Our 2nd annual nappyafro Awards week comes to a close. But , before we end this, we still got some categories to go. We still need to find out who is this year’s top producer or what was the collaboration of 2008. We also included the awards we already gave out earlier this week. Bye 2008; you wasn’t so bad.

Man Of The Year: Lil’ Wayne

Album Of The Year: Nas – Untitled

Songs Of The Year

DMF Of The Year: DMX

Best Collabo: T.I. feat. Jay-Z, Kanye West, & Lil’ Wayne – “Swagger Like Us”

Yes, I’m tired of the word “swagger” too. But love ‘em or hate ‘em,  the song featured Hip-Hop’s premier rappers.

-Runner Up: Joe Budden feat. Joell Ortiz, Nino Bless, Crooked I, & Royce Da 5′9″ – “Slaughterhouse”
-Notables:
Big Boi feat. Andre 3000 7 Raekwon – “Royal Flush”
Young Jeezy feat. Kanye West – “Put On”
DJ Khaled feat. Rick Ross, Lil’ Boosie, Ace Hood, Trick Daddy, and Plies – “Out Here Grindin”
Statik Selektah feat. Saigon, Termanology, & Cassidy – “To The Top”

Best Group: The Roots

Not to say that The Roots didn’t earn this award (The did. Rising Down was pretty good.), but the field wasn’t really competitive. Well then again, what’s that group who made that song “Lookin’ Boy”?

-Notables:
Atmosphere
G-Unit

Best Music Video: Something From YouTube (and other video sharing sites)

While some videos were recommended, our video of the year was, uh…

-Notables:
Young Jeezy – “Crazy World”
T.I. feat. Rihanna – “Live Your Life”

Best New Artist: No real winner. Just some notables.
Wale
Mickey Factz
The Cool Kids
Flo Rida
Ace Hood

Best Album We Didn’t Review: Black Milk – Tronic

Why we didn’t review this album still is a mystery to us. From “Give The Drumma Some” to “The Matrix” the album was one of this years best. Maybe we’ll get around to it one day…

-Runner Up: Evidence – The Layover EP

Turn Yo Headphones up Award: Danny! – And I Love H.E.R.: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

The often delayed And I Love H.E.R. proved to be worth the wait with many calling Danny!’s 4th album his best.

Best Mixtape: Mick Boogie & Terry Urban Presents Jay-Z & Coldplay – Viva La Hova

The Hip-Hop mixtape game may be a little over-saturated, but it took Mick Boogie doing the a Jay-Z mash-up with Chris Martin’s group to take the award.

-Runner Up: DJ Drama & Fabolous – There Is No Competition (Gangsta Grillz: Special Edition)
-Notables:
Wale – The Mixtape About Nothing
Nas & Dj Green Lantern – The Nigger Tape
DJ Drama & Gucci Mane – Gangsta Grillz: The Movie
Little Brother – Seperate But Equal (Drama Free Edition)
Runner Up: DJ Drama & Ludacris – Gangsta Grillz: The Preview

Producer of the Year: DJ Toomp

This was so close; Don Cannon REALLY did his thing this year. But DJ Toomp edged him out with stellar production credits on albums from Young Jeezy, The Game, Ludacris, Nas, & Rick Ross.

-Runner Up: Don Cannon
-Notables:
Jake One
Drumma Boy
J.U.S.T.I.C.E League

Beat Of The Year: Lil’ Wayne – “A Milli”

Was there any doubt? Can you NAME all the people who actually rapped over “A Milli” in 2008?

-Runner Up: T.I. feat. Jay-Z, Kanye West, & Lil’ Wayne – “Swagger Like Us”
-Notables:
Nas – “N.I.G.G.E.R. (The Slave and the Master)”
Wale – “Studio 43″
Rick Ross feat. Jay-Z – “Maybach Music”

Video Vixen: Bria Myles

Are there still video vixens? Or is this just an excuse for King Jerm to put up a pic of Bria?

When I chosen to do this column, I questioned whether giving him this award would really help in the rehabilitation. However, this is nappyafro, and votes were cast and while it was close, DMX prevailed as the winner. Why you ask? The one time face of Def Jam was arrested more times than Pacman Jones! Nine times in a nine months has to be a record somewhere. His arrests range from speeding to identity theft. How X goes to a hospital and no one recognizes him is beyond me, but that might be an example of how far his status is fallen. Get this…X is still walking the streets. He said it in a song, “Only nigga walking the streets with four felonies!” Everyone has demons they deal with; I hope that DMX gets his life together. This has to be one of the biggest “Falls from Grace” in Hip-Hop history. X was in line to be the next 2Pac, then he went and messed it all up! How do you go from selling millions of records, selling out arenas, starring in movies to buying $30 worth of crack and weed on the streets? DMX, this is going to you as a person: put the game to the side right now and get Earl right. DMX will be okay once Earl is straight. I present this award to DMX, but I’m hoping that Earl Simmons will never make this award again.

Runner Up: Yung Berg

At first we were gonna do a recap this year’s most notable songs featured in our Song of the Week column. But seeing how some of the songs weren’t actually made in 2008, it really wouldn’t have worked. So instead of voting for a single “Song of the Year”, we thought; “Why not just let each staff member pick their favorite 5 songs of the year?” So here they are. No voting. No debates. Just each staff member picks for their 5 favorite songs of 2008. And surprisingly, there’s a lotta Killer Mike, Jay Electronica, & Lil’ Wayne. Who knew?

B-Easy’s Picks:
Jay Electronica – “Exhibit A (Transformations)” [various artists - Fresh Cuts Vol. 3 (Music By Guitar Center Employees)]
Nas – “N.I.G.G.E.R. (The Slave and the Master)” [Nas - Untitled]
Killer Mike – “I Gotcha” [Killer Mike - I Pledge Allegiance To The Grind II]
DJ Khaled feat. Kanye West & T-Pain – “Go Hard” [DJ Khaled - We Global]
Big Boi feat. Raekwon & Andre 3000 – “Royal Flush” [Big Boi - Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son Of Chico Dusty]

Saule Wright’s Picks:
Killer Mike – “God In The Building” [Killer Mike - I Pledge Allegiance To The Grind II]
The Roots – “75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction)” [The Roots - Rising Down]
Ludacris feat. Floyd “Money” Mayweather – “Undisputed” [Ludacris - Theatre Of The Mind]
Lil’ Wayne – “Dr. Carter” [Lil’ Wayne - Tha Carter III]
Nas – “N.I.G.G.E.R. (The Slave and the Master)” [Nas - Untitled]

H20’s Picks:
T.I. – “I’m Illy” [T.I. - Paper Trail]
Nas feat. Keri Hilson – “Hero” [Nas - Untitled]
Ludacris feat. Floyd “Money” Mayweather – “Undisputed” [Ludacris - Theatre Of The Mind]
Killer Mike-”God is in the Building” [Killer Mike - I Pledge Allegiance To The Grind II]
Nas – “N.I.G.G.E.R. (The Slave and the Master)” [Nas - Untitled]

Guy’s Picks:
Murs – “I’m Innocent” [Murs - Murs For President]
Termanology – “Watch How It Go Down” [Termanology - Politics As Usual]
Lil’ Wayne feat. D. Smith – “Shoot Me Down” [Lil’ Wayne - Tha Carter III]
Wale – “The Kramer” [Wale - The Mixtape About Nothing]
Jay Electronica – “Exhibit A (Transformations)” [various artists - Fresh Cuts Vol. 3 (Music By Guitar Center Employees)]

King Jerm’s Picks:
Rick Ross feat. Jay-Z – “Maybach Music” [Rick Ross - Trilla]
Lil’ Wayne feat. Fabolous & Juelz Santana – “Ain’t Got Nothing on Me” [Lil’ Wayne - Tha Carter III]
Jake One feat. Little Brother – “Bless the Child” [Jake One - White Van Music]
Kanye West – “Heartless” [Kanye West - 808’s & Heartbreak]
Lil’ Wayne – “A Milli” [Lil’ Wayne - Tha Carter III]

SBK’s Picks:
Lil’ Wayne feat. Static Major – “Lollipop” [Lil’ Wayne - Tha Carter III]
T.I. feat. Jay-Z, Kanye West, & Lil’ Wayne – “Swagger Like Us” [T.I. - Paper Trail]
Termanology – “So Amazing” [Termanology - Politics As Usual]
Young Jeezy feat. Kanye West – “Put On” [Young Jeezy - The Recession]
Q-Tip – “Move” [Q-Tip - The Renaissance]

Hip-Hop has always been a reflection of a small segment of the global community. Now Hip-Hop has become a global community. In such a climate, you get a lot of pressure to conform to the instant hit’s now (“ringtone era”) and leave consciousness in the underground circuit. Nas refused to conform and offered us one of the best albums released this year, and one of the best all time.

We have a Black man becoming President, a war that seems to be endless, and an economy that is failing globally. Hip-Hop is the voice of a people and Nas took this opportunity to raise his voice and be heard. I wasn’t on board with the original title of his album at all, but with the name Untitled and the cover (another reason this album is classic) there is no mistaking what is going on with the album. Provocative, edgy and precise are how I would describe this album. The fact that this album hasn’t done numbers isn’t a mistake and proof that numbers DO LIE. I have already declared this album a classic, 5 star album, if you haven’t, listen again.

Before this album, and yea, I heard Illmatic, I was never a Nas fan. I thought he was over hyped. Never have I been more excited to eat my own words. I was wrong. Can one album change my mind? Apparently. Can one album change Hip-Hop? This one should have, problem is, no one album can change the industry. If you are one of the people that gripe about the state of Hip-Hop, go support this album. If you are one of the people that were pissed that Weezy went plat in a week, but better albums haven’t gone gold, buy this album. If you are one of the people that love Hip-Hop, buy this album. I am proud to say, that Untitled by Nas, is the nappyafro.com Album of the Year.

Runners Up:
T.I. – Paper Trail
Lil’ Wayne – Tha Carter III

In 2008, my views on Lil’ Wayne were mixed. While I wrote articles like 10 “Simple” Reasons Why Lil’ Wayne Is NOT The Greatest Rapper Of Alive, I also wrote articles like The Three Most Memorable Verses Of 2008 (Which I ranked Weezy’s second verse on “A Milli” at #2). So me writing this article awarding Lil’ Wayne the coveted title of nappyafro’s Man Of The Year may seem weird since my views on Wezzy F. are so erratic (Remember this award is for Hip-Hop; otherwise I think a guy reppin’ Chi-Town not named Kanye had a bigger year and deserves it more). I think most people would find it hard to argue that 2008 wasn’t “The Year Of Wayne” (Including me). Let’s call off some of this years accomplishments for Weezy: He sold a million copies of his highly anticipated album Tha Carter III in the first week (Even after being leaked a full 2 weeks earlier), got 8 Grammy nominations (The most ever by a rap artist), worked on a documentary that will premier at the Sundance Film Festival, was a heavy presence at both the MTV Video Music Awards and BET Hip-Hop Awards, did commercials for both Nike & Gatorade, and of course, was the go to rapper for a cameo. And that’s only what I can think of off the top of my head. While Wayne is attacked for constantly flooding the market with new material, his work ethic of past years returned its benefits this year…in a big way. Yeah, I may think the quality of his current material is dropping (Did you HEAR Dedication 3?!), but I guess you can’t win them all huh? 2008 will go in the Hip-Hip history book with a lot of entries but the main one will be The Year Lil’ Wayne Became A Superstar. Now, as for 2009? I think he said he doing Rock & Roll or some bullshit like that…

Runner Up: T.I.

The 2nd annual nappyafro Awards are finally upon us! And once again we’re gonna make the event a full week. This entire week will be full articles containing our picks for Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, Songs of the Year, as well as other columns recapping the best of 2008. So after some debating and voting among the staff, some re-voting, and some people saying, “Fuck democracy! These picks sucks!” (What’s up Jerm?); this week represent what we thought what was best (& worst) in 2008. Get ready to argue with us, curse at our picks, and hopefully sometimes agree with us.