TSS Presents 2008: The Best Year Ever – Third Quarter

July

Mos Def had the best week ever and Nas blessed the leak of his album. We collectively were down to our last 5 cigs as we defined what classic meant to us and wondered where the new ones were. We reminisced over L Boogie and jammed out to “Yacht Rock”. Jesse and The New Yorker went after Obama, but Luda and Nas had his back. Rakim’s influence was examined and Soulja Slim was remembered. Rocsi & Terrence made 106 & Park worth talking about for a hot second and signs of the recession started popping up. CNN shined a light on what it’s like to be Black In America, while Rhianna found out black always loses to the flashing lights.

August

1998 Week got the month rolling until the untimely passing’s of Bernie & Issac quickly brought us back to ’08. We got into the Olympic Spirit and into the ears of Michael Phelps. MF Doom was playing games as well. Despite the dog days of summer, it somehow managed to be Cold In The D (& Australia). We lost The Last Dragon and Bernie. De La Soul was recognized for their influences. Puffy was labeled poison & Jeezy got pulled over by the sample police. Katrina was revisited and Master P declared he could make a better BET. Lil’ Jon put his chain up for auction.

September

September started out heavy on the interview tip, as we covered the entire spectrum of hip-hop: mainstream, underground, DJ’s, & Producers. Michael Lee switched area codes and we highlighted some notable underground rap battles. We pitted Jean vs. Jean and The Retro Kids vs. The Comments. The VMA’s were put in their place and we called Blender’s bluff. 6 Milli gave us a brief reason to celebrate on 9/11. The stock market finally bottomed out and the recession became a reality. We also addressed their lack of hip-hop knowledge as we challenged today’s youth to step their rap game up. Autotune was placed under the microscope, along with K-Ci & Jojo.

R.I.P. Rap City… and we still remember Tupac

…We tried to warn ya’ll about Alfamega too!

Notable Quotables
“Free Chilly” | “God In The Building” | “Grow Up” | “Letter To The King” | Start The Revolution

Reconstruction:
Zo! & Tigallo – Love The 80′s | De L a Soul

Songs

The Game Feat. Nas – “Letter To The King”
Though Jayceon’s delivery might have slipped a few notches on L.A.X, his ability to write thought-provoking and innovative stuff shot up. This open letter to MLK proves it.

Fonzworth Bentley Feat. Andre 3000 & Kanye West – “Everybody”
So Fonzworth and Yeezy were on the track. Cool that’s out the way. Dre rapping over Sa-Ra beats is by far the highlight. “You Killing em’ hard with them lady pants” is still one of the funniest opening lines of the year.

Outkast Feat. Raekwon – “Royal Flush”
The old “Skew It on the Bar-B” team is back at it. Rae and Big showed up in rare form, but Dre once again stole the show for an inordinate amount of bars. And they got a Grammy nod as well. Not bad for a song with no album.

The Roots Feat. Mos Def, Dice Raw, Styles P – “Rising Down”
For those that ask, “What the hell is goin’ on in the world today?”, which is basically all of us, this track is a lyrical representation of how we feel.

Snoop Dogg- “Staxxx In My Jeans”
Ego Trippin may be more Doggfather than Doggystyle, but that doesn’t mean it’s devoid of good, fun tracks. This banger’s the best of the bunch.

Lil’ Wayne Feat. Kanye West – “Lollipop (Remix)”
Even if you hated the Pop overexposure of the original, you know you were hoping Weezy would light up that instrumental. He obliges on this remix, which is all we ever asked.

Wale – “The Kramer”
With all of the hoopla surrounding Nas this year, this song became the definitive track about the “N” word and all of its painful ramifications.

Capone-N-Noreaga – “Follow The Dollar”

If heaters like this are any indicators of what’s to come of CNN’s Channel 10, you might not wanna change that dial.

Busta Rhymes – “Don’t Touch Me (Throw Da Water On ‘Em)”
This was Busta’s audio (& visual) return to his position as Hip-Hop’s clown prince. After a brief layover while at Aftermath, he was back to where he belongs: The Club — and more specifically the dance floor. If you actually listen to the rapidfire flow, you’ll know he went in.

Maino Feat. T.I., Swizz Beatz, Jadakiss, Plies, Fabolous – “Hi Hater (Remix)”
After the swagger craze, responses to haters had to be one of the most popular topics in ’08. This one set the standard.

Jay-Z – “Jockin’ Jay-Z”

“I see you…”

Nas Feat. Busta Rhymes – “Fried Chicken”

They literally told you it was no good for you, but that didn’t stop the hood from blaring it from their car speakers on their way to Popeyes.

T.I. Feat. Justin Timberlake – “Dead And Gone”
While everyone else was raving over “Whatever You Like” and “Live Your Life,” I chose to bump this one, in which T.I. sheds his old skin and starts from scratch

Killer Mike Feat. Ice Cube – “Pressure”
The modern day Ice Cube hops on a track with the original Ice Cube for this militant uppercut to any and all challengers. They can say what they like.

Young Jeezy Feat. Nas – “My President”
“It’s a hands off policy… you touch him – we’re ridin’.” Nuff said. But if you want to go further, this song was played repeatedly across the country on Nov. 5th.

Ludacris Feat. The Game, Willy Northpole – “Call Up The Homies”
A journey to the hometowns of the three MC’s does justice to the theatrical concept Luda aimed for on Theater of the Mind.

eLZhi & Black Milk Feat. Royce Da 5’9″ – “Motown 25″/“Losing Out”

The mayor of the D blessed his fellow city councilmen eLZhi and Black Milk for not only some of best sounds for the Motor City in ’08, but best of the year. Period.

Erykah Badu feat. Pharoahe Monch – “The Healer (Remix)”

“They wanna ask why I’m so vocal & adamant, cause I lost my focus like David Patterson”

*throws up hands à la the scene in Do The Right Thing*

Scram Jones feat. Saigon, Nino Bless, Crooked I – “Third Degree”

Previously Posted — Pillow Talk 2008: The Most Slept On Albums Of The Year | TSS Presents 2008: The Best Year Ever – 2nd Quarter | TC Sings The Bricks Part DEUX!!!: The Most Disappointing Hip-Hop Albums Of 2008 | TSS Presents 2008: The Best Year Ever – First Quarter

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