Best Rap, 2006

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Tip Loves The Kids

I told you last year that these things are about as meaningful as a Hurricane G guest spot. But, I’m bringing it back by popular demand. I guess bloggers and blog readers need to stroke each other egos from time to time. And clash. It’s the nature of the game threat.

So without further musings here are 40 rap songs I liked from 2006. I limited each artist to one appearance in the interest of variety (specifically I wanted to avoid half the list being Clipse & TI songs…) and I also left out mixtape tracks for the most part, because I’m disconnected from the street vendors and have a hard time keeping track of all that shit (the notable exception being “That’s Life,” because that song is better than your life).

1. TI – “What You Know” (Atlantic/Grand Hustle)
2. UGK – “Game Belong To Me” (Jive)
3. Killer Mike – “That’s Life” (Grind Time / Mixtape)
4. Trae f/ Z-Ro – “No Help” (Rap-A-Lot)
5. Federation – “18 Dummy” (White Label)
6. Lil Boosie – “Ratchet” (Asylum)
7. Ghostface – “Charlie Brown” (White Label)
8. Tabi Bonney – “The Pocket” (Organized Rhyme)
9. Young Dro – “Rubberband Banks” (Atlantic/Grand Hustle)
10. Suga Free f/ Snoop Dogg & Mannie Fresh – “So Fly (Remix)”
11. Clipse – “Ride Around Shinin’” (Jive)
12. DJ Shadow f/ David Banner – “Seein’ Thangs” (Universal)
13. Mobb Deep – “Pearly Gates” (G-Unit)
14. E-40 – “Yay Area” (BME/Sick Wid It)
15. Pharoahe Monch – “Gun Draws” (SRC)
16. Ray Cash f/ Scarface – “Bumpin’ My Music” (Sony)
17. Prodigy – “Mac 10 Handle” (Youtube)
18. Outkast – “The Mighty O” (Jive)
19. Young Jeezy – “Bury Me a G” (Def Jam)
20. Ludacris f/ Young Jeezy – “Grew Up A Screw Up” (Def Jam)
21. Z-Ro f/ Hawk & Trae- “I’m Still Livin’” (Rap-A-Lot)
22. Project Pat f/ Young Jeezy – “Tell” (Sony)
23. Mitchy Slick – “Bass Chaser” (Fontana)
24. Dogg Pound – “Cali Iz Active” (Koch)
25. Nas f/ Jay-Z “Black Republicans” (Def Jam)
26. UNK f/ Outkast & Jim Jones – “Walk It Out (Remix)” (Oomp/Asylum)
27. The Roots – “False Media” (Def Jam)
28. Rich Boy – “Throw Some D’s
29. Too Short – “Blow The Whistle” (Jive)
30. Lil’ Jon f/ E-40 & Sean Paul – “Snap Yo Fingas” (BME/Warner)
31. Juvenile f/ BG – “What’s Happenin’ (Remix)” (Atlantic)
32. Birdman & Lil’ Wayne – “Army Guns” (Cash Money)
33. The Mossie f/ E-40 & Turf Talk – “Go Ignan’t” (Sick-Wid-It)
34. Rick Ross f/ Young Jeezy & Jay-Z – “Hustlin’ (Remix)”
35. Bossman – “A-Yo” (Virgin)
36. Currency f/ Lil’ Wayne & Remy Ma – “Where The Cash At?” (Cash Money)
37. Wale – “I’m An African” (Studio 43)
38. Mikah 9 f/ PEACE – “Viles” (Citrus)
39. Jim Jones f/ A Gang of Fools -”We Fly High Remix” (Koch)
40. Cadillac Don & J-Money – “Peanut Butter & Jelly” (Asylum)

Bonus Beat: Not Rap Songs That Should’ve Been Rap Songs:
1. Nelly Furtado f/ Lil Wayne – “Maneater (Remix)”
2. Kelis f/ Too Short – “Bossy”
3. Justin Timberlake f/ TI – “My Love”
4. Fergie – “London Bridge”
5. Brooke Hogan f/ E-40 – “About Us (Remix)”
Bonus Bonus Beat: Those Coldplay / MF Grimm songs… WTF?

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20 Comments, Comment or Ping

  1. extra penis

    i love watching Lean on Me too!

  2. good call on that mitchy slick, USS was my favorite album of the year. you should check out what husalah was up to. also, i gotta say, The Pack was definitely overlooked here, in my opinion. i mean, they can’t really rap, but they GO. and that counts for something.

  3. pileofshirt69

    Where can I find the Brooke Hogan remix with 40 Water?

    Dope list, and I agree with just about everything. I find “16 Hoes” to be the best song off of “Blow the Whistle,” and I would have thrown something off of the Murs record up there. Bubba Sparxxx’s “Otherside” as well.

    Thanks for turning me on to so much great music this past year.

  4. P

    Good list, but I’m really missing that “Georgia… Bush” by Weezy. But I guess it falls victim to the no-mixtapes rule.

    Oh, and that “Show me what you got”-freestyle, not so much for the song itself but more for the momentum of it… There you had Wayne, who has had his biggest coming-of-age-in-the-game-year ever, taking the beat from the “historical” come-back single of the man we all know he worships and absolutely kills it.
    Anyway, I’ll remeber it as one of those “moments” of 2006.

    peace

  5. Train

    “Bonus Bonus Beat: Those Coldplay / MF Grimm songs… WTF?”

    What the hell? Were these just blends or real songs? Because that’s…uh…strange.

  6. BR

    Wayne may be a better rapper than Jay-Z nowadays, but killing him on the Show Me What You Got remix? naw… Jay-Z had that down a long time ago

  7. noz

    i was lead to believe that they were formal collabs, but on further investigation i think he just rapped over old coldplay songs.

  8. BR

    btw,
    overlooked album of the year = Crunchy Black – On My Own

  9. SukedowN

    Easily the most diverse list I’ve seen.

    Good thing Juelz Santana didn’t crack your Top 15 TWICE this year. Yikes.

  10. Yo!! Dope list!!!

    If u wanna hear more dope joints, visit my blog @ http://3mc33rizox.blogspot.com

  11. kercain flowers

    maaaan rap sucks now. even your last years review had like 14 things i liked. noz u appreciated tho.

  12. brownstone pat

    “country cousins”. classic joint.

  13. Wow…interesting list. Needless to say I don’t listen to a lot of those cats on the reg. Check out my blogsite @ http://poisonousparagraphs.blogspot.com/

    One.

  14. noz

    “‘country cousins.’ classic joint.”

    Yeah that was an oversight.

  15. worldsgreatest

    they play wayne’s version of ’show me what you got’ on the radio here to this day

    t.i. is the (very) weak link in ‘my love’ btw, though jt’s album was lame overall…

  16. yo man….theze songs iz ill man, knowimsayin? cocaineblunts alwayz cum up wid some hot shit on d block man.
    peace
    and yea, like dat old single, gangsta team
    “motherfuck the mainstream, we tuned into the gangsta team”
    1 love

  17. TS

    T.I. wasn’t bad at all on “My Love,” but the song wouldn’t've worked at all if he rapped over the whole thing.

    don’t worry, it’s OK to say you like a pop song

  18. HighWaterMark

    Decent list as far as mainstream Rap… too much overlooked, or possibly may’ve not been in your taste of Hip-Hop… Joints that come to mind immediately…

    CunninLynguists – Cornasto // Since When // Hellfire
    Slow Suicide Stimulus – Bi-Polar High Rollers
    Cool Calm Pete – Lost
    thePhantom* – Jazz Effect
    Mr. Lif – Brothaz
    Witchdoctor – Best Year
    PackFM – Click, Clack & Spray

    + Many others but it’s a little late for this list.

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