Drake – Thank Me Later

Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Rick Ross – Teflon Don

Eminem – Recovery

The winner of the 1st annual Win Award for Album of the Year is:

Rick Ross - Teflon Don

When I think about Teflon Don the primary things that come to mind are sonic genius and lyrical growth. Over the past 5 years, Rick Ross has displayed that he has one of the best ears in music when it comes to picking beats that mesh well with his tone, flow and evoke emotion from the listener. In Teflon Don Ross constructed an 11 track opus (12 including “Audio Dope” from the iTunes bonus edition) that sonically dominates 99.99% of the albums released in 2010.  

From the opening horns and 808s on “I’m Not A Star” to the Justice L.E.A.G.U.E. mahogany masterpiece that is “Maybach Music III” to Lex Luger’s signature production on the street anthems “MC Hammer” and “BMF”, ending with the Mobb Deep “Shook Ones Pt. II” sample on “Audio Dope” , every song leaves a lasting impression on the listener and has replay value. The sequencing of all these records is wonderful which is something that is always undervalued in the construction of an album.

Lyrically! Over the past 18 months Ross has been on a steady pace to prove that he is one of the best rappers alive and on Teflon Don he really makes a mark and transitions from being a rapper who is known for having a great flow to being a lyrical titan as well. One of his most memorable verses to me is the 3rd verse on “I’m Not A Star” where he runs thru some serious alliteration ending about 12 bars in “O”.

“I’m a playa catchin bitches like I’m T.O./ Trunk fulla work, yeah a nigga think he Nino/ 3 dice head-crack a nigga for a kilo/ pinky ring a hunnid grand, but keep that on the D-Lo/ Diddy negotiates and the paperwork to Theo/ my niggas never sing if I need em I go to Ne-Yo/ Fuck a famous bitch and I treat her like a Skee-O/ Not even worth a shower, just grab me a stick of Deo/ Monday for menages and Tuesday I get a trio/ for a bitch who got a gift on the strength, she was a P.O.”

Keep in mind all that took place on the first song. He continues to raise his own bar on “Free Mason” with Jay-Z, “MMIII” with Jadakiss and T.i and “Live Fast, Die Young” with Kanye West, my personal favorite on the album. Speaking of features, another thing that I loved about this album was the way that Ross and his A&R’s slotted the guest spots. Sometimes when you listen to an album the features sound misplaced or disjointed. Every feature on this album was timely and made sense. They were all used as enhancements to the quality of the records, rather than being used as a namesake. How else do you explain Jay-Z on a dark introspective record like “Free Mason” rather than something more light and radio-friendly.

Overall, Teflon Don is an excellent effort that is pleasing on multiple levels. It has street elements, introspective records and Top 40 hits. This is a well-rounded album that features some of the best producers and rappers in the game all placed into their proper perspective.

-The Win

“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

We here at Made To Order pride ourselves on being firm supporters of everything quality that comes out of Philly. With that said here is the 1st mixtape offering from Philly stalwart DJ AYE Boogie. Welcome To The Aye Volume 1 is a mixture of current southern hits and undiscovered tunes. Click Download and give it a listen. Made Man approved.

- The Win

Download Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?511k31gmkegfydx

In rap music the industry co-sign is more important than in any other genre. Through their hard work both of these artist have taken over their local areas and connected with people who truly MATTER in this game. They are from two different sides of the map but have similar stories and hopefully similar paths to glory.

The first Future Stars winner is one who is close to me in proximity and someone who’s buzz I saw start about 3.5 years ago. Meek Mill is the epitome of an artist who puts on for his city. He has single-handedly been the biggest rapper in Philly for the past 2 years and one who has been able to bounce back from some incredible pitfalls that could have ended his career prematurely. His ability to write incredible club records has been noticed by two of the biggest artists in the game: Ti and Rick Ross who have both worked with him to cultivate and perfect his talent.

His most recently developed relationship with The Boss started via Twitter when Rick Ross visited Philly on a promo run for Teflon Don and has resulted in multiple collabos and a pending deal with Maybach Music Group. He has a total of over 100K mixtapes sold over the past two years and all his records are in heavy rotation on Philly radio. All this without any major label backing to speak of. Meek Mill is a man of the people and they have embraced him unlike any Philly artist I have seen since Beanie Sigel. 2011 will be Meek’s year to break out nationally and make everyone take notice of Mr. Philadelphia.

The second Future Stars winner is from the left coast and someone I just got put onto recently but his body of work is INCREDIBLE! Kendrick Lamar, the artist formerly known as K-Dot is from Compton, CA. Home of Eazy-E, Dr. Dre and Ice Cube. He’s down with Top Dawg Entertainment and this lil nigga can SPIT! Kendrick is one of the few rappers in recent years who is really saying something and literally gives me chills when I hear him rap.

His September 09 FreEP “Overly Dedicated” is what put him over the top for me. This 16 track disc was literally too good to give away, but Kendrick is so dedicated to his craft that he did so anyway. The standouts on this disc are “Alien Girl” “Michael Jordan” and “P&P 1.5″ but no song is a clunker. The ability he displays on this album is equal or better than a lot of A-list rappers who are currently dominating Top 40.

It was this disc along with his myriad of freestyles that got the attention of Dr. Dre and landed Kendrick on Detox as an independent artist. The plan for 2011 is that Kendrick will be signed and release his first album, ideally on Aftermath/Interscope which is where he has said he would prefer to be. If not, then I am sure there are numerous others vying for him to bring his talents to their label. J. Cole, Murs and Dre have all sung his praises, its officially time for the rest of the world to get in tuned with Kendrick Lamar.

-The Win

The Win Award for New Artist of the Year clearly goes to:

Ms. Nicki Minaj

Nik’s situation is unique for a number of reason. First she’s a women, second she’s in a male dominated crew and third no one was checking for her when the year began. Unlike her Young Money cohort Drizzy Drake who was an end to end unanimous pick for everyone’s New Artist of the Year in 09, Nicki’s situation was much different. People didn’t really start to take notice of her until about halfway through the 3rd quarter. I can even pinpoint the moment.

Kanye West did a series of interviews in the summer. His most memorable being with Angie and Flex on Hot 97 in New York. On these shows he stated that Nicki Minaj was the scariest rapper in the game; meaning that SHE was the person most likely to take the throne in the next few years. He cited her range, ability and talent level, but with “Massive Attack” recently dropping people were less than enthused about what Nicki had to say.

But then everything changed when “Monster” dropped. To be placed on a record with two of the best MC’s breathing and CLEARLY have the best verse and steal the show was almost unheard of for a new artist. It actually hadn’t really been done since Canibus on “4,3,2,1″. Additionally this was probably the best verse laid down by a female MC since Kim on “Quiet Storm” with Mobb Deep. So here is where all her momentum starts.

She had “Your Love” which was a #1 Rap record, Followed with ”Right Thru Me” another top 5 record, she had the great verse on Sean Kingston’s record “Letting Go” and then there were whispers of a song with Marshall Mathers. Many people dismissed it at first but in only a few days time the record was out, this again solidified Nicki as the best new artist because here she is rapping with who I say is The Best Rapper Alive and she stuck her tits out and got BUSY!!!!!

Following all the mic-wrecking she did in the second half of 2010 (the important half) then her album drops and sells more in the 1st week than any female rap album in HISTORY. Her album would quickly go gold and in 6 weeks be certified platinum by the RIAA. No other new artist or any established female rapper can claim these stats. It is because of her dominating performances and extremely strong finish that I have to name Nicki Minaj the New Artist of the Year for 2010. Hate it or Love it the underdog’s on TOP! 

-The Win

In a year as celebrated as 2010 was for hip-hop, on a commercial and artistic level there is always seemingly one or two highly anticipated albums that slip thru the cracks. The reality is that we live in the age of premature album leaks and excessive pushbacks.

However I will say that in my 15 years of being an avid hip-hop follower I’ve never seen something as egregious as what has happened with Young Jeezy. His “next album” TM103 has been the victim of a Mistah Fab hairline like pushback. He’s had 7 or so (no exaggeration) release date changes and has been pushed off Def Jam’s release schedule 3 or more times as well since mid 2009. He’s had hit singles (Trap or Die 2, Lose My Mind and the Remix) and a buncha miss singles (All White Everything and Jizzle specifically).

Through all the albums that HAVE been released in 2010 I would have been willing to bet life back in January that TM103 would be out by summer. Then Trap or Die IIthe mixtape dropped and completely changed my opinion. While there were SOME good records on there this 20+ track diatribe back into the trap was missing something…PRODUCTION. Jeezy who had been once known for having some of the best beats in the game (Justice League, Shawty Redd, Mannie Fresh) was now betting his rap future on unknowns and throwaways from his go-to guys.

Additionally TODII missed one other huge thing I look for in an artist… GROWTH. All that Jeezy had done to expand his depths and reach on The Recession he almost purposely undone in an hour’s worth of music. All the new people that he touched and new subjects that he spoke on were forgotten and replaced with unreal trap tales from a millionaire that I don’t think any real music fan could appreciate. At some point, you have to GROW!

Musically I think Jeezy is a victim of his own success. He made a masterpiece of an album that was called for by the time, but in return it has hindered him tremendously. Because of this corner he has backed himself into the question is “WHAT NOW?” I’ve gone on record (via Twitter no doubt) to say that I believe TM103 is close to never ever seeing the light of day or retail shelf space. When and if it does, it will under-perform so terribly that it will end Jeezy forever.

With that said, Jay Jenkins has one option only…scrap this record and make another one…from scratch. He needs a new sound and new subject matter. He needs to get out of this hood mindset and expand his reach if he wishes to save his career. He has to use new producers, get out of Atlanta and see what life is like in other places. Its not a question of ability to do so, but of willingness. I’ve seen hood mentalities hurt super-talented in all areas: sports, music, professional, etc. If he is not willing to plant new seeds and grow for his own sake he will undoubtedly be the one who buries his career. 

The Win

• Jay-Z – Free Mason
• Nicki Minaj – Monster
• Rick Ross – Inkredible
• Drake – Aston Martin Music Remix
• Kanye West – Blazin’
• Lil Wayne – Miss Me
• Puff Daddy – Oh Lets Do It Remix
• Eminem – No Love
• Pusha – T – So Appalled
• Jay-Z – Light Up

And the winner of the 1st Annual Win Award for Verse of the Year goes to…………………………………………it’s a TIE!

Eminem – No Love & Lil Wayne – Miss Me

What gives someone the Verse of The Year is a combination of elements. In both cases these were rather long verses but at no point did the artists lose the listener. The ability to keep someones attention thru 24 to 40 bars in itself is amazing and to not waste one single line in the process is another.

First Wayne:

When I think of Wayne’s verse he had all the elements that I look for: wit, humor, a great flow and an attention grabbing first line. 

“Ewwwwww shit, muthafucka got damn/ Kicking bitches out the condo like Pam/ getting money everyday I’m a groundhog/ bout to scoop ya girl up like a ground ball”

That set the tone for the rest of his verse filled with clever references and utterly ridiculous bars. Additionally there were references in this verse that I had NEVER heard before which is hard to do in hip-hop’s 30th year.

“I walk light so I don’t piss the ground off/ man I swear my bitches do it til they suck the brown off/ uggggh thats nasty/ yes I am Weezy but I ain’t asthmatic”

 When you add all these elements together you get a perfect verse presented in an unconventional state. All the mechanics are there: flow, presence, creativity and lines that stick in your head (PAUSE). Tunechi went in on this one.

Mr. Mathers:

Marshall, Marshall, Marshall. In putting together this award I spent countless hours reviewing and re-reviewing these verses. However, no matter what I listened to this was one that I always came back to and said “yeah so n so had great lines but…it wasn’t fucking with Em tho.” After you do that about 15 times it’s obvious that you have something special.

The way Em constructed his verse was to purposely start slow and build up as additional elements are added to the beat. When Just’s additional drums, kicks and hi-hats kick in Em goes on a lyrical rampage and spits some of the illest shit of ALL-TIME!

Sticking to the theme of showing “No Love” Em goes into detail on how he gets down:

“Look at these rappers and how I treat em/ so why the fuck would I join em when I beat em”

“They say the competition is stiff/ but I get a hard dick from the shit now stick it in”

“When I’m not in my harshest, you can still get roasted cuz Marsh is not mello”

and my favorite of all

“They call me a freak cuz I like to spit on these pussies before I eat em/ get these wack cocksuckers off stage, where the fuck is Kanye when you need em”

It’s these type of direct, matter of fact bars that won me over and really showed that Marshall was #notfuckinaround. What also makes this verse special and unique is that there are several breaks in his flow and the beats where you think  he’s going to stop rapping but he keeps going and going and the lines get meaner and meaner. The breath control he exhibited was phenomenal and the things he said were all out of this world.

Here are my verse of the year winners. I know there will be a lot of debate and banter on this subject so “Who were your winners?”

The Win

This award goes to the person with the most vile, despicable and putrid lyrics put to beat in calendar year 2010. The other candidates for this award never actually stood a chance against one special competitor who clearly doesn’t really fuck wit them words like that. So with no further ado I’d like to announce the 1st Annual Win Awards “Worst Verse of the Year” winner…………………………………………………………….

Roscoe Dash “No Hands”

R-o-s-c-o-e/ Mr. Shawty put it on me

I be going Ham shawty upgrade from Bologna (PLEASE)

Them niggas tippin good girl but i can make it flood

Cuz I walk around with pockets that are bigger than my bus (WORD SON, WORD)

Rain rain, go away thats what all my haters say

My pockets stuck on overload, my rain never evaporates

No need to elaborate, most of these ducks exaggerate (WTF???)

But Imma get money, err errday stuntin, nigga ducks might get a chance after me

Cuz I’m ballin like I’m coming off a free throw (NOT BAD)

Shook yo head in the game no cheat code

Roscoe Lambo no street code and ya booty got me lost like Nemo (SMFH)

Go, go, go, go gone and do yo dance

And I’ma throw this money while yo do it wit no hands

Like all of our winners Roscoe couldn’t be here tonight because a strippers booty “got him lost like Nemo.” When asked for a comment he said “I Be going Ham shorty upgrade from bologna (PLEASE).” Enjoy the rest of the show!

The Win

P.S.

S/O to Ludacris “My Chick Bad” and Fab “Deuces Remix” who were 1st and 2nd runner-up for this award. Equally as awful but those two lines were impossible to overcome.

This initial year’s categories include:

• Song of The Year
• Album of the Year
• New Artist of The Year
• Artist of the Year
• Worst Verse of the Year
• Verse of the Year
• Future Stars Award

Hope yall like what you read this week and if not FUCK IT ,ITS MY BLOG BITCHES! LOL…

The Win

P.S.

But seriously though I need yall to comment and shit and get this traffic up so I can get this sponsor money YA DIG! #respectmyhustle

Back in September I started this blog life off with a post about The Snowman, The Blood and The King. This story told of the epic heights their careers had reached and the humbling fall they’d all experienced in the 2010 calendar year. Where I find you all today, the Snowman and Blood have yet to get their careers back on track and honestly MAY NEVER. There have been mixtapes released, “singles” dropped and release dates given that have all come and gone with no impact or care from the people. At this point it’s safe to safe that both of these former superstars are both on the verge of irrelevancy.

The King however took on his write-off from the media and public with a fierceness and tenacity not displayed since his younger years (think Urban Legend and KING albums) to deliver what may be his best work to date. His road to musical redemption started off subtly with an album title change. He went from the vile and putrid “King Uncaged” (see where that got him) to the simple yet decided “No Mercy.” This was followed by a single/video for “Get Back Up” which featured previously redeemed superstar Chris Brown on the hook. While the video didn’t do much to enhance the song, hearing it in audio form let’s the listen hear the sincerity in Tip’s delivery as he says things like “blogs, radio and television all going in/ I laugh to keep from crying through all of the embarassment” and “difference is, my shortcomings hit the media/ thanks to TMZ, the AJC and Wikipedia.” In the music its obvious that he’s not proud of where he’s landed himself and all he’s looking for is some empathy in the face of his adversity.

The next step was another single, followed by another single and another single! Tip purposely flooded the market with music for his upcoming state sponsored vacation which started November 1st. The difference between now and when he released music in the summer was that this time, IT WAS GOOD, very good to be exact. He had street songs (‘I Can’t Help It” with Rocko), club songs (“Poppin Bottles” with Drake) and a song with Best Rapper Alive (“All She Wrote” with Eminem).

Throw in a great video for “Pledge Allegiance to The Swag” with the BAWSE and slowly but surely The King had reclaimed his crown. Not to mention that his features had improved and overall he had gotten back to being “lil bad ass Tip from back in the day!” It had finally gotten to a point where people were excited to hear Tip again and not looking at his new songs like “oh here’s Tip again.” He worked hard to reclaim his spot and delivered an album that is easily one of the 5 best hip-hop records this year.

“No Mercy” is a well-rounded effort that fully exhibits that The King has returned to form. Through 14 tracks I can honestly say that I like them all, some better than others with the standouts being: “All She Wrote”,  ”Everything on Me” produced by Danja and THEE BEST SONG being the album opener “Welcome to the World” which features an explosive verse from Kanye West and Kid Cudi on the hook.

All told, 2010 was a tumultuous year for Tip. He got out jail, stayed out of trouble, saved a guys life, then he got into trouble and went back to jail. Somewhere in between he took the time to record one of the best albums of his career. For that I salute him and say WELCOME BACK…

The Win