biggest rap songs on urban radio 2011

this list is only half awful, which is kinda better than i expected

'look at me now' is def my favorite beat IF ONLY CHRIS BROWN WASN'T ON IT >:|

I don't want to reward any of these but the ones that kind of jump out are hustle hard, bring it back

"i'm a boss"

would have been grove st party but that was an '10 song for me, i basically played it out too much by the time the new year rolled around

lotta garbage up there

my top ten:
grove st. party
bring it back
ima boss
moment 4 life
super bass
john
work out
out of my head
she will
look at me now

lloyd banks has staged an impressive late career resurgence. who would have thought

i'm not gonna hate on al's list

"grove st party" easily

i hate "look at me now" even more than "grime_rollerskates.gif" i think

your top 3 = A+ probably my top 3 also

"She Will" is better than I remember

top 15

1 marvin's room (tho calling this a rap song is kinda pushing it)
2 hustle hard remix
3 bring it back
4 grove st party
5 super bass
6 i'ma boss
7 otis
8 roll up
9 racks
10 headlines
11 i'm on one
12 john
13 work out
14 my last
15 that way

"she will" has dope chorus + beat but unforgiveable wayne verses

bad 'deep' wayne verses are basically drake verses, dude

i guess "did it on em" is the biggest rap song of the year with no singers or singing of any kind, which is pretty weird to contemplate.

bad 'deep' wayne verses are basically drake verses, dude

― some dude (Mr. Stevenson #2), Friday, December 9, 2011 8:46 PM (47 seconds ago) Bookmark

oh please -- bad 'deep' wayne verses are the same tired cliches about fucking the world and the world being a woman that he's been peddling for years, + drake wouldn't rap something as dumb as "hang you out to dry like a towel rack" or w/e wane says on this song

yeah you're right, drake would never say "like"

oh c'mon

drake is BETTER than wayne's drake impression sure but i just don't feel like it's by a huge margin

listening to 'she will' for the first time, drake's voice actually sounds hard on this

that's drake on the chorus right?

drake is totally above cliche, true

on this note, i never followed up on my own qn in the rap threads but i thought one of the biggest failures in sfj's review of the drake album was him giving drake a free pass for being too self-absorbed to provide worthy perspective to his moanings about life's emptiness, or awareness that he seems to embody all he claims to loathe - i guess the latter precludes the former

this is what i was going to post in response to j0rdan a few minutes ago and then decided not to, but since you're on the subject:

they both do lame superficial 'introspection' but the difference is wayne seems to have a dark inner life he'll never write honestly or interestingly about while drake is fearlessly plumbing the depths of the most mundane polite life a rap star could ever have hoping to will it into a fascinating tragic narrative

like on "headlines" drake is practically masturbating to fantasies of someone in his entourage shooting a hater so he can sit in a courtroom for their trial feeling all cool and dangerous and dramatically conflicted

some dude otm

like on "headlines" drake is practically masturbating to fantasies of someone in his entourage shooting a hater so he can sit in a courtroom for their trial feeling all cool and dangerous and dramatically conflicted

― some dude (Mr. Stevenson #2), Friday, December 9, 2011 9:12 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

i mean yes, you're right, but if you can stump for the following in any capacity i think you need to figure some things out

[Verse 1]
I tell her now gon' pop that pussy for a real nigga
I already know that life is deep, but I still dig her
Niggas is jealous, but really I could care less
I'm in Hell's Kitchen with an apron and a hairnet
Devil on my shoulder, the Lord as my witness
So on my Libra scale, I'm weighing sins and forgiveness
What goes around comes around like a hula hoop
Karma is a bitch? Well just make sure that bitch is beautiful
Life on the edge, I'm dangling my feet
I tried to pay attention but attention paid me
Haters can't see me: nose-bleed seats
And today I went shopping and talk is still cheap

i mean that's seriously some of the worst writing i can even imagine

we're falling into an iatee rabbit hole of "how are those not-good lyrics any less good than any not-good rap lyrics?" now

you're right -- that said, i stand by my assertion that those wayne verses are some of the absolute worst of the year, bar none

there is worse rapping on better songs on these lists (like nicki on "moment 4 life," which is also one of the only times drake has ever sounded like a halfway believable rapper type person)

yeah that's still maybe his outright best rap verse

i remember back when "hustle hard" and "john" were out that i thought weezy might not put out a pile of horsecrap this year

voting "bring it back"

"She Will."

i like "oh my"

'look at me now' is def my favorite beat IF ONLY CHRIS BROWN WASN'T ON IT >:|

^^^ this

also I fuckin hate "She Will."

my dog could have made that beat

when diplo hears your dog's beats he'll def offer him a milkbone in exchange for a co-production credit

"look at me now" is fine, but it's not like busta's and wayne's verses are classics or anything anyway

yeah seriously

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lofuvgzfgR1qzqrouo1_500.jpg

what are wayne's good verses this year?

anything of his prior to 2009 that you decided to revisit

busta doing a mediocre busta verse is still better than most of the traxx on this list

otm

yeah, that's not true

clearly I was speaking of an objective "truth" than can be disputed

busta verses in 2011 are just sad to me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK-9h4SzFqM

I'm a G-A-N-G-STIRRR
take it to the streets, say when he's scurrrred
T- streets slimmin see ya makin Z scurrr
feet feet gone lace the weed with the syrrp
Weezy, Don of the squad, N**** bow down
excuse yourself from the table, we 'bout to chow down
We bust up in this bitch with our smiles down
oh how wow glock glock fo fo pow pow
we've got a lion in the engine with a loud growl
little kids and pets run from the ROW ROW
say ROW we 'bout to bring it back to our town
man, shit bout to go down, down, super got that brown now
and little snacky's got the pounds now
loaded, we've got money from the flo' to the ceilin
homey talkin slick, we've got money on the flow
we bout to kill em with money i'mma throw it i'm bout to win it
weezy out
fee i got us papi, u could sit back and put ya feet up
i'ma make sure we all eat my nigga feed up
and u could catch me g'd up
at the stage at the club tosssin g's up
or at the table wrappin' keys up
they tell me i could make it rappin put them keys up
but i'm like 25 keys up
the streets is tuff,
man i gotta get these peeps they stuff, it's a hot summer
u could still catch me and stunna in a 4 door lexus
it's only weezy baby no more extras
and u know he bout to buy me a 4 door testa
just cuz he's impressed wit my solo effort
i show no care for, those who left us
fuck those fellas i'm so rebellious
i show no remorse
when u see me hold ya thought's or we gon' hold court
and i know u don't wanna hold court
i bust up in this bitch wit a k and bang out the whole court

nah but for real his verse on the "hustle hard" remix is awesome

busta verses in 2011 are just sad to me

and you haven't even heard his verse on the cher lloyd album about being forever young

this is a recent busta rhymes verse that i really enjoy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxDcmWazLFE

voted for racks

is "chopper in the car" called something different than "chopper in the car"??

ok i guess it's "john" and it's my pick.

and "marvin's room" is the song about drunk-dialing your ex - people like this song as more than a novelty for real?

(i spend 95% of my time in the car listening to urban rap radio so i am familiar with these songs in some capacity but they never say the titles /also didn't realize drake was on 75% of them.)

"Marvin's Room" love is the weirdest of all to me, because even if you don't like Drake as a person, even if you don't like Drake as a rapper, at least he's made some pop songs qua pop songs & "Marvin's Room" is a meandering, directionless sexless slow jam

i mean it is kind of a hilarious song because it's all serious and dark but it's about drunk dialing someone and telling them you are sleeping with a bunch of other women!

I'VE HAD SEX FOUR TIMES THIS WEEK I'LL EXPLAIN
HAVING A HARD TIME ADJUST TO FAME

dang racks is p great

marvins room is my fav drake song

in spite of the awkward lines his performance is def moving--not in that it inspires sympathy or pity but, like, i can relate to being in that pathetic position and it really hits that nerve. captures the vibe of being bummed out & reaching out perfectly; the beat sounds like the bathroom of a club, the way the keys seep through and the volume increases in hesitant bursts. the phone call is pretty devastating

i mean it is kind of a hilarious song because it's all serious and dark but it's about drunk dialing someone and telling them you are sleeping with a bunch of other women!

― bene_gesserit, Saturday, December 10, 2011 5:24 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Permalink

i mean presumably he's calling someone he's, like, in love with; kind of serious imo

some dude feel like it's my duty to inform you that your dn is biting the rev

ok my bad but i should do you a favor and post under the dn to which you're referring in this actual thread before i change it so people aren't totally confused

"sounds like the bathroom of a club" is the new "watching a party ending through smoke"

haha well I just posted in the thread most likely to get your attention xp

ha, thank you some dude, i was confused myself.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

racks because of the dance

1) racks
2) grove st party
3) imma boss
4) bring it back
5) roll up (such a cute song)
6) marvin's room

what abt 'lotus flower bomb' ?

i <3 "roll up"

the chorus of "roll up" is like the most rhythmically incompetent vocal performance of 2011

yeah i could see that -- idk i love the production on that

the chorus of "roll up" is like the most rhythmically incompetent vocal performance of 2011

I'm sorry, I thought you had heard the Childish Gambino album

haha i meant to add some kind of 'radio hit' qualifier in there (but no i have not listened to Camp)

what abt 'lotus flower bomb' ?

― gucc_ebooks (tpp), Thursday, December 15, 2011 10:10 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Permalink

this song is terrible!

i feel so sorry for people who live nowhere near DC that they have to hear Wale on the radio all the time now too

like it's been our cross to bear for much longer but it's not my desire to spread the misery

jesus christ how many of these songs are gigantic blousey sapfests

and slooooooooooooooooooooooooow too

now I am better understanding how/why ppl would be appreciating Waka

rolling gigantic blousey sapfests 2012

yup i think we got our thread title goons

I mean, I'm going through in order and I am actually psyched/happy about hitting Lupe because at least it isn't a turgid dirge, to the point where I am tempted to give his album a chance despite the massive negative reaction I had to "The Show Goes On"

someone should put some Paxil in Weezy's weed

haha that means the biggest blousy sapfest of all, "Marvins Room," is up next

gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawd why won't he shut the fuck up

I don't care if this make me old, Drake is fucking terrible and should just be punched 24/7

the Lupe Fiasco + Trey Songz joint is kind of a jam

yeah i fuck w/ that song

kind of telling that a wholly anonymous generic track like "Racks" is coming across like the greatest thing in the universe thanks to exposure to stupid ass Drake

okay "Bring It Back" is a genuinely YES song, the first I've hit on this list (of the ones I didn't already know) in a while

^^^^^^^^i know right!

(ha this was an xp but it applies to both)

racks is a pretty unusual song, maybe not as unusual as tony montana but they're both ugly and rythmically contorted in a way most or all futuristic stupid fruity swag ever is

tpp's list otm

the big takeaway I'm having so far is that I didn't think that 90% of hip-hop would spend 2011 trying to unsuccessfully merge "I Need Love" with "Ms Jackson"

haha

racks is a pretty unusual song, maybe not as unusual as tony montana but they're both ugly and rythmically contorted in a way most or all futuristic stupid fruity swag ever is

― wil smif, Thursday, December 15, 2011 1:22 PM (56 seconds ago) Bookmark Permalink

well considering that that style's been done to death for 3 years in a row there's not really anything unusual about that anymore

srsly though, coming to Waka after the indefensible SHIT I just sat through makes me want to go back and apologize to you guys for all the mocking; if only I'd been paying attention to what the other choices were I'd have gotten it

racks & tony montana are the increasingly rare late-era innovations on the futuristic swag template

haha "grove st. party" and "bring it back" are my top 2 out of this list so it's a pleasant surprise to see you embrace both (although i decided to throw a vote to "ima boss" itt)

we got tons of wale in miami too cuz of the MMG thing

no i mean the pre-"no hands"/maybach music years when D.C. radio was playing mostly awful wale songs nobody else cared about

"that way" was obv huge everywhere

oh

i love 'lotus flower bomb' i don't care what yall say

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

pretty agreeable results!

yeah, wow!

i've actually never heard the wiz/too $hort song, so surprised to see it get multiple votes

haha that is my sister and i's drinking anthem

great top 3

i haven't heard the meek mill/ross actually. i should remedy that at some point.

ok that is kinda weird

"niggas in paris" might be robbed..

meek mill afaict has no traction here whatsoever

but like, that song had a huge event remix w/ khaled/tip/wayne/ross

he's from philly

xp i didn't even know that til now. i only know meek mill exists cause of the internet

I was the "Niggas In Paris" vote

I though meek mill was mac miller

did the meek mill song come first or the lonely island song

ok this is dope, not really sure how i feel about the prominent ross grunt tho

lol remember when some dude didn't think that was a 'thing'

i think i was more just offended to learn that it is a thing, especially because i'd never noticed it before but now i can't un-hear it (unlike the Kanye Honk that ruined so many songs for me long before there was a name for it)

great top 4!

i don't really love "moment 4 life" but something about the way nicki enunciates "and i ain't lucky, i'm blessed / YES" totally gets me

oh god that line is the worst

I don't know if I am sad or relieved that this poll ended before I could get through every song on here in the original order

also who the hell voted for "Marvins Room"

even tho i had "marvin's room" at #1 i think i actually voted for travis porter

#imjustsayingyoucoulddobetter

oh god that line is the worst

yeah i know it's not a good line in any sense, it's just the way she says it

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2011/12/the-best-hip-hop-of-2011.html

I see mostly shtick in Nicki Minaj, though I’m thrilled to see a woman break apart the boys club and sexualize men in her hit video. I admire her vocal speed and enunciation but I’m creeped out by the Pixar British accent and Barbie obsession. Her track “Super Bass” became such a consensus song that Taylor Swift covered it live (sometimes with Minaj herself), as did two tiny British girls named Sophia Grace and Rosie, landing them on the Ellen DeGeneres show.

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2011/12/the-best-hip-hop-of-2011.html#ixzz1giWPXkS8

he goes on to praise azealia banks tho (rme) so ymmv

i agree about the schtick. those first mixtapes around the time gucci was buzzing are p dope, though, me ex played those a lot this summer

it's still genuinely quite bizarre to me how massive nicki minaj has become, when i think back to hearing those mixtapes for the first time

do you actually think azealia banks is terrible and no-good and awful, or just overrated?

hasn't she only released one song?

i have a few kicking around from a few years ago, when she went under miss bank$

is "212" even properly released yet? it wasn't as of a month ago

i think having a music video = released

well, there's a video. is it available for purchase? i'm not sure. i think they might be working shit out w/ the guy she jacked the beat from, or maybe they're just letting this build buzz and won't officially put out a single until she's done stuff w/ epworth

i just checked, it's on uk itunes. who is this "lazy jay" who suddenly gets a featuring credit

it's the guy that she took the beat from

that's why the video kept getting pulled down

i dunno i dont want to rag on a-banks more than i already have bcuz i think my initial ire was a bit ott -- i think all the comparisons to rappers-i-like was real off putting when i heard it & everyone's saying BEST SHIT OF THE YEAR -- its closer to lily allen than trina imo

ummm she's not really close to either

Reema Major's single was better anyway

I see mostly shtick in Nicki Minaj, though I’m thrilled to see a woman break apart the boys club and sexualize men in her hit video.

didn't Salt & Pepa spend half of the 90s doing this

yeah but every time a female comes along and raps about sex and men being sexy, every time people act like no one's ever done it before (which is where we return to azealia banks)

I mean, I get why Missy wouldn't be a good avenue for comparison because IIRC the vast majority of her videos have ppl in borderline skiwear up until "Lose Control" so it's not like the videos themselves were objectifying dudes but didn't S&P paw shirtless guys in practically every single one of their post-"Push It" videos?

ummm she's not really close to either

― degas-dirty monet (lex pretend), Friday, December 16, 2011 11:23 AM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink

idk precocious cutesy theater kid is kind of her steez
i was actually going to say that one chick critics were into 5 yrs ago who did theatrical 'hip-hop'-esque showtunes but i couldn't remember her name for the life of me

nellie mckay?

thats the one

allen and mckay aren't really "rappers" as such, they just experiment with it. banks can actually rap really well.

also, press and image aside, i don't think banks' theatre-kid thing actually comes across on record at all

i dont know why that sess 45 / keedy black song we both like doesn't have similar levels of label interest, if its just down to rapping skill; but it isn't, of course, its her theatrical irony & general indie-ness that gives her coverage

also, press and image aside, i don't think banks' theatre-kid thing actually comes across on record at all

Really? My reaction to "212" was the overwhelming impression that someone had played a Betty Boo single for her and said "okay sound like this, only more arch".

archness is a better word for what i'm thinking than 'theatrical irony & general indieness' thnx

i dont know why that sess 45 / keedy black song we both like doesn't have similar levels of label interest, if its just down to rapping skill; but it isn't, of course, its her theatrical irony & general indie-ness that gives her coverage

or reema major, or brianna who does that "marilyn monroe" song, or yeah many others. so many others.

this happens all the time though! "why are you paying attention to this and not that" is like, something i whine every month. odd future, the weeknd, frank ocean, asap rocky, yadda yadda yadda. at least this time there's a legit great pop song, in terms of hooks and earworminess, that feels somewhat ~alive~ and not just like someone's mumbled something intp their laptop at 3am

i really don't hear archness in it though...and usually that's a real turn-off for me

I don't see how you can listen to the switch from flat-affect robot to overly conversational verging on surfer girl verses to the sung part to the shouty part without imagining her stopping each take in the studio to change her hat and sunglasses to better get "into character" for each voice.

I don't think it's a bad song but it absolutely is dripping with artifice for me, in much the same way as a good chunk of Nicki's material.

i should say, i don't even think its 'bad' just very slight, which feels almost more opposed to the arguments made in its favor than if i actively disliked it like that

like there's a sense of a small group of ppl willing it into importance

"the thinking man's Alexandra Stan"

ha i was thinking about all the vocal switch-ups the other day - they absolutely make the song for me, but it's so recognisably her every time that the idea of them being minajian characters never crossed my mind. they seem to flow into each other quite naturally.

i did think "212" was slight when i first heard it, then it earwormed me - admittedly it only grabbed me totally after i googled the lyrics, which i couldn't really make out before. once you can rap along to it it's completely different.

like there's a sense of a small group of ppl willing it into importance

which makes azealia banks different in what way to any other rap/r&b act that critics stan for?

like would it legitimise her if "212" ended up being a hit? it's not like odd future have had hits either

I don't think it's slight in terms of popularity, I think it's slight because it really reminds me of "Mr Saxobeat". Its hit potential isn't even on my radar; if anything, I think it has a shot because of the combo of filthy lyrics + frothy beat + cuet rapper/singer, but then again I also thought ppl were going to go for Janelle Monae as a pop star rather than "a respected musician" so I am not a good barometer for these things.

i'm not trying to 'delegitimize' her though. i'm just trying to describe her stuff in a way that i feel is accurate. i dont think there's much hit potential in this song, i have no idea what to think abt her long-term prospects. i do feel like she'd do better in britain than here.

minaj is all schtick at this point but it kind of seems useless to knock her for that -- when she leaves aside the schtick you just get horribly bland platitudes like "right thru me" or the verses on "moment 4 life"

I don't think "212" will be a hit but the buzz around it is reminiscent of the buzz around "Galang" (only it's been faster b/c these things travel faster now).

and like MIA, we end up discussing her in ilx threads about radio rap for some mysterious reason

"212" is interesting but breakout pop single? gtfo. hook isn't strong enough.

it wouldn't go straight to radio playlists if they just tightened up the chorus, though

the song's fun is all in the bleeped out parts

this is just gonna be a song that hipsters play a lot at hipster house parties

how dare they

what kind of craft brew do they drink while listening to it

good results

HAM got rob'd

isnt that song widely considered a flop

i mean, i don't like it either, but i thought the general consensus was 'WOW' followed by 'eh'

i just assumed that post was sarcastic

wow I would like "Ima Boss" a lot more if it wasn't for the videogame strings/horns

dunno why you would think a post made by poster 'gayfish' was sarcastic tbh

http://theremixbaby.tumblr.com/post/14643521667/unpopular-opinions-super-bass

kinda sums up my feelings about 'super bass' (except I wouldn't rank it that low on PF)

wow I would like "Ima Boss" a lot more if it wasn't for the videogame strings/horns

haha I love shitty fake synth brass sounds in rap songs

I mean why shouldn't I feel like I'm playing Lufia when I listen to Meek Mill

sawce all over me

haha I love shitty fake synth brass sounds in rap songs

― that wiener from Emearlds (step hen faps), Thursday, December 22, 2011 6:46 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink

seriously!

fake brass is awesome

"ima boss" is my favorite song on here, but if anything it would be better if the beat was varied for like even a few bars. it's hard as hell but it's soo repetitive.

i have zero issues w/ that album

er, song