The Audacity of Dope

It’s the last Sound Session of the year, which means only one thing: time for our annual “best of” wrap up show!  You can peep previous year end episodes here (2012, 2011, 2010, and 2009), but for this year’s list, see below and check our notes too.  As always, we pick what we feel represented the best artists and music that we highlighted on SNSS all year.  Normally, we avoid picking more than one track from an artist, but we couldn’t resist this year.  Kanye and Drake dominated 2013, in every sense (“HOW, Sway?), and they had too many records to only pick one.  Those guys were the MVP’s, but there were lots of great records this year:

Show #446 (12-29-13)
**Best of 2013**

1. Action Bronson – “Strictly 4 My Jeeps”
2. THURZ ft. Cali Martyr – “Got Damn, Got Damn”
3. A$AP Rocky ft. Skrillex & Birdy Nam Nam – “Wild For The Night”
4. Kris Kasanova ft. Skeme & Jarv Dee – “Shut Em Down”
5. Tyler, The Creator ft. Frank Ocean – “Bimmer”
6. Kanye West ft. Charlie Wilson – “Bound 2”
7. Kanye West – “Black Skinhead”
8. Pusha T ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Nosetalgia”
9. Step Brothers (Evidence & Alchemist) – “Step Masters”
10. Nacho Picasso – “Crime Waves” (Local Music)
11. Jay-Z ft. Rick Ross – “F*ckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt”
12. Romaro Franceswa ft. Fearce – “Bounce” (Local Music)
13. Shad ft. Saukrates – “Stylin’”
14. Smash Brovaz – “Whatever”
15. Drake ft. Sampha – “Too Much”
16. Sampha – “Too Much”
17. Drake ft. Jhene Aiko – “From Time”
18. The Physics – “Play It Off” (Local Music)
19. J. Cole ft. Nas – “Let Nas Down (Remix)”
20. Isaiah Rashad – “Shot U Down”
21. Porter Ray – “5 Mics” (Local Music)
22. Chance The Rapper – “Acid Rain”
23. Big K.R.I.T. – “Serve This Royalty”
24. The Internet – “Dontcha”
25. denitia and sene – “trip. fall.”
26. Raleigh Ritchie – “In Too Deep”
27. ForteBowie – “Gucci Mayne”

Link to download/stream the mp3 of the show – http://www.solidfiles.com/d/8f31e46420/
(back up – http://www35.zippyshare.com/v/99509846/file.html)
(2nd back up – http://linkmixes.com/hq2mac07719g)

If there are any problems with the links or if you’d like to be added to our weekly email list to receive the playlist and download links after every show, just shoot me an email, DJHyphen@gmail.com.

Notes:

1.  Action released lots of quality music in 2013, but this collab with Harry Fraud was his best.
2. Finally! A twerk record with lyrics. Club goers and backpackers unite!
3. ASAP’s collab with Skrillex didn’t quite fit with the rest of his album, but that’s not a bad thing when a track is this hype.
4. Kris, Jarv, and Skeme delivered a banger. Sadly, most folks are still sleeping. Not SNSS doe.
5. Tyler’s maturation resulted in one of the best albums of the year and this outro featured a beat that Pharrell wishes he made.
6. Yes, the video is absurd. Yes, the lyrics aren’t super dope. But this is my favorite record of the year. Just insanely enjoyable and a classic ‘Ye sample. You can’t front.
7. Another crazy beat, but the lyrics shine here. Kanye’s crazy but a genius. He was spitting truth all year in these songs and interviews.
8. Pusha had another great year (hanging with ‘Ye helps). This and “Numbers On The Board” were classics.
9. Speaking of classics, Ev & Al nailed this old school inspired slapper.
10. Seattle’s hip-hop scene is on fire and Nacho is the most intriguing MC we have. 2014 will be huge for him.
11. Jay dropped an average album (by his standards) but it still had a few gems, including this anthem.
12. Shout to BeanOne with possibly my favorite local beat ever. I could listen to that loop all day!
13. One Canadian legend linked with another soon to be Canadian legend. SK’s having fun on this one, but those lyrics are still rewind worthy.
14. Good ol’ fashioned boom-bap for the cold weather. T-Dot to SEA, connect.
15. We could have picked numerous records from Drizzy, but this one was a no-brainer. That hook. That beat. Those lyrics. Lock.
16. We had to give props to Sampha’s original that Drake sampled as well.
17. Still think Jhene had the hook of the year on “From Time.”
18. Last year, I mentioned that if the Physics release music in a year, they’re guaranteed to be on our year end list. Well, they released music. And it didn’t disappoint.
19. There were lots of dope “moments” (see Kendrick’s “Control” verse) but one of our favorites was Nas responding to Jermaine.
20. Kendrick was everywhere in 2013 and Q kept anticipation bubbling for his upcoming album, but TDE’s newcomer introduced himself to the world with one of the best tracks of the year.
21. The best part of Seattle’s hip-hop scene is that the future is looking STRONG. Cats like Porter, Romaro, and Dave B are leading the way for the youngsters.
22. Chicago’s up and comer linked with Seattle’s production OG, Jake One, and the resulting song was the highlight of Chance’s album.
23. A lot of folks are taking K.R.I.T. for granted and waiting for him to drop that undeniable classic, which will certainly come, but in the meantime, he continues to release great music. Another year, another great mixtape.
24. The Internet might have had the sleeper record of the year. J still points out that if they sold this track to Janet Jackson, it’s a guaranteed #1 hit. What a record…
25. Denitia Odigie and Sene collaborated for one of the surprise albums of the year and this was the first offering we heard off it. Still knocks.
26. Raleigh Ritchie’s an artist that might be off most people’s radars, but it’ll come in time. This is just a taste of what’s in store from this UK singer.
27. Forte simply does it all: raps, sings, produces. He’s good. He’s gucci.

Honorable mentions from artists not otherwise represented:

• 2 Player Co-Op (Trackademicks & 1-O.A.K.) – “Someone Great”
• 50 Cent ft. Kendrick Lamar – “We Up”
• AB – “You Used To Love Me”
• Amp Live ft. James Melo – “D.H.E.A.”
• A$AP Mob ft. A$AP Nast & Method Man – “Trillmatic”
• Bas ft. J. Cole & KQuick – “Lit”
• Big Sean ft. Kendrick Lamar & Jay Electronica – “Control”
• Bondax – “Gold (Snakehips Bootleg)”
• Busta Rhymes ft. Q-Tip – “Thank You”
• Childish Gambino – “3005”
• Dag Savage (Exile & Johaz) ft. Aloe Blacc – “When It Rains”
• Dave B – “Illectric”
• De La Soul – “Get Away”
• Disclosure, Sam Smith, Jimmy Napes, & Nile Rodgers – “Together”
• Eminem ft. Buckshot – “Don’t Front”
• Halo & Masta Killa ft. Rocki Evans – “No Matter”
• IamSu! – “Hipster Girls”
• Jadakiss ft. The-Dream – “Big Boy Dialogue”
• Janelle Monae ft. Miguel – “Primetime”
• Jhene Aiko – “The Worst”
• Joey Badass – “Unorthodox”
• John Crown – “Ben Franklin”
• John Legend ft. Rick Ross – “Who Do We Think We Are”
• Logic – “Nasty”
• Mack Wilds – “Magic”
• Mayer Hawthorne ft. Jessie Ware – “Her Favorite Song”
• MeLo-X – “God Magic”
• Mystikal – “Hit Me”
• Nickelus F ft. Drake – “Number 15”
• Quelle Chris ft. Tanya Morgan, Cavalier, & Fresh Daily – “Greene Eyes”
• Raz Simone – “Cold”
• Rick Ross ft. Jay-Z – “The Devil Is A Lie”
• Run The Jewels (Killer Mike & El-P) ft. Big Boi – “Banana Clipper”
• Schoolboy Q ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Collard Greens”
• Scribes – “Backseat (New Ride)”
• Sol – “Jump In”
• ST 2 Lettaz – “Trillmatic”
• Tanya Morgan – “For Real”
• The Black Opera ft. Mayer Hawthorne – “Queen Of Hearts”
• T.I. ft. B.o.B, Kendrick Lamar, & Kris Stephens – “Memories Back Then”
• Yo Gotti ft. J. Cole – “Cold Blood”
• Young Roddy – “This One”

2014: let’s gooooooooooooo