Hip-Hop had it’s ups and downs in 2009. Definitely some good stuff, most notably the Blueprint 3 and Only Built for Cuban Linx 2 dropping, but also a lot of bad stuff that just pushes us further and further away from the hiphop we all know and love.

These are just a few key trends that hip-hop music needs in in 2010. If you’ve got some to add, drop them in the comments.

1. Bring back the samples – We saw a slight resurgance in the sample game in 09, but we always saw the shift towards electronic music. Not even the whole “I played this” type of stuff, but straight up Electronic the Genre – you know, DANCE music. Hip-hop in 09 kept moving towards electronic dance music. It’s cool for dance, but let’s not merge everything into one big POP genre. The solution – BRING BACK THE VINYL. It’s still the epitome of hiphop, so keep it coming.

2. Let them RAP – As has been the trend since the passing of the “BIG’s” (Big Pun, Big L, and Notorious of course) rapping has faded and replaced by half-singing r&b hip-hop vocalists. Obviously if that’s your thing, go for it, but when I’m listening to someone like Young Jeezy trying to sing, I’m hitting the skip button. If you’re a hip-hop artist, prove it. That’s what’s been lost, saying something. I’m not talking about the no-one-hears mixtapes, get that stuff out in the open. It’s been started in 09, let’s continue in 2010.

3. Bring back the grime – I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking that everything is too “soft” these days. Not even talking about content, but voice and sound. It’s a shame when Lil Wayne has the grittiest voice on the radio and that’s just because he’s so f**ked up when recording. Remember the emotion you’d hear from someone like Sticky Fingaz or even Jadakiss. His songs got zero radio play here.

What does hiphop need in your opinion? We need you to chime in.

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Looking for an album that actual delivers on the title? Well you found it! Skyzoo has been one of the up and comers in the game for years. This would be his breakout. The equivalent to Mario Manningham in Week 1 for the Giants. It’s like watching Mark Sanchez lead the Jets over the Patriots. (Gotta keep the NY theme). It’s ushering in a new generation, a new day, a rebirth of the real.

Yeah, it’s really that good at times. It’s the first real effort from Skyzoo and while not every track is a winner, the ones that are good, are REALLY good. I can’t say enough about this project.

Skyzoo has been coming up on the NY scene for a while and if you’ve never heard him, you’re really missing out. This album is really a breath of fresh air. The production is good for the most part, running from boring to outsanding as usual. There’s an impressive list of producers including Needlz, Just Blaze, Black Milk, 9th Wonder, Cyrus tha Great, Eric G, Nottz, and of course Illmind.

We’re talking total package here: Underground feel, mainstream appeal, exquisite flow, some of the hottest new producers peaking. Overall this could be a game changer. DON’T SLEEP.

This is definitely a MUST-COP. Don’t even think about just downloading, go to the store and pick it up or just grab it from iTunes.

Tracks of note:

Penmanship, Metal Hearts, Dear Whoever, and Return of the Real.

Best Track:

The Necessary Evils (Video Below)

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This is probably one of the most anticipated releases in hip-hop over the past 10 years aside from Dr. Dre’s Detox and Raekwon’s Only Built for Cuban Linx 2. With Jay’s always relevant nature and mass appeal, it may be more anticipated by the regular public. Either way, Jay-Z had a lot riding on this album in the eyes of real hiphop fans.

Jay prepped it very well with the release of D.O.A (Death of Autotune), but unfortunately, the Blueprint 3 as a whole couldn’t live up to they hype.

Jay-Z – The BluePrint 3 – Album Rating 7/10

Overall: Jay-Z and The Blueprint 3 comes close to living up to it’s billing as a return to classic Jay-Z. Unfortunately though, it just lacks the gusto in both production and content. Jay-Z is too complacent, there’s nothing left to prove. The Blueprint 1 was in the height of the Nas / Prodigy feud, and the Blueprint 2 was competing with other classic albums. The Blueprint 3 is too much like Kingdom Come on the beats.  There are a lot of REALLY GOOD tracks, but then some REALLY BAD ones. I think spending some more time would have been good, but it’s definitely worth picking up, the good songs make it as close to a classic you can get these days.

Highlights: Empire State of Mind, A Star Is Born, Young Forever, and of course DOA and Run This Town.

Lowlights: So Ambitious, On To the Next One, Hate

Track by track review.

1. The intro track, ‘What We Talkin About’ is good,  staying relevant while keeping some classic Jay appeal.
2. The boring, and disappointing ‘Thank You’ is almost like a waste of a track, reminds of me ‘Can I Kick It’ from reasonable doubt, which was the only skippable track…skip this one too’.
3. ‘D.O.A.’ – Classic, ’nuff said.
4. By now we’ve all heard ‘Run This Town‘. This could’ve been another classic track if not for Kanye’s nonsensical verse at the end. Still worth listening to as it fits it’s spot on the album. This is a great track to examine for production purposes which we’ll be doing in a future post.
5. Empire State of Mind – One of the best tracks on the album, especially if you’re a new yorker, ever have been, or want to be. Jay shows major NYC love, vivid pictures of the city from his words.
6. Jay gets some help from Young Jeezy on ‘Real As It Gets’. The problem here isn’t Young Jeezy, it’s the boring synth beat with the stock Fantom sounding drums. Just an all around boring track. Skip it.
7. ‘On To The Next One’ - Really Jay? Why? Swizz Beats? Dude has done the same song on every album for the past 10 years, and they’ve all sucked.  Definitely the worst track on the whole album.
8. Drake and Timbaland join Jay on ‘Off That’, and surprisingly, it almost works. Too “pop” for my tastes, but it’s well put together.
9. Now this is Jay! ‘A Star is Born’ has Jay giving tribute to hiphop history. Everything from Wu to Mobb Deep and Outkast get shouted out in this one. This is definitely Jay-Z at his best. Up there with the best on the album.
10. ‘Venus vs Mars’ is a very different track that doesn’t really fit in the rest of the album. Almost the standard “chick track” that Jay has been doing his whole career, not my cup of tea, but definitely not as bad as things like ‘On to the Next One’. I’d skip it.
11. The next one is a pretty good beat where Jay kills it, but for whatever reason they thought it would be a good idea to have the horrible voiced Kid Cudi attempt to sing on the hook, and repeat the hook a lot. If you can get past the hook, it’s okay, but that’s a lot of torture to go through. Jay is great on it, I see a remix in the future.
12. Kanye, Kanye, Kanye…save it for your albums. ‘Hate’ is one of those tracks that makes you wonder what the fuck Kanye is on and why Jay would agree to it. They both sound bad on this track. Maybe it’ll grow on me, but on first listen…SKIP.
13. One of the strangest tracks on the Blueprint 3 has got to be this one. ‘Reminder’ sounds more reminiscent of Moment of Clarity than anything else, just as boring, just as awkward. Some good lines, but a bad hook, and bad beat selection…I’ll be skipping.
14. Pharrell…please go back to wherever you’ve been hiding, the game has not missed you. This track just sucks, no matter what Jay-Z says can’t save it. Skip it…it’s called ‘So Ambitious’.
15. After a string of must skip songs, Jay-Z brings a little bit of comedy with ‘Young Forever’. The superhit by one hit wonder German group Alphaville provides the inspiration. Yeah, that same ‘Forever Young’ song. I couldn’t help but start laughing while first listening to this on the train. Jay pulls it off though, it’s kind of strange, but it works. Jay has that swagger that a lot of the album was missing. The guy always knows how to end a project.

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