the group, many parts of the video will strike a chord, as Kweli and Marco Polo incorporate many classic visuals and sampled bits of video. Well done on a low budget.

7. Tyler, The Creator – “Tamale” – Directed By Wolf Haley – Completely off the wall “visual interpretation of Tyler’s mind”. Some crazy shit happening here. Where can we get one of those trampolines?

6. CZARFACE (Inspectah Deck + 7L & Esoteric) – “Air ‘em Out” – Directed by McFarland & Pecci – Pretty hilarious depiction of Inspectah Deck and 7L & Estoeric’s working relationship during the CZARFACE recording sessions. “Fuck!”

5. Step Brothers (Alchemist + Evidence) – “Step Masters” – Directed by Jason Goldwatch – Sibling rivalry in action, as best friends Alchemist and Evidence compete in a variety of challenges. We’re guessing weed and beer preceded the shoot.

4. JAY Z – “Picasso Baby: A Performance Art Film” – Directed by Mark Romanek – Art world and rap world collide on this experiment where Jiggaman performed the song for six hours straight, among a live audience of artists, fashionistas, musicians, actors, and other members of high society. Dope.

3. Lil Dicky – “Ex Boyfriend” – Directed by Brian Storm & Lil Dicky – Undoubtedly the funniest video of the year, this one just keeps upping the ante. Likely we’ll be hearing a lot from this cat this year, most likely on a major label. Kanye probably feels this song.

2. Kanye West – “Bound 2″ – Directed by Nick Knight – Speaking of which…. Kanye outdoes Ray J’s sextape with this Kim-tastic clip.

1. Run The Jewels (Killer Mike + El-P) – Directed by Joey Garfield – Mike and El closed out the year with their last video from the Run The Jewels project, built around a series of disturbing Christmas cards and holiday cliches. Honorable mention goes to the “36″ Chain” video.

2013′s Best Viral Videos

10. Turnup Twinz – “Ratchet, Turnup, Molly” - Cipha Sounds, Peter Rosenberg, and Ebro parody the “current state of hip-hop” with this track that pokes fun at 2013′s buzzwords. Yolotwerkselfie.

9. Mos Def Force Fed By Guantanamo Bay Standards – Although Gitmo representatives vehemently denied that this was an accurate representation of this process, Mos Def underwent the procedure to make a statement about conditions of the prison. Hard to watch and definitely rap’s most controversial viral vid of 2013.

8. ItsTheReal – “Beef Wit Us” (feat. Maino) – Rap comedy troupe ItsTheReal (a division of The Unfathomable ItsTheReal Empire) play tough guys in this clip, mainly because they are friends with Maino. Hilarity.

7. Action Bronson Body Slams Fan On Stage In Boston – Don’t get on Action Bronson’s shit list. Also, Danny Brown’s on stage escapades would have made it here if the quality was better.

6. Charles Ramsey – “Dead Giveaway” – Absolutely amazing autotuned answer to Charles Ramsey’s interview, following his rescue of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight in Cleveland, after ten years of capture. This takes the cake.

5. Tyler The Creator Calls LAPD “Assholes” Using Their Megaphone – Classic Tyler, as he tells fans he’s sorry that the Odd Future show was shut down by the police. The LAPD kindly allowed him to use their megaphone to calm the crowd down, which he instead used to remind us that the cops are “assholes”.

4. Action Bronson Performs “Strictly For My Jeeps”. At An Old Folks Home – This never gets old.

3. Kanye: You Ain’t Got The Answers, Sway! – Kanye had been turning up in interviews all year long, with interviewers hardly challenging him, mostly nodding in approvement. Not Sway Calloway, who put Kanye in Matt Lauer-defense mode. Screaming ensues.

2. Inside “Magna Carta Holy Grail” with JAY Z + Samsung – The first time JAY Z coined the “#NewRules” hashtag, this video captured audiences worldwide, as it acted as both an announcement and a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process for Magna Carta Holy Grail. “We finish the album and we drop it,” says Jay. “Beautiful,” Rick Rubin responds. History in the making.

1. Jay Shells Marks Classic Hip-Hop Locations – How dope was this? Street artist Jay Shells takes a unique approach to getting up, by producing a series of street signs that mark classic locations in hip-hop lyrics. Watch and be amazed.

Each year we are flooded with mixtape releases from just about everyone. The medium has gone from the old school days of “blend tapes” to a platform spotlighting exclusives, without the rules or constraints of the music industry. This has allowed artists to preview new music, not worry about clearing samples, and jack other artists’ beats for freestyles. While these things usually lack the polish of record label releases, there’s always a few exceptional mixtapes that are strong enough to sit next to the artists’ album catalog. Out of the roughly 200 releases posted this year in our “Mixtape DL” section, here are our picks for 2013.

P.S. – This is not a list of the most downloaded, most popular, or most newsworthy mixtapes. This is a list of what we actually thought were the best mixtapes. #nopolitics

10. Problem + DJ Drama – The Separation – Problem has been putting it down for years, as “I’m Fucked Up” was a set staple for DJ’s out west over five years ago. While he found himself in danger of becoming a one-hit wonder for a while, he bucked the trend with the release of The Separation, which really put him back on the map. Boasting collaborations with Wale, Snoop, Game, Tyga, and Wiz Khalifa, the biggest moment on this tape was his solo single, “Like Whaaat”, which crossed over into a massive club smash.

9. Xzibit + B-Real + Demrick – Serial Killers Vol. One – So, we never got that legendary Golden State Warriors project with Xzibit, Ras Kass, and Saafir, but this might be the next best thing. Xzibit and B-Real team up with rising up-and-comer Demrick for this excellent supergroup project of all original material, that plays like an album. Guest contributions from Ill Bill, DJ Lethal, Statik Selektah, Sir Jinx (!), Kurupt, Nottz, Jon Connor, and others made this mixtape a nice surprise for the year.

8. World’s Fair – Bastards Of The Party – We suspect with all of this talk of New York rap being in decline, we will see a huge resurgence in 2014. Part of this movement is the Beast Coast collective of emcees, a loose-knit conglomerate made up of crews like Pro Era, A$AP Mob, and World’s Fair, the latter who came out the gate on this free Fool’s Gold release, Bastards Of The Party. Like Pro Era, these cats brought it back to the Fondle ‘Em / Stretch & Bobbito era of backpack rap, with this excellent introductory mixtape release.

7. Troy Ave – New York City – While the Beast Coast movement is strengthening New York’s underground, Troy Ave is the future face of the street-hop scene, originally curated by Nas, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, etc. His New York City street album wasn’t flawless, but definitely a solid LP that shows high promise from the young MC.

6. Joey Bada$$ – Summer Knights – While we did see a retail version of Joey Bada$$’s Summer Knights, it was slimmed down to EP length. The full-length mixtape was much stronger, finding Joey Bada$ coming into his own, earning respect from producers like Doom, Alchemist, Statik Selektah, and more.

5. Ludacris – #IDGAF – Chris Bridges admittedly had some trouble finding an audience for the release of his still-delayed Ludaversal LP. That said, he definitely had something to prove this year, and he did so with #IDGAF, which found the rapper at his most crass, with a lot of shit to get off his chest. Strong enough to be the album that Ludaversal never was.

4. Pusha T – Wrath Of Kaine – Pusha T kicked off 2013 with the Wrath of Kaine mixtape, and little did we know this would be the precursor to one of the best major label releases of the year. At the time of its release, we weren’t sure we’d even see Pusha’s G.O.O.D. Music debut, but he delivered. Now this mixtape stands strong as the companion piece to his excellent LP.

3. Big K.R.I.T. – King Remembered In Time – Despite the lukewarm sales to his 2012 Def Jam debut, Big K.R.I.T. persevered this year with the release of King Remembered In Time. Showing dexterity and improvement as a multi-talented rapper, songwriter, and producer, K.R.I.T. continued to build his legacy with this release.

2. Roc Marciano – The Pimpire Strikes Back – As we stated in our review, The Pimpire Strikes Back should have been Roc’s album, while Marci Beaucoup should have been the mixtape. But whatever, Pimpire was a tightly knit concept album mixtape that showcased Roc at his finest, with just the right amount of guest support, from guys like Madlib, Action Bronson, Alchemist, Evidence, and more. Post boom-bap, high art rap.

1. Busta Rhymes & Q-Tip – The Abstract & The Dragon – As many times as we’ve seen Busta refer to himself as the “Dungeon Dragon” in a post-”Scenario” landscape, he’s never been able to recapture his earlier, 90′s sound. And coupled with the announcement that the Yeezus tour would host the final performances for A Tribe Called Quest, we approached this mixtape with apprehension. The cover got us open, but we’d been disappointed before, so would this deliver? It did, on all fronts. The end result was a mixtape that brough Busta and Q-Tip back to their earlier years, revisiting and remixing some of their early classics, and blessing us with new material as well. Its a sound long lost that we were happy to welcome back. Nice job, gentlemen.

Each year we forgo the usual “top songs” lists, because 1) the iTunes/Billboard charts will tell you that, and 2) we usually don’t agree at all. Instead, we go back to our 12″ vinyl single foundations and present a list of the best loose, underground tracks that didn’t have an official album or artist mixtape to call home, and were distributed primarily via the blog scene and via digital retailers. Here are our picks for rap’s 25 best “blog bangers” of 2013. This list coincides with the release of Blog So Hard 3: B-Side Wins Again, dropping tomorrow.

25. Dizzy Wright – “No Writer’s Block, I Like To Write” – Vegas’ own Dizzy Wright celebrated hitting 300,000 fans on Facebook with this bluesy b-side for free download to close out the year.

24. B.o.B. – “How 2 Rap” – As far as responses to Kendrick Lamar’s “Control” verse go, we thought B.o.B. had the best, simply because he rose above it. Sure, he toyed with both Kendrick and Migos’ flows, but took the high road by showing his many levels of talent with a guitar solo.

23. RJD2 – “Her Majesty’s Socialist Request (Candy Panther Remix)” (feat. J-Live) – RJD2 delivered a nice cherry-on-top to his More Is Than Isn’t LP with this remix featuring verses from J-Live. J is still in top form here, making us amped for the release of Around The Sun, due Spring 2014.

23. Jeru The Damaja – “Solar Flares” (prod. Large Professor) – Wait…what?!? After doing a behind the scenes documentary this year for Complex on his classic debut single, “Come Clean”, Jeru quickly followed up with the release of a new track, “Solar Flares”, produced by the Extra P. The track comes from the as-of-yet unreleased EP, The Hammer, which we hope to see this year. The sun don’t freeze…

21. De La Soul – “Get Away” (feat. The Spirit Of The Wu) – This track, based around the opening skit of 1997′s Wu-Tang Forever album, put De La back in Stakes Is High commentary-mode, which is just how we like them. Here’s hoping we see the three release their new LP, You’re Welcome this year.

20. Big Daddy Kane + DJ Premier – “28 Bars Of Kane” – The nice thing about corporate America is that they have money to blow on projects like this, and record sales aren’t a part of the equation. This track was commissioned for Nike’s Air Jordan XX8. Never mind the shoe, we got Preem and Kane on a track together. Too bad it was only a minute long…

19. Madlib + Freddie Gibbs – “Harold’s” – The b-side to Gibbs and Madlib’s “Deeper” 12inch found Freddie rapping about taking girls to his favorite restaurant, over a chilled out, classic west coast beat. How about that album, fellas?

18. Killer Mike – “Villain” – The only rap cut from DC Comics’ Injustice: Gods Among Us video game soundtrack, found Mike going back to his southern roots on this dark track. After his last two albums, Mike’s risen to the top of our favorite emcee rankings, so this was a nice post-Run The Jewels addition.

17. Captain Murphy (Flying Lotus) – “Between Villains” (feat. Viktor Vaughn + Earl Sweatshirt + Thundercat) – Again corporate America at work, as this was #11 in Adult Swim’s singles series, teaming up MF Doom and Earl Sweatshirt over a Flying Lotus beat that sounds like something from Portishead’s Dummy. Win-win.

16. Danny Brown – “#HottestMC” (prod. Harry Fraud) – 2013 was definitely the year that lyrics came back into the fold, and Danny Brown’s “Hottest MC” helped play a role in that. After being displeased with MTV’s picks for the list, Danny delivered his own response record to the list, paying tribute to his rhyming heroes with the line: “BIG turned in his grave, a earthquake in granada / When Pun shed a tear, went hurricane for a week / When Big L get upset, it start tornadoin’ trees.”

15. Jay Z – “Open Letter (J. Period Remix)” (feat. Common) – This possible outtake from the Magna Carta Holy Grail sessions preceded Jay’s Samsung atomic bomb, detailing his controversial trip to Cuba. J. Period took it a step further by recording a new verse for the track from Common, whom expanded on Hov’s original narrative. Jay might truthfully want to rhyme like Common Sense; this might just be the closest thing to that ever happening.

14. Joey Bada$$ + DJ Premier – “Unorthodox” – Mountain Dew commissioned this collaboration with arguably the greatest producer of all time and one of our favorite, rising New York City emcees. Bet you legal had a hard time signing off on an artist with “ass” in his name.

13. Childish Gambino – “Yaphet Kotto (Freestyle)” – This gem preceded the release of Donald Glover’s Because The Internet LP, and was left off the final tracklist. He called it a freestyle, but this was clearly a fully realized track, where he channels internet haters from the perspective of the “worst rapper ever”.

12. Big K.R.I.T. – “Just Last Week” – K.R.I.T. gave us a taste of this on his King Remembered In Time mixtape, but followed through later in the year with the release of the full-length version of the track. Easily one of the best uses of Future of the year, save “Bugatti”.

11. Ab-Soul – “Christopher DRONEr” – Quite easily one of the most gripping news stories of 2013, Ab-Soul used the Christopher Dorner case as the backdrop for this ultra-paranoid single, which also referenced Kanye’s “New Slaves” and the governments use of drone strikes. Topical rap.

10. Action Bronson – “Strictly For The Jeeps (Queens Day Remix)” (feat. LL Cool J + Lloyd Banks) – This cut from Action’s Saaab Stories EP got the remix treatment and only saw release on Flex’s Who You Mad At? Me Or Yourself mixtape. As the cut is a loose-knit remake of EPMD and LL Cool J’s “Rampage”, Action brought LL in for a guest spot, who slayed his verse. Banks is here, too.

9. A$AP Rocky – “R. Cali” – This 808-banger from the Grand Theft Auto V soundtrack was a nice compliment to the material released on Long.Live.A$AP, and showed steady improvement from the up-and-coming emcee. Easily the best original track in GTAV.

8. Jason Dean – “Bring It Hardcore” (feat. M.O.P.) – Mosh-pit banger. We haven’t heard M.O.P. like this in years. Easily the best thing they’ve done since the Warriorz era. Let this dude produce on your next album, fellas.

7. Swizz Beatz – “Hands Up” (feat. Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, 2 Chainz) – Swizz ruled the club-banger circuit some years ago, with definitive 100BPM hits like “Party Up”, “Bring Em Out”, “Tambourine”, etc. He’s lately tried some different things, but “Hands Up” brought us back to the old Swizz we (DJ’s) all know and love. Funny thing is, this cut was more about lyrical competition than filling dance floors, almost acting as a spiritual successor to Kanye West’s “Monster”, and everyone brought their A-game. More like this, please.

6. Common – “Congratulations” (prod. No I.D.) – It’s likely we’ll be seeing a new album from Common this year, and “Congratulations” was a dope precursor to that project. A vividly hilarious tale about Com acting as the best man at his friend’s wedding, over a pared down No I.D. beat. Both Com and No I.D. are in top form on this cut.

5. Schoolboy Q – “Collard Greens” (feat. Kendrick Lamar) – Q & Kendrick brought the best out in one another on this infectious, dub driven anthem, which may or may not appear Oxymoron. Q is styling all over this one. “This your favorite song.”

4. Drake – “5 AM In Toronto” – Drake was talking so greasy on this one, it could be argued that Kendrick Lamar’s verse on “Control” was in fact a response to this record. Almost a precursor to “Control”, Drake gets a lot off his chest on this one, with Slick Rick-levels of pretension in these verses. Lines like “The part I love most is they need me more than they hate me / So they never take shots, I got everybody on safety” and “Give these niggas the look, the verse, and even the hook / That’s why every song sound like Drake featuring Drake” are likely to have pissed off many-a-rapper.

3. J. Cole – “Let Nas Down (Remix)” (feat. Nas) – Nas’ response record to J. Cole’s Born Sinner album cut was a thoughtful, honest retort to Cole’s original. The original, horn-driven track in tact, Nas confesses his own shortcomings as an early 90′s up-and-coming rapper, revealing that Cole actually made him proud. Positivity!

2. Eminem – “Don’t Front” (feat. Buckshot) – One aspect of Eminem’s MMLP2 that impressed the hell out of us was how many classic rappers he name-dropped. We know Em’s knowledge of hip-hop is deep, but what made is smile is the fact that he acknowledged the people that influenced him over the years, when we all know he is well past the point of having to do so. That’s why this late addition to the album, which only found its way as a part of the Call Of Duty: Ghosts pre-order package was such a treat. Em remade the album version of Black Moon’s “I Gotcha Opin”, and destroyed the track, even grabbing Buckshot for a feature. Now can we get a remix with the Barry White sample?

1. Big Sean – “Control” (feat. Kendrick Lamar & Jay Electronica) – Quite easily the most talked about song of the year, Kendrick Lamar’s controversial verse on “Control” raised many eyebrows. Not only did he place himself among the best emcees in the history of rap, but he also crowned himself the “king of New York”, and called out the names of all the “new” emcees he competes with, suggesting he wants to destroy them all. This song also brought lyricism back to the forefront, and spawned dozens of response records, some from people that weren’t even mentioned on the song. Oh yeah, Big Sean and Jay Electronica are also on this song. Speaking of which, Big Sean says that the song was left off of Hall Of Fame due to “sample clearances”. What that probably really means is due to “my label wouldn’t let me get murdered on my own shit” clearances. Well done, King Kendrick.

That’s all folks. Here is the year-end mix coinciding with this list, Blog So Hard 3: B-Side Wins Again, mixed by Pizzo.

The major labels often release the biggest albums of the year, however that doesn’t always insure quality. It was hard to find 10 releases that we rated @@@@ or above from the major label system, with many of the releases on this list only scoring 3.5. That being said, here are the “best” major label albums of 2013.

10. Mac Miller – Watching Movies With The Sound Off – Rostrum / Universal – Despite this album cover making our “worst” list this year, Mac Miller proved you can’t always judge a book by its cover. Largely self-produced, save contributions from Pharrell, Alchemist, and a few others, Mac delivered a decent LP with Watching Movies that didn’t take itself too seriously.

9. A$AP Rocky – Long.Live.A$AP – ASAP Worldwide, Polo Grounds, RCA – A$AP Rocky made his leap into the majors with Long.Live.A$AP, a flawed but fun release that made him a household name. Packing two of the biggest club hits of the year with “Fuckin’ Problems” and “Wild For The Night”, he also had one of the best underground posse cuts of the year on “1Train”, featuring Action Bronson, Big K.R.I.T., Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, and Kendrick Lamar. Coupled with a handful of solid solo cuts, Rakim Mayers did his thing on Long.Live.A$AP.

8. J. Cole - Born Sinner – Dreamville, Roc Nation, Columbia – J. Cole’s sophomore LP received mixed reviews from critics, yet almost everyone could agree that it was a solid LP, despite its flaws. He ruled radio with “Power Trip”, yet went more introspective on the album, putting himself out there on “Let Nas Down”, a gamble that paid off with a Nas featured remix in the end. While Cole has yet to make the all-encompassing LP that resonates with everyone, third time may be the charm.

7. Talib Kweli – Prisoner Of Conscious – Javotti Media, EMI, Capitol – The oft-delayed final album for Capitol from Talib Kweli was once feared to be his “commercial” album, yet that was hardly the case. He made a respectful radio ready cut with Miguel on “Come Here”, and brought the best out of Nelly on “Before He Walked”, neither of which sacrificed his core sound. What we actually got in the end was another solid LP from Kwel, and perhaps the closest companion to the Reflection Eternal LP, boasting additional, solid collaborations with RZA, Busta Rhymes, Kendrick Lamar, Curren$y, and others. To top it off, Kwel followed up with a second LP on Gravitas, released independently at the tail end of the year.

6. Childish Gambino – Because The Internet - Glassnote, Island Records – Rarely do we see successful artist transformations from one medium to another, but Donald Glover may prove to be a better musician than he is actor. Because The Internet was an incredibly put together LP, written, produced, and performed by Childish Gambino, that not only was musically rich, but high on concept as well. An incredibly self-referential project that extended to additional viral materials such as short films and a 75-page screenplay, this was far from just a vanity project.

5. Kanye West – Yeezus – G.O.O.D. Music / Def Jam – A largely polarizing album that left people with a “love it” or “hate it” response, wasn’t something you could needledrop, or listen to one time and throw out the window. Kanye’s sparse, pared down LP was actually his heaviest, and consecutive listens proved it to be his most bold. Excellent moments such as “I Am A God”, “Black Skinheads” and “New Slaves” found ‘Ye rhyming with both middle fingers up, while songs like “Bound 2″ and “Blood On The Leaves” were more traditional fare from Mr. West. Not a perfect album, but undeniably solid, Kanye’s “Fuck You” to the industry still had us all in approval.

4. Drake – Nothing Was The Same – Young Money / Ca$h Money / Universal – Love him or hate him, Drake makes solid LP’s, as he has proven once again with Nothing Was The Same. Building on the blueprints of Thank Me Later and Take Care, Drake again teamed with 40 to create a well balanced album, packing in anthems like “Started From The Bottom” and “Worst Behavior”, to smoother songs like “Hold On We’re Going Home” and the controversial “Wu-Tang Forever”. Its easy to hate on Drake, but his albums always reveal his talent.

3. Jay Z – Magna Carta Holy Grail – Roc-A-Fella, Roc Nation, Universal – Jay-Z turned the industry on its ear and established some “new rules” with the release of Magna Carta Holy Grail. Given away free to the first million Samsung customers that downloaded the app, he forced the RIAA to recognize the album as a Platinum selling release, despite its unconventional release. This move was pretty amazing, since his wife was able to take money out of the pockets of their direct competitor, Apple, by releasing her unannounced Beyonce LP exclusively on iTunes. The result was an LP that became the most talked about thing of the moment, instantly resonating with its fanbase. Songs like “FuckwitmeuknowIgotit”, “Holy Grail”, “Somewhere In America”, and “Tom Ford” became instant club anthems, skating way past Jay’s own choice of single, “Picasso Baby”. The #NewRules allowed the fanbase to decide the singles for the quickly announced LP, in a strange case where the album didn’t need a record company to work it; it worked itself.

2. Pusha T – My Name Is My Name – G.O.O.D. Music / Def Jam – All year long, Pusha T boasted that he would have the best album of the year. That point is debatable, but damn if he didn’t release one of the strongest, uncompromising major label releases of 2013. This is Pusha T at his darkest, with the closest thing to a “single” being “Sweet Serenade”, a song about the sound of gunfire in the streets, featuring a subdued, filtered-out Chris Brown. Much of the album was ridiculously raw for “commercial” rap standards, as songs like “Nosetalgia”, “Who Am I”, and “Numbers On The Boards” defy the sound of the major label polish. Remarkably produced and intricately written, King Push exceeded expectations with this spirtual successor to Yeezus. This is educated thug music.

1. Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP 2 – Shady / Aftermath / Interscope – Many times when artists try to create sequels to their classic albums, it’s merely a poor attempt to try to capitalize on or relive their past glories (here’s looking at you, Bacdafucup Part 2.) That being said, Em took a bit of a risk naming his eighth studio album The Marshall Mathers LP 2, which not surprisingly had the gravitas to back it up. Perhaps the best use of Rick Rubin all year long, and the clear difference between “producing” and “executive producing from the couch”, MMLP2 brought back out the lyrical beast in Eminem, and found him writing some of his most complex verses ever. An amazing feat, considering this is his 17th year, and he is already wildly rich and successful. What motivation does Em have to produce this level of quality this late in his career? Yet he still does. Well done, old friend.

10. Havoc of Mobb Deep – 13 – Nature Sounds – Rumors of Mobb Deep’s demise played out on the world(star) stage in 2012, but in 2013, Hav and P more or less patched things up. While the duo didn’t drop a new LP together, that didn’t stop them from both delivering solid solo albums, supporting each other on both projects. Hav’s LP showed tremendous growth for him as a producer, and quelled any doubts we may have had about him as a solo artist, with some of his best production in years.

9. Ka – The Night’s Gambit – Iron Works Records – The former Natural Elements relief pitcher finally got his time to shine, and with The Night’s Gambit, delivered his most cohesive release yet. Unapologetically dark, gloomy, post-boom-bap New York rap at its finest.

8. Demigodz – Killmatic – Dirty Version Records – Years in the making, we finally saw the Demigodz come together as a team for their answer to the Wu-Tang crew LP. Coupled with incredible displays of lyrical dexterity from Apathy, Celph Titled, Ryu, Esoteric, and the family, alongside blazing beats from DJ Premier, Marco Polo, and others, this album delivered on all fronts, and pleased fans across the board.

7. Danny Brown – Old – Fool’s Gold – Danny Brown surprised everyone with Old, a well-balanced LP that gave depth to his on-stage, off-the-wall persona. Perfectly balancing out his fun party songs with deeper, more introspective material, Brown really came into his own as a fully realized artist on Old. Dun Fact: This album was originally going to be called O.D.B. (Old Danny Brown), but the estate of Russell Jones wasn’t having it.

6. Cage – Kill The Architect – Eastern Conference Records – To everyone’s surprise, Cage came out of semi-retirement, and to even bigger shock, reunited with producer Mighty Mi for Kill The Architect, on classic, defunct imprint Eastern Conference Records. The two did what they do best, crafting the spiritual successor to Movies For The Blind, yet it was its own animal entirely. Quality beats, lyrics, and song-writing from top-to-bottom, proved these dudes still got it.

5. J-Zone – Peter Pan Syndrome – Old Maid Entertainment – What happens when indie rappers decide its time to join the real world and… get a job? J-Zone delivered perhaps the most interesting and hilarious conceptual LP of the year with Peter Pan Syndrome. He’s only gotten better with time, now showing off his own drumming skills, next to his cut-and-paste sampling brilliance. Can’t leave rap alone, the heads need him.

4. Inspectah Deck + 7L & Esoteric – CZARFACE – Brick Records
- One could argue that Inspectah Deck never got the classic solo LP that each of the other core members of the Wu-Tang Clan did in those early days. CZARFACE more than makes up for it, delivering the best LP to date from either Deck or 7L & Esoteric. 7L produced his ass off on this one, recognizing the sensibilities and architecture of what makes a classic Wu LP, while Eso and Deck’s styles complemented each other perfectly. Look for CZARFACE II next year.

3. Prodigy of Mobb Deep + Alchemist – Albert Einstein – Infamous Records – It’s been argued, in recent years, that Prodigy had gotten lazy on the mic, and could never replicate the success he saw on “Keep It Thoro”. That may have changed when he spent some time in prison, giving him ample time to sharpen his bars, as evidenced here. Coupled with wall-to-wall production from Alchemist, P showed he’s still shinin’. Al on the other hand, seems to be in the prime of his career right now, producing some of his greatest beats ever, which are all over this remarkably consistent LP.

2. Adrian Younge Presents 12 Reasons To Die, Starring Ghostface Killah – Soul Temple Records – Like 7l’s work on CZARFACE, producer Adrian Younge figured out what makes a Wu-Tang LP tick, and got the formula down to a science with 12 Reasons To Die. Perhaps Ghost’s best LP since Supreme Clientele, the duo nailed the cinematic concept, telling the origin of Ghostface Killah, with gorgeous, live production that sounded like it was sampled from records that were 40-years old. On his tenth album, Ghost released one of the best albums of his career.

1. Killer Mike + El-P – Run The Jewels – Fool’s Gold – After topping many year end lists with both Rap Music and Cancer 4 Cure in 2012, Killer Mike and El-P took a victory lap this year with their collaborative Run The Jewels project. Evoking the feeling of classic rap duos like EPMD, Outkast, Red & Meth, etc, the two traded barbs over some of El’s best production yet, delivering the definitive indie hip-hop album of the year. Appealing to both street and backpack audiences, this was a record that everyone could get behind.

The cover art is perhaps the most important aspect in the presentation of an album. Nobody likes to admit it, but people do judge books – or albums for that matter – by their covers. If the cover makes a striking statement, like many of these do, it begs the consumer to listen. The philosophy behind great cover art is simple: to suggest to the listener that what’s inside the package is as good as what’s outside. While that wasn’t always the case, here are our favorite covers of 2013.

10. Papoose – The Nacirema Dream – While Pap was at the center of many controversies this year – each usually having something to do with Kendrick Lamar – he also saw the release of his long-awaited LP, The Nacirema Dream. For a guy that has about 30 bad photoshopped mixtape covers in his catalog, he really knocked it out of the park with this one. Eye-catching simplicity at its finest.

9. World’s Fair - Bastards Of The Party – The relatively unknown Fool’s Gold Beast Coast crew made a nice little splash on BOTP, and this clean, well composed cover gave us a glimpse of each of the group’s members. There’s bits of influence from each Gravediggaz 6 Feet Deep, Leaders Of The New School’s Future Without A Past and N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton on this cover; maybe that’s why we liked it.

8. Killer Mike + El-P – Run The Jewels – Severed zombie hands, one telling you to “run the jewels”, the other willingly giving them up. Coupled with the fact that this was one of the best albums of the year, this image will forever be embedded in our brains with good memories.

7. Lil Wayne – I Am Not A Human Being 2 – While this album was pretty disappointing at the end of the day, boy did this cover set it up well. The pared down image of the blood red butterfly against a black-as-midnight backdrop evokes the slightly disturbing feeling of the original Silence Of The Lambs movie poster. A fitting cover for Wayne.

6. Action Bronson + Party Supplies – Blue Chips 2 – We have to admit, we’ve heard better mixtapes from Bronson (rapping over Phil Collins, yo?), but the duo really outdid themselves with this album cover. Action made this list last year, ranking even a bit higher with his Rare Chandeliers LP with Alchemist. This one is a nice spiritual successor to it.

5. Aupheus – Strictly Scientific – Probably the most little seen cover of the year, but one that definitely struck a chord with us on many levels. Aupheus’ spaced-out mixtape mixed classic hip-hop tracks with futuristic beats for Sage Francis’ Strange Famous Records. While this cover nails that concept, it also says something about how far ahead of their time that Run DMC was. It’s also created with some pretty amazing precision. We had to double check that there wasn’t some random Rolling Stone photoshoot in 1988 with Jason, Darryl and Joe in space suits. Well done.

4. 2 Chainz – B.O.A.T.S. 2: Me Time – 2 Chainz’s original Based On A T.R.U. Story album cover was our #1 pick last year, despite the album receiving a @@ on our rating scale. This wasn’t our favorite album this year either, but damn if DONDA didn’t do their thing in executing the concept a second time. The extreme close-up of two crystal clean fat, gold ropes, boldly says exactly whose album this is.

3. Q-Tip + Busta Rhymes – The Abstract & The Dragon – Busta and Tip really took a risk with this cover, suggesting that this mixtape release was going to capture the sound of The Low End Theory with the “Scenario”-era Dungeon Dragon style of Busta Rhymes. Considering the mixtape delivered on all fronts, there couldn’t have been a more appropriate, well executed cover for the project.

2. Pusha T – My Name Is My Name: Deluxe Edition – Now this is more like it. Yes, the standard version of this album cover made our “Worst Cover Art” list for 2013, with the lousy UPC stamp placed against a white background. This, however, takes the cake. The angle of the shot and the contrast of all-black-everything Push gives him the image of the deadliest insect predator; a metaphor for his role as the hood’s supplier.

1. Ghostface Killah + Adrian Younge – 12 Reasons To Die – Quite easily the best Wu-Tang LP since Raekwon’s Only Built For Cuban Links 2, every detail of this project was fully realized by Adrian Younge, extending well past the music, and onto the cover itself. This cover not only evoked the feeling of early Wu videos that hid Ghost’s features, but also the Italian movie soundtracks the music is influenced by.

There were a lot of hilariously bad album covers this year, suffering from poor art direction, over pretentiousness, or complete jumbled messes. Here’s a look at the year’s biggest eyesores in hip-hop cover art.

10. Tyga – Hotel California – Hey bro, even rich people don’t wear fur coats in California. In the daytime. It’s nice out. That photoshopped tiger should maul you for such audacity.

9. Mac Miller – Watching Movies With The Sound Off
The problem with doing a pretentious album cover like this is that if your album doesn’t deliver, you risk looking ridiculous. Put some clothes on, homie.

8. Pusha T – My Name Is My Name (Standard Edition)
We’re glad Pusha T stepped his game up for the deluxe edition of this album. This, however, is not high art, it’s pure laziness. We expect better from Donda.

7. Tech N9ne – Something Else – We guess there’s a few out there that think this portrait of Tech N9ne as some kind of a fire-demon is “ill”, but it ain’t us.

6. Robin Thicke – Blurred Lines
Such great visual direction in the video for this album’s title track, so what happened here? Doesn’t look any better with 3D glasses, either.

5. Dead Prez – Information Age
Or as we like to call it, MS Paint Vipassana.

4. DJ Khaled – Suffering From Success
We thought last year’s #drakecrieswhen meme inspired by the Take Care cover was bad, but this takes it a step further. Poor DJ Khaled, he’s so successful. Tears stream down his face as he takes bites of beluga caviar and receives fellatio from two Russian prostitutes in Bangkok. At least he can wipe his tears with his fur coat. At least…

3. Wale – The Gifted - Congrats, Wale, your album made our list. Didn’t we learn anything from Pete Rock & Smif-n-Wesson’s Monumental album cover in 2011? We’ll save the Lionel Richie “Hello” video jokes this go ’round, as there is a bigger concern at stake: Where can we find a set of these Wale head-bust statues for our homes?

2. Earl Sweatshirt – Doris
Grainy black and white photo? Check. Off center shot of rapper with his eyes closed? Check. Unreadable crap-graf? Check. We get that Odd Future’s lo-fi, cut-and-paste art style has always been their schtick, but it might be time to step your game up, fellas.

1. Kanye West – Yeezus
There is probably some executive at Def Jam that laughed when Kanye presented this album cover to them, with sort of a “No, really….” type of response. That person was probably fired. The leather-jogging-pants of album covers matches Kanye’s level of pretension, but as he is well aware, Mos Def did this years ago with True Magic. For someone that prides himself on vision and design, this (and Pusha T’s barcode) covers showed a complete lack of creativity from the DONDA house.

While this is not a complete list of the albums that will drop in 2013, this does cover a lot of what has been announced thus far. This is in no particular order, it’s just a stream-of-consciousness list that we came up with of stuff slated for this year. Feel free to add in stuff we missed in the comments section below.

1. Ghostface Killah – 12 Reasons To Die
2. Eminem – Untitled 8th Studio LP
3. Rick Ross – Mastermind
4. The Roots – And Then You Shot Your Cousin
5. Demigodz – KILLmatic
6. Joe Budden – No Love Lost
7. Talib Kweli – Prisoner Of Conscious
8. Inspectah Deck + 7L & Esoteric – CZARFACE
9. Just Blaze Fool’s Gold EP
10. Fabolous – Loso’s Way 2
11. Deltron 3033 – Event II
12. Ill Bill - The Grimy Awards
13. Durag Dynasty – 360 Waves
14. Pusha T – Wrath of Caine (Mixtape)
15. Thurz – Blood On The Canvas
16. Justin Timberlake – The 20/20 Experience
17. Raekwon – F.I.L.A.
18. Ludacris - Ludaversal
19. Lil Wayne – I Am Not A Human Being 2
20. AZ – Doe Or Die 2
21. Wale – The Album About Nothing
22. Tyga – Hotel California
23. 50 Cent – Street King Immortal
24. Asher Roth – Def Jam Debut
25. Goodie Mob – Age Against The Machine
26. Snoop Lion – Reincarnated
27. Freddie Gibbs – The Neck Tie Party
28. Freddie Gibbs + Ski Beatz – The World Is My Ashtray
29. Freddie Gibbs + Madlib – Cocaine Piñata
30. Freddie Gibbs – Eastside Slim
31. Step Brothers (Alchemist + Evidence) – Lord Steppington
32. Alchemist + Prodigy of Mobb Deep – Albert Einstein
33. Alchemist + Freddie Gibbs – Devil’s Palace
34. Fat Joe – Darkside 3 Mixtape
35. El-P + Nick Diamonds – Stepson LP
36. Mos Def – Yasiin Bey Presents
37. Action Bronson + Tommy Mas – Mr. Wonderful
38. Action Bronson + Harry Fraud – Saab Stories
39. Action Bronson + Party Supplies – Blue Chips 2
40. French Montana – Excuse My French
41. RJD2 + Blueprint – Soul Position New LP
42. Big Sean – Hall Of Fame
43. Jean Grae – Gotham Down
44. The Roots + Elvis Costello LP
45. D’Angelo’s Album
46. Common – Untitled G.O.O.D. Music LP
47. Blockhead + Illogic LP
48. Kid Cudi – Indicud
49. Liknuts – Alkaholiks + Beatnuts LP
50. Wu-Tang Clan Final Album

Mythical Albums:
1. G.O.O.D. Music Presents Cruel Winter
2. Dr. Dre – Detox
3. J-Cole + Kendrick Lamar LP
4. MF DOOM + Ghostface – DoomStarks
5. Jay-Z + Kanye West – Watch The Throne 2
6. MF Doom + Madlib – Madvillainy 2
7. Pete Rock + DJ Premier LP
8. Ghostface Killah – Supreme Clientele Presents… Blue & Cream: The Wally Era
9. Common + Nas – NasDotCom
10. Method Man – The Crystal Method

Looking for something a little different? Here were our 5 favorite not-quite-hip-hop releases of 2012.

5. Flying Lotus – Until The Quiet Comes – Until the Quiet Comes turned out to be Lotus’ most atmospheric LP to date; something he must have intended, with closing songs like “Dream to Me” and “Phantasm”, the latter featuring the ethereal vocals of Laura Darlington. Every Flying Lotus album so far has been exciting, watching his constant progression and evolution as an artist. His track record proves we’ll be in for something different with each release.

4. Gaslamp Killer – Breakthrough – One would hope that an album called Breakthrough , if not being the best, at least goes somewhere interesting. The Gaslamp Killer definitely carves out his own niche here. He proves he has his own sound, his own lane and does the Brainfeeder crew proud.

3. Kid Cudi + Dot Da Genius – WZRD – It’s a seemingly more natural fit for Kid Cudi to do a rock album – more so than any rapper before him, including Pharrell and company with N.E.R.D. If you don’t mind Cudi’s earlier material as a singer (“Pursuit of Happiness”, comes to mind), WZRD will definitely satisfy, it just needs to be given a chance. Just don’t go in expecting an LP full of beats and rhymes.

2. Blockhead – Interludes After Midnight – Interludes doesn’t attempt to re-write the template for Block’s moody blues, because as the old saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Instead, Blockhead continues his streak of giving his fans exactly what they want, another chapter in his ever-expanding legacy.

1. Frank Ocean – Channel: Orange – Channel ORANGE operates much like that elusive lover, bringing you to the throes of ecstasy, then taking it abruptly away – a source of great, fleeting pleasure and pain. And you keep running back. By the last song you’re already craving the first; Malay, Om’Mas Keith, Pharrell Williams and Ocean himself created a soundscape you can loop, experiencing something authentic each go round. And you’ll need to, to discover the intricacies of Ocean’s writing. For those folks wondering where R&B went, it’s right here. For genuine emotion-evoking music, equal parts ambient programming and musicianship, complex, creative lyrics, and SOUL, you need only turn the channel.