2011 End of the Year Wrap-Up: Albums 30-21

30.) Raekwon - Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang



Raekwon continues his hot streak with another great album sans RZA.

29.) Blueprint - Adventures in Counter Culture



The Columbus, Ohio native examines American popular cultures, with one of the most original and creative releases of the year.

28.) Blu - No York!



Blu's major label debut that never was, is one of the most polarizing releases of the year, but was also one of the more enjoyable.

27.) Death Cab for Cutie - Codes & Keys



Death Cab's latest is filled with more optimism than previous releases, and more keys.

T-26.) Yuck - Self-titled


Whoops, I accidentally forgot to add the British band Yuck to my Excel project. So I put them tied with The Black Keys as they both had a score of 67. Their grungey debut is a straight 90s throwback from the heavy guitar riffs, to the minimalistic (but effective songwriting), and to the (presumably intentional) shitty mixing.

T-26.) The Black Keys - El Camino



The Keys' latest is their poppiest release yet, but it's also one of their best.

25.) Murs - Love & Rockets Vol. 1



Murs teams up with Ski Beatz for his best release in a few years.

24.) Beirut - The Rip Tide



The baroque pop band drops one of the prettier releases of 2011.

23.) Bright Eyes - The People's Key



On Bright Eyes' rumored-to-be last album, Conor Oberst's songwriting covers religion and aliens, but I assure you it's still pretty awesome.

22.) Evidence - Cats & Dogs



Evidence's long-awaited Rhymesayers debut shows the Dilated Peoples rep at his most personal over incredible production handled mostly by Alchemist.

21.) J-Live - S.P.I.T.A. (Said Person of That Ability)



The underground vet drops some phenomenal boom bap vibes

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: The Black Keys "El Camino" Album Announcement

BRL devotees (who presumably are also HIMYM fans) will recognize the guy from this trailer as Artillery Arthur from How I Met Your Mother.

Although hearts were broken when the Blak Roc 2 trailer turned out to be less than legitimate. Ohio's pride and joy, The Black Keys are back again with their next album titled, El Camino. Production will be handled by Danger Mouse (who did Attack & Release, and the smash single "Tighten Up"). Coming off of a couple of Grammy wins, Dan and Patrick are looking to cap off a fantastic year for rock music on December 6th with their 7th LP.

I'm sure a lead single will be released very soon, so be on the look out for that. More info Here and Pre-Orders Here.

Rhymes: Blak Roc 2 (Trailer)

I dont usually post Trailer videos, cuz they're usually annoying and pointless, but hey it's The Black Key. This time the Akron duo is back with their Blak Roc project (with Dame Dash), which was my introduction to the group back in 2009 when they collaborated with RZA and Mos Def. The second installment will feature BRL favorites Jay Electronica, Talib Kweli, Curren$y, Sean P, and more.

BRL 2010 Year in Review (Non-Hip Hop Edition)

I don't claim to be any sort of expert on rock music, and I certainly don't analyze it like I do hip hop, so take this list with a grain of salt. I have it listed in reverse order of artist name (don't ask me why) along with a rating. The best non-hip hop album might also be a recipient of some award or something that's not nearly as important as a BRL award.

Vampire Weekend - Contra - 8.5/10
Sufjan Stevens - Age of Adz - 8.5/10
S. Carey (of Bon Iver) - All We Grow - N.A/10
Ryan Bingham - Junky Star - N.A/10
Rogue Wave - Permalight - 8.0/10
Pete Yorn - S/t - N.A/10
N.E.R.D. - Nothing - 6.0/10
MGMT - Congratulations - 5.0/10
Local Natives - Gorilla Manner - 7.5/10
Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns - 7.0/10
Kings of Leon - Come Around Sundown - 6.0/10
John Legend & The Roots - Wake Up! - 8.5/10
Japanese Cartoon - In The Jaws of the Lords of Death - 7.0/10
Cee-Lo Green - The Lady Killer - 8.0/10
Broken Bells - s/t - 8.5/10
The Black Keys - Brothers - 9.0/10
Beach House - Teen Dream - 9.0/10
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs - 9.5/10

Rhymes: Grammy Preview

So my favorite (but also my least favorite) awards ceremony will happen this Sunday, so I will do my obligatory post on the award show.

Album of the Year:
# The Suburbs – Arcade Fire
# Recovery – Eminem
# Need You Now – Lady Antebellum
# The Fame Monster – Lady Gaga
# Teenage Dream – Katy Perry

Who SHOULD Win: Arcade Fire - The Suburbs. Hands down this is the best album nominated, and I ranked it just below Kanye's album (he missed the deadline for the 2011 awards, so look for him next year) for my personal AOTY. This album is not only a great piece of music, but also provides a great social commentary on American suburbia.

Who WILL Win: Eminem - Recovery. Now I have a love/hate relationship with this album. Eminem touched on a lot of topics on this album I was hoping he'd talk about on his 2009 album. This along with a great lead single, and getting outside production made me really like it right away. But the more I listened to it throughout the year, the more I didnt like it. His yelling-delivery is grating and annoying and his lyrics and rhyme schemes are terrible compared to the rest of his catalog (especially compared to the rhyme fest that was Relapse).

So Recovery will win because The Grammys loves to give the award to old timers, and since there's no odd ball, washed up 1970s revival album nominated this year (see: Steely Dan and Herbie Handcock in years past), I think this is finally Marshall's year to bring home the most coveted Grammy award.

Song of the Year:
# “Beg, Steal or Borrom” – Ray LaMontagne
# “Forget You” – Cee Lo
# “The House That Built Me” – Miranda Lambert
# “Love the Way You Lie” – Eminem feat. Rihanna
# “Need You Know” – Lady Antebellum

Who SHOULD Win: This is a songwriter's award, so lyrics and songwriting are a major part of how this is decided who wins. I think Cee-Lo's "Fuck You" is the best written song on this list. While I'm completely annoyed with this song now because my roommates played this song 4 times a night, every weekend since September.

Who WILL Win: I could see this award rightfully going to Cee-Lo, but I think Marshall and Rihanna (who wont get this award because the chorus was written by Skylar Grey) will bring this award home.

Record of the Year:
# “Love the Way You Lie” – Eminem feat. Rihanna
# “Nothin’ On You” – B.o.B. ft. Bruno Mars
# “Forget You” – Cee Lo
# “Empire State of Mind” – Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys
# “Need You Now” – Lady Antebellum

Who SHOULD and WILL Win: This could a number of different ways. Record of the year basically means the best song of the year (as opposed to best written song). I wouldnt be mad if Eminem, Cee-Lo, or Jay-Z won this award. To be honest I'm pretty much over all of these songs, because people who don't really listen to music have overplayed the shit out of these songs over the course of the past year. I think Marshall will continue his award tour by winning this one too. I'm hoping that Jay wins this though because it's a great track that was ruined by the radio, but now that's not in rotation anymore, I might enjoy it again.

Best New Artist:
# Justin Bieber
# Drake
# Florence + The Machine
# Mumford & Sons
# Esperanza Spalding

Who SHOULD and WILL Win: I don't know much from Florence + The Machine other than a few tracks that I've heard and really enjoyed so I won't be mad when they WIN this award. But I'm rooting for the Canadian wordsmith, Drake. I think Drake is a very good rapper and a great songwriter. He has a great personality that is brought out on his tracks.

Best Rap Album:
# The Adventures Of Bobby Ray – B.o.B
# Thank Me Later – Drake
# Recovery – Eminem
# The Blueprint 3 – Jay-Z
# How I Got Over – The Roots

Who SHOULD Win: The Roots - How I Got Over. This ranked #4 on my BRL end of the year rankings. A phenomenal album with great production and rapping. This is probably my 2nd or 3rd favorite Roots album, but I'm sure they're not going to win because...

Who WILL Win: Eminem - Recovery - Yepp. Eminem is going to be hella annoying Sunday night with his "yaknowhatI'msayin'" and emotional speeches about how tough the past 5 years have been.

Best Rock Song

“Angry World” — (Neil Young)
“Little Lion Man” — (Mumford & Sons)
“Radioactive” — (Kings Of Leon)
“Resistance” — Matthew Bellamy (Muse)
“Tighten Up” — (The Black Keys)

Who SHOULD Win: "Tighten Up" was one of the best songs I heard all year. It instantly turned me onto the Akron Blues duo.

Who WILL Win: But I'm thinking Kings of Leon will take this award, which wouldn't be a terrible thing, because it's a pretty damn good song.

Best Alternative Music Album

The Suburbs — Arcade Fire
Infinite Arms — Band Of Horses
Brothers — The Black Keys
Broken Bells — Broken Bells
Contra — Vampire Weekend

Who SHOULD and WILL Win: This is a great category. I'd happy with anyone winning this as long as it's not Band of Horses (not that they're a bad band, but not on the same level as the others mentioned). I think Arcade Fire will win this award, as they should.

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration

“Nothin’ On You” — B.o.B Featuring Bruno Mars
“Deuces” — Chris Brown, Tyga & Kevin McCall
“Love The Way You Lie” — Eminem & Rihanna
“Empire State Of Mind” — Jay-Z & Alicia Keys
“Wake Up! Everybody” — John Legend, The Roots, Melanie Fiona & Common

Who SHOULD Win: I'd like to see the John Legend, Roots, Melanie Fiona and Common collab win this award. It was a great cover, off of a great cover album that mostly went unnoticed for the most part.

Who WILL Win: I think Marshall will get his first loss of the night because Bobby Ray and Bruno Mars will win this one. This was Mars' breakthrough, and he hasn't looked back since. This track also pretty much buried the artist B.o.B that we once loved. Playing guitar and singing/rapping has been traded in for simplistic rapping (which has sort have always been there) over cheesey soulless mainstream production, with Mr. or Ms. WhoeverIsHotAtTheTime on the chorus.

Rhymes: The Black Keys - "Next Girl" (Video)

Sorry for the lack of posts in the past couple of weeks, its the end of the semester and times are stressful.

But here's another Black Keys vid, the return of Frank the lipsynching dinosaur/puppet. The Akron-duo's upcoming album, Brothers hits shelves May 18th (along with Reflection Eternal and Nas & Damian Marley. HUGGGEEEE day for music. Im going to be broke).

Rhymes: The Black Keys - "Tighten Up"

So I know I'm super late on the Black Keys, but this song is awesome. This Ohio duo sounds like they came straight out of the 70s (I mean that in a good way) mixing elements of rock and blues elements in their music. Their new album, Brothers will be released in May.