Top 10 Hiphop Albums/Mixtapes of 2008

10. Universal Mind Control (Common)

Common fans already know, but its amazing to hear how much Common has grown up in the last 15 years, from Soul by the Pound to Universal Mind Control. That is hiphop.

9. 808s & Heartbreak (Kanye West)

Ok so we know that Kanye can't sing. But autotune can fix that.... kind of. Ye could have dropped another "Graduation" in his sleep--he is the dopest producer of our generation. But Mr. West went in a different direction creating an album that reflects his heart. Props.

8. Paper Trail (T.I.)

You can have whatever you like..... up there with "got money and you know it" for over-quoted line of the year.

7. Tha Carter III (Lil Wayne)

Wale said it best here. No album (or list) is complete with Weezy. No comment on whether that's good or bad for hiphop.

6. Theater of the Mind (Ludacris)

Every one of Ludacris' 5 studio album has gone Platinum. If it weren't for Limewire, this would be his 6th.

5. Who the F@*K is B.o.B?

The second coming of Andre 3000, B.o.B. will explode in 09. Up and down this may be the best mixtape of 2008.

4. Death of Adam (88 Keys)

If the album cover isn't enough. Listen to this.

3. Outside Looking (Charles Hamilton)

Look for Charles Hamilton's first album in 09. The first single happens to be on this mixtape along with the best song of 08 that nobody knows about.. Unanimous dopest MC of 2008.

2. Untitled (NaS)

With features ranging from opposite ends of the hiphop spectrum (think Jay Electronica on "Queens Get the Money" and Chris Brown on "Make the World Go Round") has something for everyone.

1. Seeing Sounds (N*E*R*D)


Seeing Sounds is the hiphop album of a year (for me) because of its crossover appeal. You'd have to be deaf not to enjoy Pharrell's flow over Neptunes production..

Any questions?

Pop Champagne.... watch your step

Kidd Domination f/ Harlems Cash, Yung Berg.Like Mine

Charles Hamilton. Lemme Know

Murda Mook. Best Rapper Alive

Charles Hamilton x Hiphop

MC Lyte. Brooklyn

Blu. Change Ya World

Nas x Jay Electronica. Queens Get The Money UNOFFICIAL VIDEO

Queens Get The Money Music Video from ENCYCLOPEDIA on Vimeo.

Rihanna. Emergency Room

Mick Boogie. Best of 08 MIXTAPE

Merry Christmas!



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Wale. Chillin (Prod. Cool N Dre)

I remain a GIANT. you're jeremy shockey.

Royce Da 5'9". Part of Me

Flo Rida. Right Round

NY FOOTBALL GIANTS CLINCH HOMEFIELD

Derrick Ward had the game of his life rushing for 215.
Eli managed the second half better than the late Tom Brady and finished 17/27 for 181 yrds
Jacobs is back. 3 TDs.
The D figured things out for the 2nd half, holding the Panthers to just 7 points.
Good looks for the playoffs considering that the GMEN are 7-1 @ home this year.

Charles Hamilton.Ronald McDonald

Charles Hamilton x Joe Budden x Royce Da 5'9"

LL? Slick Rick? Rakim?

Idle Warship.UMC Freestyle

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Royce Da 5'9".Shake This

Mark Teixeira

"We met with Mr. Teixeira and were very much impressed with him. After hearing about his other offers, however, it seems clear that we are not going to be a factor."

-Red Sox Owner John Henry

Charles Hamilton.Come Back To You

Evidence.For Whom The Bell Tolls

some people want to live blind and walk the road
oh no, for whom the bell tolls

i hold hope
blow faith in your face
then fade home

Common.Gladiator

Charles Hamilton.Mixtape Vents

12.18 x HitList

10. Idle Warship - Steady
9. Evidence - For Whom the Bell Tolls f/ Phonte, Blue, Will.i.am
8. Lil Wayne - Hot Revolver
7. Clipse - Hater's Wish
6. Lil Wayne - Whoever You Like f/ Jae Millz, Gudda Gudda
5. Show TuFli - Beautiful Things f/ Young Nate, Charles Hamilton
4. Jadakiss - Death Wish f/ Lil Wayne
3. Mos Def - Sunshine
2. Charles Hamilton - Anti-Bullying Zone
1. B.o.B - Use Ur Love

C.C. & A.J.

The Good
1. CC has averaged 222 innings per year throughout his career, and has thrown more than 192 innings every year since his rookie year. Sounds pretty durable to me.

2. CC has a career ERA of 2.77 in September/October. Just the type of pitching the Yanks need down the stretch. On the flipside, CC has a career ERA of 4.51 in April. The Steinbrenners will need to be patient.

3. CC was drafted by the Cleveland Indians with the 20th overall pick in the 1998 Amateur Draft. Other notable first round picks included: Pat Burrell, Mark Mulder, Corey Patterson, J.D. Drew, Austin Kearns, Felipe Lopez, Carlos Pena, Jeff Weaver, Brad Lidge, Bubba Crosby.

4. AJ is 5-0 with an ERA of 2.56 in 56 innings against the Boston Redsox. AJ is also 3-0 with an ERA of 0.40 in 22 innings at Fenway Park.

5. AJ let the AL with 231 strikeouts and 34 games started in 2008.

6. AJ exhibiting softer side in helping young teammates.

The Bad
6. Rumor has it that AJ suffers from bipolar disorder.

7. AJ has not put together back to back seasons of 170+ innings since 2001-02.

Dec.14 HitList

10. Kanye West - Welcome to Heartbreak f/ Kid Cudi
9. Emilio Rojas - Bailout Money
8. Charles Hamilton - Word? Aight!
7. B.O.B. - There It Is
6. Usher - What's Your Name f/ Will.i.am
5. Raekwon - Flawless Crowns
4. Ghostface Killah - Run RMX f/ Jadakiss, Lil Wayne, Raekwon, Freeway
3. Common - Gladiator
2. Kid Cudi - Day N Nite
1. Charles Hamilton - Brooklyn Girls

The Loots - I Used to T

Charles Hamilton - Brooklyn Girls

Charles Hamilton - Rockstar Girl

T-Pain - Karaoke [explicit]

Clipse MIXTAPE - Road to Till the Casket Drops

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Nick Swisher

ESPN.com reports that the Yankees have aquired 1B/OF Nick Swisher and minor league relief pitcher Kanekoa Texeira for 3B Wilson Betemit and minor leaguer pitchers Jeff Marquez and Jhonny Nunez.

Swisher, one of the stars of Michael Lewis' best-seller Moneyball, finished dead last among all starting position players (502+ ABs) with a batting average of .219 in 2008. But before Yanks fans write him off as Giambi Jr. minus the power, it's important to note that Swisher is very versatile (starting at every OF position and 1B in 2008) and has posted a solid OPS of .805 for his career.

I guess trading Scott Proctor wasn't such a bad idea after all..

Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak

B.O.B. - Left Field Lovely

If Mos Def Were President...

T.I. f/ Rihanna - Live Your Life

FRESH Mos Def - Life in Marvelous Times

First single off the Ecstatic due Nov. 25th

Bullet - Spaz Freestyle

Put your glasses on my ears and I started Seeing Sounds

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Bullet - Earth Girls

T.I. f/ Rihanna - Live Your Life Trailer

B.o.B - Hip Hop Saved My Life Freestyle

NEW Mos Def - Life in Marvelous Times [Snippit]

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Zion I f/ Talib Kweli - Temperature Remix

Obamanomics

Barack "Barry" Obama in 1979
Image courtesy of dailymail.co.uk

With most polls pointing to Obama winning the upcoming presidential election, I'd like to examine some of his main economic policy proposals.

Obama plans to "Enact a Windfall Profits Tax to provide a $1,000 Emergency Energy Rebate to American families." On paper, this plan sounds perfectly reasonable: tax super-rich oil companies and give that money to the average American to help pay for rising energy costs. The problem with this plan is that it does nothing to address the question of rising energy costs in the long-run. With OPEC planning to cut production and Congress debating drilling in Alaska, taxes on oil companies will only exacerbate the problem by limiting their ability to invest in the exploration and development of new oil fields.

Obama also plans to "Provide a Tax Cut for Working Families" while raising both the income tax rate (from approximately 35% to 40%) and capital gains tax (from 15% to 20%) for families earning over $250,000. Interestingly enough, Obama doesn't mention the latter tax rate changes on his website. In simple economic terms, real wage rates are essentially driven by labor productivity. As workers becomes more productive, firms are able to hire more workers, pushing the demand for labor and the wage rate up. Labor productivity depends on a variety of factors, such as investment in human and physical capital. The ability of firms to invest in capital is negatively affected with increases in the capital-gains and corporate tax rate. In the case of the former, individuals are simply less inclined to invest their money at higher tax rates. The same is essentially true for corporate taxes. America has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, encouraging firms to operate overseas. So instead of "Ending Tax Breaks for Companies that Send Jobs Overseas," it would make more sense to encourage companies move to U.S. soil instead of punishing economically-sound firms.

Lastly, Obama plans to "Extend the Production Tax Credit, a credit used successfully by American farmers and investors to increase renewable energy production and create new local jobs." Simply put, U.S. Government subsidies for renewable energy production have been a disaster as of late. Ethanol production is extremely inefficient on U.S. soil and the last package of subsidies on domestic ethanol and tariffs on foreign ethanol have played a key role in the sharp rises in global food prices. This season, many farmers increased corn production for ethanol which in turn sent corn prices through the roof. This in turn sent prices for corn-based feeds (i.e. for livestock) up, pushing the prices of milk and meat up. Ultimately, federal subsidies for "job creation" and new technologies are not very effective. Henry Ford, one of the great technological innovators, was not subsidized by the government.

It seems to me that as inflation rises and the U.S. enters an economic downturn, it is essential that real wages are not depressed by government policy. The only way to keep Americans employed and for wages to rise with inflation is to allow for worker productivity to rise. Taxing firms and investors will have the opposite effect.

LA x Mr. Music - One Nite Girl

September - Cry For You

Alex Rodriguez x Madonna

"Rodriguez has pledged to back the singer's passion to spread the Kabbalah philosophy around the world. He has made promises to her to write a range of sports-themed books to bring the message of Kabbalah to young boys. Madonna has already brought out a similar range of books for girls..."

Who knew?

Matt Garza

Image courtesy of espn.com

As far as I'm concerned, Garza's 7+, 1 run, 9 strikeout, 3 walk outing last night was the best playoff pitching performance, ever. Baseball is a game of momentum and coming into Game 7 the Redsox had all of it. After jumping out to a 3-1 series lead, the Rays proceeded to choke away a 7-0 lead in Game 5, giving up 8 runs in the final 3 innings. Josh Beckett then out-dueled Rays' starter James Shields in Game 6 and all signs pointed to the experienced Sox taking the series. Game 7 started with a solo shot from Pedroia in the first inning and you could hear Redsox Nation breathe a sigh of relief. However, Garza would settle down, allowing only 2 more hits over the next 6 innings leading the Rays to victory.

Considering how young this Ray's roster is (Pena is the oldest everyday starter at 30), it's amazing how they were able to regain momentum in Game 7. Much of that credit goes to starter Matt Garza who at 24 is only one year older than rookie sensation David Price. It's also important to realize that prior to this season the Rays had never had a winning season, never mind making the playoffs or competing for the AL Pennant. The last pitcher to do quite that was Andy Pettitte, another 24 year-old, when he threw 8+ shutout innings out-dueling the Braves' John Smoltz in Game 5 to put the Yankees (who hadn't won a World Series since 1978) up 3 games to 2 in the 1996 WS.

B.o.B. f/ Rich Boy - Haterz Everywhere

Kanye West

Image courtesy of hypebeast.com

808's and Heartbreak. November 25th.

Jacory Harris x Duke Defense

Image courtesy of sun-sentinal.com

18/28, 185 yards, 4 TDs, 2 INT
10 carries for 53 yards, 1 TD

Jully Black f/ NaS - Material Things

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Yankees Prospects

Top 10 Yankees prospects with a chance of making an impact at the major league level in 2009 (in no particular order).

AAA CF Justin Christian

.306 BA/.357 OBP/.801 OPS
Toolsy OF with a little pop (6 HRs) and some speed (22/26 in SB attempts).

AAA CF Brett Gardner

.296 BA/.414 OBP/.837 OPS
Great eye (76 K/70 BB), blazing speed (37/46 in SB attempts).


AAA SP Ian Kennedy

5-3, 2.35 ERA, 89.0 IP
Only allowed 52 hits, 72 K/17 BB.

AAA SP Chase Wright

2-1, 2.41 ERA, 37.1 IP
Posted a WHIP of 0.96, striking out 19 and allowing 9 BB.

AAA RP Mark Melancon

1-1, 2.70 ERA, 20 IP
Future closer for the Yankees. 11 Hits Allowed, 22 K and only 4 BB.

AAA SP Phil Hughes

1-0, 5.90 ERA, 29 IP
Rough year for the former #1 pitching prospect in baseball.

AAA RP David Robertson

4-0, 2.06 ERA, 35 IP
20 hits allowed, 51 Ks and only 17 BB.

AAA SP Dan Giese

4-2, 1.98 ERA, 59 IP
0.97 WHIP, 51 Ks, 14 BB.

AA CF Austin Jackson

.285 BA/.354 OBP/.773 OPS
5 tool OF, with power (9 HR) and some speed (19 SB).

A C Jesus Montero

.326 BA/.376 OBP/.868 OPS
Future all-star catcher with power (17 HRs) and a decent eye (83 K in 525 AB).

Eminem

Slim Shady is back with a NEW book.

Инфинити (Infinity) f/ D.I.P Project - Где ты (Where are you?)

Usher - Hush

Jay Leno x David Letterman

Jay Leno and David Letterman make fun of Republicans 7x more than Democrats..

Nouriel Roubini

"On Sept. 7, 2006, Nouriel Roubini, an economics professor at New York University, stood before an audience of economists at the International Monetary Fund and announced that a crisis was brewing. In the coming months and years, he warned, the United States was likely to face a once-in-a-lifetime housing bust, an oil shock, sharply declining consumer confidence and, ultimately, a deep recession..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/magazine/17pessimist-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Beno Udrih x Kobe

OUCH

Alexander Solzhenitsyn

"Do not pursue what is illusory - property and position: all that is gained at the expense of your nerves decade after decade and can be confiscated in one fell night. Live with a steady superiority over life - don't be afraid of misfortune, and do not yearn after happiness; it is after all, all the same: the bitter doesn't last forever, and the sweet never fills the cup to overflowing."

-Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Kanye West - Heartless

Eminem - I'm Having A Relapse NEW

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Akon - Beautiful

Parking In Chicago

Will raising taxes on parking help alleviate Chicago's budget deficit?

Taxing goods and services with inelastic demand is the most efficient way for the government to raise tax revenues. Therefore the biggest question regarding this policy is: how elastic is the demand for parking? A study done by Wilson and Shoup (1990) argues that parking demand is relatively inelastic for irregular visits (i.e. tourists) but parking costs have a significant impact on the mode of transportation chosen by regular visitors (commuters). Given the high costs (gas prices) of traveling by car today, it seems to me that the majority of 'consumers' of parking are regular visitors--thus the demand for parking is more elastic than Mayor Daley of Chicago thinks. So not only will this measure fail to raise tax revenue, it has already substantially angered the public.

Naledge - One Lonely Beat

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Browns 35, Giants 14

Image courtesy of espn.com

No Antonio Pierce apparently equals no Giants defense. 454 yards of total offense for the Browns was the story of the night. Derek Anderson and Braylon Edwards were both due and both stepped up. Bad game from Eli, but there aren't too many quarterbacks (maybe only Peyton) who can overcome such a miserable display on defense..

Hiroki Kuroda x Shane Victorino

Image courtesy of latimes.com

Pitching inside is part of baseball. As are bean balls.

But there is absolutely no reason for pitches behind hitters on the major league level. There is a fine line between establishing the inner half of the plate and head-hunting. Brett Myers inadvertently crossed that line when he threw behind Manny. Regardless of whether it was intentional or not, it is the responsibility of the pitcher (Chad Billingsley) to make sure it never happens again. If Myer's wants to make Dodgers hitters nervous at the plate, Billingsley has the right to make Phillies hitters just as nervous. Billingsley chose not to.

Unfortunately, Manny wasn't able to man up and call it a dead issue. Instead he chose to call out Billingsley for not man-ing up. It's easy to see why Manny would be upset but there is no reason to be calling out teammates in the NLCS, especially with the Dodgers down 2 games to none. It was a selfish move on Manny's part, but that's nothing new.

In any case, Kuroda took matters into his own hands when he airmailed an 0-2 fastball over Shane Victorino's head. Kuroda could not have handled the situation better. The pitch was completely harmless and everyone knew it except for Victorino. Everyone got the message; especially Victorino--end of story.

David Banner - When You Hear What I Got to Say

ALIFE x NaS

Courtesy of alifenyc.com

Maino - However Do You Want It

Ferrari California 09

Courtesy of Ferrari

Oct. 2 RIP Proof

Live Your Life RMX - Royce Da 5'9"

courtesy of 2dopeboyz

Clutchness

Career batting average with runners in scoring position and 2 outs.



Player BA Plate App.
Albert Pujols .329 582
Derek Jeter .317 1014
Manny Ramirez .314 1236
Vladimir Guerrero .305 844
David Ortiz .302 1654
Paul O'Neill .284 1084
Alex Rodriguez .274 1094
Bernie Williams .274 1162
Barry Bonds .266 1495
David Wright .259 379
Jason Giambi .249 942
Jorge Posada .231 867

I got 5 on my mind.

Guessing Game - Elzhi


Flow Boy - Royce Da 5'9"


Through My Eyes - The Game f/ Mars


Paris Tokyo RMX - Lupe Fiasco, Pharrell, Q-Tip & Sarah Green


Bullshit - Jane Doe f/ Talib Kweli

Big Boi - Dubbz

Fresh big boi from his upcoming solo release, Sir Lucious Left Foot: Son of Chico Dusty.

Jockin Jay-Z x Wonderwall

DJ Danny Diggz - Jockin Jay Z x Wonderwall (2dopeboyz.com)

DJ Khaled f/ Kanye West & T-Pain - Go Hard

Kanye gets his synthesizer flow on..

New Ray L, Yung Joc, Joe

Ray Lavender f/ Yung Joc - Shawty Got Me


Joe - New Man

NaS

The truth on hiphop in a 10 min. interview with Tavis Smiley.

Olympics

Michael Phelps is obviously the greatest Olympian of all time. So let's put his 8 golds and 7 world records to rest. He deserves all the credit in the world for dominating his sport like none other, but I am honestly getting sick of hearing his name. Phelps came into Beijing expecting to win 8 golds--anything less would have been a failure. Well, maybe not a failure but had he won only 6 or 7 golds, he would be remembered as the guy that came up short. The truth is, Phelps is not just a freak in the pool, he is a great face for swimming. In many ways he represents the modern American athlete: he listens to Eminem and Jay-Z, eats more for breakfast than a family, and works out for about 5 hours a day. More importantly, Phelps is remarkably humble for someone as talented as him. Imagine if T.O. or A.I. had won 8 golds. In the end however, swimming is still swimming. Its not widely followed in the States and I'm sure Phelps' celebrity status will fade away as soon as Favre takes his first snap from Jets' center Nick Mangold on September 7th.


For me, the defining moment of these games happened about 60m into the 100m final, when Jamaican Usain Bolt broke away from the pack and cruised to the finish line with an eye popping world record of 9.69 seconds. The 100m was hyped as the marquee event of these Olympics, pitting the current world record holder Usain Bolt against former world record holder Asafa Powell and American track star Tyson Gay. Simply put, Bolt stole the show as Gay failed to qualify and Asafa Powell failed to medal, finishing 5th.


While both track and swimming attract the premier athletes to the Olympics, baseball is one of the sports where elite athletes still have few incentives to participate. August and September are arguably the most two important months in professional baseball as teams prepare for the final stretch and the playoffs. Sadly, due to this inability to attract the world's best, these Olympics will be the last to feature baseball as a sport. The international baseball community is working hard to reinstate baseball sometime in the future, but it is still unclear when and how. While Olympic baseball may not mean much for most major leaguers, it remains the pinnacle of baseball competition for many other countries such as Cuba, Japan, and Chinese Taipei. Real baseball fans will note that the Olympics give Americans a rare glimpse into the world of international baseball and stars such as Pedro Luis Lazo (seen below closing out a 5-4 win vs. Team USA), arguably the best pitcher in Olympic history. Hopefully the World Baseball Classic can do for baseball and it's fans what the FIFA World Cup does for soccer and it's fans while simultaneously uniting the world.


After Phelps' 8 golds and Bolt's world record, the 3rd biggest story of these Olympics will be the 400m final showdown of Jeremy Wariner (seen below) and newcomer LaShawn Merritt. Wariner took home the gold in Athens, blowing by the competition with a time of 44.0 seconds. However, Merritt beat Wariner at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon running 44.0 while Wariner came in second at 44.2. Both have a shot at the Michael Johnson's current world record of 43.18.