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100 Essential Hip-Hop Tracks for 2010

As good a snapshot of no-bullshit hip-hop in 2010 as you'll get anywhere.  
By CHRIS FARAONE  |  December 14, 2010

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Before you write a single word in the comment section, please consider how myopic it is to trash my list unless you've checked every last track on here. I don't spend hours doing round-ups every year because I believe that I'm endowed with a divine ability to deliver definitive compendiums. I do it because I listen to 50 times more new music than 95 percent of hip-hop critics, and because I know that heads who still look for raw rap will appreciate the effort.

You'll notice that more than a few of these YouYube clips have just a few thousand views - or in some cases less than one hundred. That's because I don't consider swag or promo; unlike your average music fan, I know which acts are popular because they pay top publicists to push their garbage. Love my taste or hate it, I listen in a vacuum while these other suckers worship Nicki Minaj.

I'm sure that I missed more than a few deserving songs: I can only listen to so much music; some shit I dug is nowhere to be found on YouTube; I tried not to double-up on artists too much. With that said, this is as good a snapshot of no-bullshit hip-hop in 2010 as you'll get anywhere (though I also recommend the HipHopDX Vaults). And remember: most of these tracks are off seriously dope albums (some of which are free), so if you're feeling something, support these cats so they can keep cranking. Happy Holidays you filthy animals.

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14 Comments / Add Comment

Anonymous

FYI: Your #1 track was originally released in 2008.
Posted: December 14 2010 at 12:02 PM

Anonymous

Wow, I couldn't get Credibility Feat Sean P, Codes feat Bugsy with cameos from EVERY rapper in the city on one video for the first time ever or my scam adams diss record in there? It's safe to say Im a little insulted. Now I know im not Nas but damn, I mean WTF. XL has been royally snubbed.
Posted: December 15 2010 at 1:45 PM

Anonymous

no eyenine? bullshit.
Posted: December 15 2010 at 3:37 PM

Anonymous

This reads like a random assortment of songs ranging from awful throwaway joints to decent tracks. I mean it dips in and out of randomly being a Boston only list and a national list... Not really sure what the author was going for here. Some of these aren't even from 2010.
Posted: December 15 2010 at 4:05 PM

Anonymous

you missed well pretty much everything good this year. and somehow found everything that sucked.

no danny brown, no yelawolf, no wolf gang, no big krit, the one bad song on a stellar big boi record. points on the AG and Freddie Gibbs tracks. i guess.

learn how its done:
http://www.cbrap.com/?p=6513
Posted: December 16 2010 at 1:17 AM

Anonymous

EYENINE? ARE YOU SERIOUS?
BOOOOOO
Posted: December 16 2010 at 12:50 PM

Anonymous

I call bullshit on the "no-bullshit" call. Making a list of one hundred essential tracks for 2010 and neglecting every single novel trend in the industry is bullshit. This list says nothing about current rap and makes no effort to bridge the writer's preferred (also: dark and lonely) corners of the industry to anything resembling a mainstream perspective. This isn't journalism, this is the work of a historian who also digs re-enactments.
Posted: December 16 2010 at 3:52 PM

REALNIGGATUMBLRTHISLISTSUCKS

thanx i now have a playlist to commit suicide to
Posted: December 16 2010 at 6:53 PM

Anonymous

missed this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArzhUqYFxEk
Posted: December 17 2010 at 9:58 AM

Joe McShan

I don't know about this list being essential to 2010, but there's some great stuff on it. Major points for including Dark Time Sunshine and B. Dolan.

and on the other hand, shit like nicki minaj and yelawolf weren't exactly what I'd call "essential" to hip hop in general. If you want to talk stuff that actually had an effect on the sound of maintstream hip hop, take a look at what Kanye's been putting out, besides that, it's been pop music that's been recycling itself if that's where people are aiming at with shitting on this list.
Posted: December 17 2010 at 2:16 PM
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 See all articles by: CHRIS FARAONE



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