2011 End of the Year Wrap-Up: Albums 10-1

10.) Action Bronson & Statik Selektah - Well Done

Bronson's second LP of the year is even better than his debut, as he gets a little more personal and focused over top notch dishes served by Statik Selektah.

9.) Phonte - Charity Starts at Home

The long awaited solo LP from the Little Brother front man does not disappoint with a little help from an old friend, 9th Wonder.

8.) Foo Fighters - Wasting Light

Had you told me a year ago that Dave Grohl and company would release one of the best albums of 2011, I would've assumed that Kurt Cobain resurrected. One of the year's most surprising releases, is a fury of big hits and great rock music, done the old fashioned way.

7.) Big K.R.I.T. - Return of 4eva

I slept on K.R.I.T.'s 2010 release (mainly due to the influx of shitty mixtape rappers that appear on blogs everyday), but I woke up for this magnificent release. Better late than never.

6.) The Weeknd - House of Balloons

The Weeknd is undoubtedly the year's biggest mystery, but by the end of the year the Toronto crooner found his way onto multiple tracks on one of the year's highest selling albums.

5.) Drake - Take Care

And that album would be Drake's sophomore LP. Drake's tendencies to lust for pole dancers and drinking too much makes for some of the most interesting 80 minutes of music in 2011.

4.) Kendrick Lamar - Section.80

Here's another rapper (like Big K.R.I.T.), who I didn't pay much attention to in the past couple of years despite releasing a few great projects. Section.80 is very moving and introspective, and the best part is there is much room for improvement for one of hip hop's brightest young stars.

Top 3 Preface:
All year there were two albums that were head and shoulders above the rest, and could potentially be considered classics someday. Both of these albums were significant to my year and my life in 2011. When I hear these albums I will always think back to what is what like to being 22-year old college student, being in a long distance relationship with a great girl, working 3rd shift as a janitor, and perhaps getting a little too drunk on the weekends with some great friends.

But in December another album joined those two elite albums, and I knew my top 3 even before making my calculations and ratings. Only one point each separated these three albums:

3.) Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

This record will probably be the most memorable album of 2011 for me. Robin Pecknold's songwriting perfectly captures what it's like to be in the quarterlife crisis and have no idea what you're going to do with your life. Just the opening lines to the album alone, perfectly capture what my peers and I went through in 2011: "So now I am older than my mother and father / when they had their daughter / now what does that say about me?"

2.) The Roots - undun

The Roots' first concept album is also one of the band's best. While the narrative isn't the most original story I've ever heard, and the storyline isn't always 100% clear, the music and the lyricism is absolutely flawless.

1.) CunninLynguists - Oneirology

Now if The Roots want to know how to do a concept album, they should be taking notes from these guys. Once again Deacon, Natti and Kno put forth a brilliant piece of music with a cutting edge story line about a troubled man's dreams (or should I say nightmares?). The group effortlessly ties in socially and politically conscious themes into the storyline, and invite big time guest spots from Big K.R.I.T. and Freddie Gibbs. Oneirology proves that one of hip hop's most slept on groups should be mentioned among the greatest of all time (sorry Taylor)!

Rhymes: Grammy Nominations Reaction

It's that time of year again. The Grammys are back. Everyone's favorite award show that they pretend to not care about (well okay no one really cares about them, except Kanye)is back for the 54th time. Adele looks to be this year's big winner, but Kanye leads the way with 7 nods (despite the Album of the Year snub).

Bon Iver looks to follow in the footsteps of 2010 indie darlings Arcade Fire. Despite having one of the year's best albums, the Fleet Foxes only got a single nomination in the oft-ignored Best Folk Album category. Good to see the Foo Fighters getting their share of Grammy nods (look for them to possibly upset Adele in AOTY category).

So as we do every year we're gonna take you through each (important) category, on who SHOULD win and who WILL win:

ALBUM OF THE YEAR:

Who SHOULD Win: It's hard to imagine 21 not getting the Grammys most prestigious award, but how many times does this award go to the best album nominated (okay, Arcade Fire's win last year was like the first time this ever happened)? And just because the "Rolling in the Deep" songstress has sold the most albums in 2011, also doesn't mean this is a sure lock. But Adele should win this award because 21 is a phenomenal record, and has had the biggest impact in 2011.

Who WILL Win: With all that I said in the previous post, it still very well could be Adele who brings on the golden phonograph this year. But I am going to say that The Foo Fighter's Wasting Light album has a strong chance to pull the upset. It's no secret that the Grammys love a seasoned rock vet (which is why I'm surprised Paul Simon's critically acclaimed album didnt get a nod). I wouldn't be upset if either of these two deserving artists won this award.

RECORD OF THE YEAR:

Who SHOULD (and WILL) Win: Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" is a lock for this. I would even go as far to say that come 2019, "Rolling in the Deep" will find its way on the top of many best song of the decade list. It's "Hey Ya!" good. I also wouldn't be too upset if Mumford & Sons "The Cave"or Bon Iver's "Holocene" pulled an upset (which almost guaranteed won't happen).

SONG OF THE YEAR:

Who SHOULD (and WILL) Win: Again Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" will win this award, which is awarded to best songwriting for a song. I'd like it if Kanye won this award for "All of the Lights" but I think that should've gotten the Record of the Year nod, and Bon Iver got the Song of the Year nod.

BEST NEW ARTIST:

Who SHOULD Win: Bon Iver, even though Justin Vernon and crew have been releasing music under this name since 2007, the Grammys are late with everything. The very well might win this category but I have a feeling that...

Who WILL Win: The dubstepper Skrillex will win this. For folks who thought I was going to pick the obviously most popular Nicki Minaj, think again. Rappers never win this category (See: 50 Cent, Drake) even when they are the most popular new artist to come out. And for some reason music critics have this weird obsession with that noise people call dubstep.

BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE:

Who SHOULD (and WILL) win: I think Dave Grohl and company will take this one home, but it could go to essentially anyone nominated. "Down By the Water" by The Decemberists was one of my favorite songs of 2011, and Radiohead's "Lotus Flower" was the only track on their new album I played after March.

BEST ROCK SONG:

Since I don't really know the difference between this and performance and all the nominees are exactly the same (See: BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE).

BEST ROCK ALBUM:

Who SHOULD (and WILL) Win: Foo Fighters will continue their big night with their genre's biggest award. I could maybe see indie superstars Wilco pulling off an upset here, but I doubt it.

BEST ALTERNATIVE ALBUM:

Who SHOULD (and WILL) Win: It's another great year for this category. Bon Iver will most definitely take home the award that was given to The Black Keys last year. I think Death Cab's album is a close second (but definitely won't win) and My Morning Jacket was pretty great too (they might though). And you can never count out Radiohead, even though King of Limbs pretty much blew.

BEST RAP PERFORMANCE:

Who SHOULD Win: Kanye & Jay-Z's "Otis" is the only track on here that I wouldn't be upset if it were awarded. While "The Show Goes On" was a great single and one of the few tracks that got any burn on that coaster titled LASERS, he openly said that the labels forced him to write that song. And I think if we're going to start awarding labels for doing this, then they will continue to push bullshit music down our throats.

Who WILL Win: Oh, sweet Jesus. For as good of a job as the Grammys do with Rock and Alternative genres (which isn't great, but still pretty good), they still have no idea about rap music. I'm willing to bet Lupe Fiasco will win this award, and fans can kiss goodbye any hopes of him making another album like "Food & Liquor" or "The Cool" ever again.

BEST RAP/SUNG COLLABORATION:

Who SHOULD Win: This category is a little bit stronger. I'm going to go with Kanye's "All of the Lights," mainly because I hardly count "I'm On One" as a Rap/Sung track (I guess he sings, sort of, on the hook).

Who WILL Win: Dr. Dre and Marshall's bullshit single to that Detox album that will never be released will most likely win. But Kanye has a chance to win this, as does "I'm On One." I'd be happy if Drake or Kanye won this; anyone else will make me hurl my remote at my tv.

BEST RAP SONG:

Who SHOULD Win: Again, not sure what the difference between this and BEST RAP PERFORMANCE is, but I'm going with "Otis" to slight out "All of the Lights."

Who WILL Win: It will probably go to Lupe or that Dr. Dre/Eminem mess. Either way I will be upset.

BEST RAP ALBUM:

Who SHOULD (and WILL) Win: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Period. This album was awarded PERFECT scores from MANY music publications. It somehow got snubbed in the AOTY category (but Rihanna, Bruno Mars and Gaga got nods?), but there's no way in hell people choose any of the other garbage (not including WTT) albums over Kanye's.

Rhymes: Fleet Foxes - "Sim Sala Bim" (Live Performance)

Robin Pecknold and company stop by Jimmy Fallon to perform the 3rd track off of their latest album. Check out my review for Hopelessness Blues here.

Rhymes: Fleet Foxes - "Grown Ocean" (Music Video)

Fleet Foxes - Grown Ocean from Fleet Foxes on Vimeo.

Here's the 2nd single off of the Fleet Foxes highly anticipated sophomore effort, Helplessness Blues. The Seattle-based band's follow up to their highly acclaimed self-titled debut is set to be released May 3.