Hip-Hop Releases Of 2006…kinda sad

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First of all, welcome to the first of my little column: We Want Easy. Its here I will air my thoughts about…whatever shit I have on my mind I guess. I still refuse to call it a blog though. We so much better than that. Now, the subject at hand

“Hip-Hop Releases Of 2006…kinda sad”

The Hip-Hop releases for 2006 (for the most part) are ridiculed for being mostly mediocre. I guess that because they were. Not just commercially either, it was an abundance of second-rate releases (maybe even third-rate). Hip-Hop had a lot of “highly anticipated” releases only to fail miserably. There were the G-Unit/Shady releases: Mobb Deep, Obie Trice, & Lloyd Banks. The veterans: DMX, Juvenile, & Daz. The Def Jam/”You Got An Album Out?” Club: Method Man, The Roots, Ghostface, & LL Cool J. Don’t forget the South, yea, they ruling Hip-Hop, but they still but up some bricks: Pitbull, Unk, Field Mob, & Ying Yang Twins. What about the ones that had a buzz or a hit single, but still failed: Jibbs, Bubba Sparxxx, Rhymefest, Shawnna, Chingy, Cam’ron, & Pharrell.

But you know it wasn’t all that bad. Some veterans (West coast veterans) came back with some success like Snoop, E-40, & Ice Cube. Lupe, Fat Joe, & Diddy actually had okay albums. Jim Jones did alright for an independent. Many critics (not this one though) called Clipse’s new album classic. T.I. dropped in March with great success. Then you had the mighty 4th Quarter. This year we saw Jay-Z, Nas, Young Jeezy, & The Game come out in November/December. You can’t forget the mixtape game; there were some good music from them (ex. DJ Green Lantern’s Alive On Arrival, Dedication 2 & Little Brother’s Separate But Equal).

Now with 2007 upon us, we have some things to look forward to… I guess. I think 50 Cent and Kanye coming out this year. UGK suppose to drop in February along with Eightball & MJG. T.I.’s new album T.I. vs. T.I.P. is schedule to come out in the summer. Redman returns and is suppose to pull a Ghostface and drop two albums in the same year. The highly delayed albums from Dre (from Cool & Dre), Lil’ Flip, Joe Budden, Jae Millz, & Saigon. Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s A Son Unique finally also drops. Can Cam’ron bounce back? Will Foxy and Kim return? Will Detox come out? Only time can tell.

There is a lot of stuff I left out. I didn’t have time to go over all the releases. Like the ones released in late December (ex. Bow Wow, The Re-Up, Tyrese). I just hope this year will bring us good music. If I missed any releases of 2006 or if you have any comments, e-mail me at: [email protected] (subject line: Hip-Hop in 2006). Peace!

2006 Hip-Hop Releases

20/20 by Dilated Peoples
4:21… The Day After by Method Man
Alter Ego by Tyrese
Back 2 Da Basics by Yo Gotti
Back By Thug Demand by Trick Daddy
Beat’n Down Yo Block by Unk
Best Thang Smokin’ by Young Dro
Blood Money by Mobb Deep
Block Music by Shawnna
Blue Collar by Rhymefest
Bred 2 Die, Born 2 Live by Lil’ Scrappy
Chemically Imbalanced by Ying Yang Twins
Doctor’s Advocate by The Game
El Mariel by Pitbull
Eminem Presents: The Re-Up by Shady Records
Fishscale by Ghostface Killah
Food & Liquor by Lupe Fiasco
Game Theory by The Roots
Get That Paper by Do Or Die
Grand Hustle Presents: In Da Streetz Volume 4 by Grand Hustle
Hell Hath No Fury by Clipse
Hip Hop Is Dead by Nas
Hi-Teknology 2: The Chip by Hi-Tek
Hoodstar by Chingy
Hustler’s P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment) by Jim Jones
Idlewild by Outkast
In My Mind by Pharrell Williams
Jibbs feat. Jibbs by Jibbs
Killa Season by Cam’ron
King by T.I.
Kingdom Come by Jay-Z
Laugh Now, Cry Later by Ice Cube
Light Poles And Pine Trees by Field Mob
Like Father, Like Son by Birdman & Lil’ Wayne
Listenn… The Album by DJ Khaled
Me Myself & I by Fat Joe
More Fish by Ghostface Killah
Most Known Unknown (reissued) by Three 6 Mafia
Murray’s Revenge by Murs & 9th Wonder
My Ghetto Report Card by E-40
New Joc City by Yung Joc
On Top of Our Game by Dem Franchize Boyz
Pac’s Life by 2Pac
Pimpalation by Pimp C
Port of Miami by Rick Ross
Press Play by Diddy
Reality Check by Juvenile
Release Therapy by Ludacris
Revenge of the Spit by Ras Kass
Rotten Apple by Lloyd Banks
Second Round’s On Me by Obie Trice
So So Gangsta by Daz Dillinger
St. Elsewhere by Gnarls Barkley
The Big Bang by Busta Rhymes
The Blue Carpet Treatment by Snoop Dogg
The Charm by Bubba Sparxxx
The Inspiration by Young Jeezy
The Last Stand by Boot Camp Clik
The Price of Fame by Bow Wow
The Professional 3 by DJ Clue
The Shining by J Dilla
Thug Stories by Bone Thugs N Harmony
Thugs Revenge by Bizzy Bone
Time Is Money by Styles P
Todd Smith by LL Cool J
Tru3 Magic by Mos Def
Year of the Dog…Again by DMX