This next award is one that rewards an artist for one cohesive body of work rather than a singular effort. The Album of the Year is typically given to the artist who displays a high level of output at a consistent level. Read the rest of this entry »

2010 was a year that was filled with a lot of big records by myriad of different artists. There were literally about 100K songs released during the calendar year, but only one impacted the streets, the clubs and the radio EQUALLY. This song brought the streets back in an era that has been dominated by pop-tunes and R&B features. That song was:

“BMF” by Rick Ro$$ & Styles P. (Produced By Lex Luger)

There are a lot of elements that go into constructing the perfect song. You have the beat, the hook, lyrics, flow, subject matter and post production as well. This particular song hit extremely hard the second it came on and Ro$$ literally wasted no time in attacking it with precision. His cadence was magnificent, his concept was brilliant and the hook was magic.

The song produced by 19 year old Virginia native Lex Luger features a great build-up, pounding bass and drums that could make Dr. Dre cringe. His audio masterpiece was brought to life by Rick’s immortal hook “I think I’m Big Meech, Larry Hoover/ whippin work, Hallelujah” and 3 verses that are harder than a nigga in his prison yard picture.

With Styles as his co-d Ro$$ crafted a record that the streets needed and the radio would be forced to embrace. This is a record that was a stark contrast to the other songs in heavy rotation on the radio which made its ascension that much more special. This is my Song of the Year. What was yours?

- The Win

This next award is actually one that I came up with towards the end of my process and selections. I thought it was important to recognize some new artists that hadn’t quite reached their “professional status” yet but were well on their way. The two artists I selected for this are prime examples of how controlling your market can expand your movement. Read the rest of this entry »

2010 saw a lot of new artists, not only emerge, but BLOW-UP in a short amount of time. Some we saw coming and others were unexpected. Some started off with grassroots movements and moved to major label backing, others were initially overlooked and their collection body of work made us pay attention. Read the rest of this entry »