2011 Review: Top 50 Songs (30-21)

We're 20 songs into the top 50 of the year and with some very slight adjustments after a listen to the entire list last night, here are the next 10 songs (30-21). Make sure you check back at numbers 50-41 and 40-31 if you missed them and keep checking back for the top 20!

2011 Review: Top 10 Hip Hop Releases (Albums, Mixtapes & EPs)

2011 has been a hell of a year in music and to kick off A Brief Intermission's review of 2011, I've put together a list of the top 10 hip hop releases of the year. A lot of up and comers had a big year with multiple acclaimed releases, while others fell short of the overblown expectations. Likewise, some of the biggest names in hip hop released albums amidst a maelstrom of hype to mixed results.

Despite some of the big time disappointments, there was a lot of great music released and many of the new boys have people excited about the future of hip hop. Without further ado, here is the list (top 10 after the jump):

Honorable Mention (in no particular order):

Action Bronson & Statik Selektah - Well Done
Atmosphere - The Family Sign
The Cool Kids - When Fish Ride Bicycles
Stalley - Lincoln Way Nights: (Intelligent Trunk Music)
Talib Kweli - Gutter Rainbows

Curren$y - Verde Terrace

I know what you're thinking. "Man... it's been like 2 months since I've had anything new by Curren$y. I need more!" Well, just in time to ease those withdrawl symptoms, Spitta released his new mixtape Verde Terrace. I haven't listened to it yet, but I'm sure its more of the same from the young wordsmith, with effortless rhymes about Jets (drink every time he says Jets... you'd die), cars, chillin', and women. Can't complain about that! Download it at the link below.

Curren$y - Verde Terrace

New Hip Hop Songs

A couple of great new hip hop songs were released yesterday! The first is The Game's collaboration with Tyler, the Creator and Lil' Wayne for The R.E.D. Album. The LA rappers go back and forth sounding off on everyone they hate, which considering how angry these fellas are, is quite a few people. The hitlist includes an unnamed vampire, Rihanna, Lil' B, Harry Potter books, Bruno Mars, Tyler Perry, Erykah Badu, Lebron's Mom and probably a few more.

Listen to "Martians vs. Goblins" over at LilWayneHQ. Enjoy!

Curren$y also released a new song entitled "Pininfarina" via his twitter, which features his silky smooth rhyming over a guitar-heavy, upbeat rock n' roll beat. Perhaps this is what we can look forward to when Spitta finally releases his live-band album Muscle Car Chronicles.

Click here for download.

Weekly Top 5: Curren$y Punchlines

Punchlines have the ability to make or break a hip hop song. A quality punchline should fill at least 1 of the following qualities: 1) Clever/Witty, 2) Talk shit on the competition, 3) Big up one's self, 4) Make me rewind to hear it again. This week, Curren$y, one of the punchline masters, released his newest album Weekend at Burnie's (which has to be in the running for best album artwork of the year). Therefore, to celebrate the release of the album, I'll be counting down his top 5 punchlines.

Honorable Mention:
"Sittin' in my living room high, listening to Jamoriquai, I'm just an ordinary guy, but I dress extraoridnarily fly." ~ Air Assault Featuring FS Jets from the mixtape Welcome to the Winner's Circle.

"Emotional luggage, nothing of it, I don't check bags, just carry on leave that bullshit in the past." ~ Airborne Aquarium from the album Pilot Talk II.

2011 First Half Top Ten Albums (Joey D)

Here's my take on the best of first half 2011's albums. Sorry I didn't post links to the songs, but you can youtube em! Top 10 after the jump.

Honorable Mentions:

Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
The Antlers – Burst Apart
Moving Mountains - Waves
Atmosphere – The Family Sign
Middle Brother – Middle Brother

Top 10 Albums of 2011 (So Far)

Please Note: This list will probably look a lot different when the end of the year lists come out but as of today, June 28th, these are my top 10 albums of the year. Top 10 after the break:

Honorable Mention (in no particular order):
Dawes - Nothing Is Wrong
The Decemberists - The King is Dead
Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean
Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo
Okkervil River - I Am Very Far
Yuck - Yuck

Curren$y - She Don't Want a Man

On Thursday, the clean version of Curren$y's new song "She Don't Want a Man" surfaced on the internet. Now, thanks to Pocket Full of Paper, there is an uncensored version up and it is unbelievable. Look out for this track on Curren$y's new album Weekend at Burnie's which is due out June 28th.

Curren$y - She Don't Want a Man

Curren$y - #jetsgo

Looks like we're a couple days behind on this one, but fuck it, it's a dope track. Blog-favorite rapper Curren$y just released this gem of a new song, "#jetsgo", off the upcoming album Weekend at Burnies. Check it below. Do I smell a trending topic???

Curren$y - #JetsGo by aLee860

Curren$y Da Hot Spitta

The proprietor of everything cool is back at it again, with more laid back rhymes told through a thick cloud of weed smoke. Yesterday, he released the excellent Covert Coup EP via his imprint Jet Life recordings, on Warner Bros. Records. I was going to review this EP but decided I’m utterly incapable of giving an objective review to anything he does. It’s a phenomenal album, so go download it: its free! Instead, this is a loving tribute to one of the few artists in the rap game, who did things properly and never fell victim to the major label rat race. That artist is of course the main pilot of the "Jets", Curren$y.

Curren$y came into the game way back in 2002 when he was signed to Master P’s label No Limit Records. After a couple of guest features for No Limit artists, Curren$y signed to New Orleans (his hometown) based label, Cash Money Records and Lil’ Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment. In 2006, he was set to release his debut album but due to multiple pushbacks he decided to part ways with the label and do things independently. He was already hooked up with skateboarder Terry Kennedy, with whom he created Fly Society, through which he released 8 mixtapes (that’s right 8 mixtapes!) in 2008.

After hearing “Kicks, Video Games, Movies and Chicks,” back in March 2009, I backlogged his entire catalog and listened to nothing but Curren$y for months (my roommates at college could attest to this). His raps never told grandiose tales of crime in the ghetto but were more of a guide on “how to be cool”. In almost every 3-minute track (he does have some more serious songs), he talks about everything from weed, to sneakers, to video games, to muscle cars, to bad bitches or anything else he feels like talking about and by the end you feel a bit dizzy but you’re sure of one thing; Curren$y is the coolest motherfucker on the planet. This line from the Welcome to the Winner’s Circle mixtape says everything you need to know about Curren$y in one sentence: “Sitting in my living room high, listening to Jamiroquai, I’m just an ordinary guy, but I dress extraordinarily fly.” His nonchalant attitude is infectious and just listening to Curren$y automatically makes you feel 9x cooler.

"Reagan Era" off of the Independence Day mixtape. Go ahead, listen and feel 9x cooler.

In 2009, the DIY work ethic continued, as Curren$y released two full-length albums through Amalgam Digital and two more mixtapes. One of these mixtapes, “How Fly” was a project done with fellow major label outcast Wiz Khalifa. Wiz Khalifa went through a similar situation at Warner Bros. where he was forced to leave after his debut album was pushed back multiple times. Around this time, Curren$y having gone through this shit before, took Wiz Khalifa under his wing and the two took their love of weed to the studio and created “How Fly”. Under the tutelage of Curren$y, Wiz Khalifa did the independent thing, releasing mixtapes on his own as well as a few full-lengths through Rostrum Records and low and behold, 2 years later he’s finally releasing his major-label debut. Without, Curren$y, Wiz would still be swimming around the independent music abyss with no lifeboat. But under the guidance of a seasoned veteran, he was back at the top in only 2 years.

Around this time, Curren$y relocated to New York City where he hooked up with Damon Dash, Jay-Z’s former partner at Roc-a Fella Records. Together at Dash’s DD172 studio in Tribeca, the two started a whole movement of independent music being made in what they referred to as the dojo. The movement, featured legends like Mos Def and Ski Beatz along with up and comers like Jay Electronica, Stalley (now signed with Rick Ross) and Big K.R.I.T. (getting major love on Pitchfork). DD172 was responsible for a library’s worth of amazing music, including two more LPs from Curren$y (Pilot Talk and Pilot Talk II). These albums, coupled with an official remix of Rick Ross’ “Super High” and another stellar mixtape (Smokee Robinson) finally brought the attention Curren$y deserved and in 2011 Curren$y was back at a major label. Only this time, he has his own imprint and without forgetting where he came from, he plans to release music from fellow “jets” Trademark Da Skydiver and Young Roddy. And if that wasn't enough, Curren$y said fuck the money on his first release and offered Covert Coup as a free download. Curren$y is one of the few rappers who actually lives up to what he rhymes about: “jet life ‘til the next life.”

Throughout his arduous journey in the music biz, Curren$y never lost track of his artistic ideals and lived up to his word that he “could do it independent, fuck a deal.” He's been fucked over by plenty of people in this business and never started "beef". He's helped young artists like Wiz Khalifa and Dom Kennedy navigate the muck and mire and has been the backbone of the independent rap movement at DD172. All the while he looked out for #1 and now he's finally got his.

Click here for the free download of "Covert Coup"

Lames Catch Feelings, We Catch Flights, Jet Life, Jet Life

Check out Curren$y's latest effort, the FreEP (see what they did there, clever!) Covert Coup which can be downloaded at the link below. The EP is produced entirely by the Alchemist and features guest appearances from Freddie Gibbs, Smoke DZA, Fiend and Prodigy (of Mobb Deep).

Curren$y - Covert Coup (Download)