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Top Ten Hip-Hop Albums of 06'
Article by:
Dondiego
 Nobodysmiling.com members chose the following top ten albums of 06’. It’s a true refection of the people’s choice. In commemoration of the best albums of 06’ your favorite Hip-Hop journalists have taken the time to assess the positions chosen by the membership and comment on the albums worthiness of its position. There’s no lack of unofficial top tens out there in cyberspace. Therefore, NBS has taken no shorts to attain a fair and balanced outcome to ensure that the chart positions that you have chosen for your favorite albums of the year are reflected in its offical list. Our commitment to serve and not to dictate puts the listener in the drivers’ seat in determining year end top ten album status.
1. Nas - Hip Hop is Dead
Michael Ivey
 Similar to 2001, when the twin towers fell and two already legendary emcees engulfed in the greatest hip hop battle of all time released ‘Blueprint’ and ‘Stillmatic’ respectively, Jay-Z and Nas erected the two sturdiest structures on wax in 2006. Rap’s Albert Pujos hit a straight upper-decker with his post retirement opus ‘Kingdom Come,’ an amalgam of mature vulnerability and cockiness that proves he has lost little swagger if any since ‘The Black Album (2003).’ However, Nas is right: the three month delay - September to December - worked in his favor. His sixteen track eulogy, ‘Hip Hop is Dead,’- equipped with dynamic collabos with Kanye West, The Game and Jay-Z himself – is a superbly crafted monument to his illustrious career. He bests former rival Jay-Z because, though they’re good for what they are, his duet with girlfriend Beyonce, a cautionary bounce about the pitfalls of ‘Hollywood,’ and the strip joint favorite with Usher, ‘Anything,’ water down the lyrical realness of ‘Kingdom Come.’
2. Lupe Fiasco – Food & Liquor
John Kennedy
 So Nas brewed up this brouhaha amongst hip-hop heads with his declaration that hip-hop is dead, but Lupe Fiasco makes for an even stronger rebuttal than Nas himself. The skateboarding wordsmith had backpackers and mainstream audiences alike grooving to the throwback boarding anthem “Kick, Push” and the soulful, Jill Scott-assisted “Daydreaming.” But he showed his true worth when admitting his contradictory righteousness on “Hurt Me Soul,” or describing the adverse effects of a fatherless household on a child on “He Say, She Say.” And the heavyweight love pushes the project even harder, with Lupe riding the beat of the Pharrell-laced “I Gotcha” like a board with wheels attached, and outrhyming his biggest co-signer Jay-Z on “Pressure.” Even an album leak months early couldn’t knock this man from his wheels. Hip-Hop is so alive.
3. The Game- Doctor’s Advocate
Jason Fleurant
 Ranked #3 And I agree it deserves Top 5 status when it comes to this years albums. The west coast outcast crafted a brilliant sophomore album on his own. Though he had the countless name drops, the superior production and increasingly impressive flow made up for it. Highlights like the emotional ode to Dre on “Doctor’s Advocate” or the soulful Just Blaze laced “Why You Hate The Game” featuring the legendary Nas were undeniable. Game set out to prove he could do it on his own and delivered a great quality album.
4. Jay-Z - Kingdom Come
Melanie J. Cornish
 Throughout history Kings are remembered for their successes, yet they are condemned for their failures. The so-called King of New York is no different, particularly as ego has played a huge part of his reign. What was expected to be the album of the new millennium; wasn’t. Brooklyn’s Finest as he is, bowed out graciously with The Black Album, die hard fans were left fulfilled and critics were able to put down the pen as Jay-Z had set his name in stone. So to re-introduce himself only two years into his retirement put his hard earned credentials in jeopardy. Kingdom Come has its stand out tracks, those from Dr. Dre and Chris Martin, but even those were unable to carry the weight of the residual mediocre endeavors Jay-Z bestowed upon his subjects. Had his Royal Counsel remained the same, would the caliber of jewels he has constantly bequeathed upon us have equated to the usual classic? The answer to that we will never know, but Kingdom Come most certainly wasn’t the anticipated magnum opus the world expected.
5. Ghostface Killah - Fishscale
Michael Ivey
 Despite going wood a few times, Ghostface has never come out wack, but ‘Supreme Clientele,’ his 2000 sophomore LP, set the bar higher than Ghost was with ‘a little snow inside a optimo.’ Following the mildly noticed ‘Bulletproof Wallets (2001)’ ‘The Pretty Toney Album’ made a good lead off, but ‘Fishscale,’ his second Def Jam album, is Ghost’s most inspired piece since the dawn of the millennium. J-Dilla productions like “Whip You With a Strap” and “Beauty Jackson,” plus the Megan Rochelle assisted ‘Momma,’ find Ghost’s signature off kilter storytelling reinvigorated. ‘Fishscale’ only lands at number five because Nas, Jay-Z, Lupe Fiasco, T.I., Masta Killa, and The Game didn’t put a bunch of skits that interrupt the flow of great hip hop on their albums.
6. Ludacris - Release Therapy
Melanie J. Cornish
 Maturity and growth are words that come to mind when evaluating Hip-Hop’s staple acts this year; primarily because those that matter are now approaching and experiencing their ‘thirty something’ years, where life allegedly takes on different meanings. Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges undeniably illustrates how he has evolved with his fifth album, Release Therapy. With a more conscious offering to his followers, he called on the likes of Mary J Blige to stand by his side on 'Runaway Love'; a track which digs deep into the lives of abused children. Consciousness is never frowned upon in Hip-Hop; it just attracts a bigger audience and gives those that may have doubted your ability to make something other than a club banger, a perfect opportunity to eat their words. Was it is his best album to date? No, but it certainly wasn’t his worst. Consistency prevailed and as Hip-Hop ebbs and flows there is no reason why those purveyors of the genre shouldn't experiment to encourage the next thirty years.
7. Busta Rhymes – The Big Bang
John Kennedy
 Northern comeback this, northern comeback that—many spoke of bringing the Big Apple back to hip-hop’s forefront, but when it was time to put up or shut up no one came through harder than Busta Rhymes. The vintage soundscape of “New York Shit” made reppin’ the five boroughs cool once again and “Touch It” brought the club scene back up north. The synergy with Dr. Dre on Busta’s Aftermath debut is unquestionable, with the grim, artistically masterful “Legend of the Fall Offs” detailing the plight of the rapper whose proverbial clock has expired. The Big Bang is by no means perfect, being weighed down by the sappy, will.i.am-produced “I Love My Bitch,” but you have to forgive Busta’s mainstream offerings after hearing the vibe of J Dilla’s nostalgic backdrop on “Can’t Hold A Torch.” And including in the mix soul greats like Stevie Wonder (“Been Through The Storm”) and Rick James (“In The Ghetto”) helps establish the fact that Bussa-Bus is a hip-hop legend in his own right. Even Hammer can’t touch that.
8. T.I. - King
Jason Fleurant
 Taking advantage of brilliant marketing with his acting debut 'A.T.L' dropping the same week as his album, T.I.P. rightfully was one of the only rap artist to go platinum this year. He saw this as the opportunity to solidify his claims as King Of The South and went full blast with dropping the ‘06 Anthem “What You Know About That” and conversation stirring subliminal “Talking To You”. The album was a banger, no doubt but just didn’t feel as though it really reached the expectations I had for the self proclaim “King”. Is it an Top 10 album of ‘06, I personally think maybe Top 15. Yet nonetheless Mr. Harris held it down.
9. Clipse-Hell Hath No Fury
Claudio Cabrera
 Hell hath no fury like label artists scorned. That’s been the story of the Virginia Beach based duo, the Clipse. For close to 4 years after their critically acclaimed “Lord Willin” LP made other rappers reevaluate how they rap about pushing, the coke chemists went through label troubles that had them eating off mixtapes. Not your normal mixtapes but Re-Up gang mixtapes and these collections were better than 80 percent of the albums that have dropped since 2003. Label issues…We’ve seen it all before with acts like the Lox but once they got their release you were left thinking whether the Lox were better with Diddy than without him. On the other hand, the Clipse dealt with the “crackers” at Jive and made their bosses blue in the face when ‘Hell Hath No Fury’ leaked and everyone from street corners to magazines hailed it as a classic. From the realness of “Mama I’m so Sorry” and the dreary, Bilal assisted “Nightmares,” the Clipse have finally awoken from the nightmare and are now living the dream. Who thought a group could make it tolerable to listen to cocaine rap throughout a whole album? “One sequined glove can never make you Michael.” Is Pusha one of the most underrated MC’s alive or not?
10. Method Man - 4:21 The Day After
Claudio Cabrera
 Being in the top 10 of anything is something unfamiliar to Method Man. Well, maybe back in the Wu Tang days and when he was bringing the pain. But, in the last decade, Method Man has rotted down from the top of the MC food chain. Remember when he finished as one of the top 10 MC’s on BET’s greatest ever list? Ludicrous. But that shows that the Ticallion Stallion has his fans whether in the U.S., overseas, or behind a keyboard. We all know that after Tical in 94 he’s failed to drop a decent LP unless Redman assisted him on it. But, after all the bickering with Wendy Williams, breakups and reunions with the clan, and protesting against BET who he says refuse to play his videos, 2006 finally brought us all the album we wish we heard after Tical and that’s “4:21 The Day After.” We heard a grown up, yet still grimy Meth in his signature gruff tone. Ladies and gentlemen, the man sold 65,000 copies (A lot in today’s market) with no promotion from his label Def Jam. Meth still has fans and as long as those numbers keep coming in we’ll keep hearing Meth. We’ll probably continue hearing the bitter side of him as well, but how can you blame him when you drop a solid album and your label doesn’t help you take advantage of it.
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