And the winners are...
1. Outkast – “Stankonia” - LaFace
2. 18. Beanie Sigel – “The Truth” – Roc-A-Fella
3. Jay-Z - “Vol. 3: The Life And Times Of S. Carter” – Roc-A-Fella
4. Ghostface Killah – “Supreme Clientele” – Sony
5. Prodigy of Mobb Deep – “H.N.I.C.” – Loud
5. M.O.P. – “Warriorz” – Loud
6. Xzibit- "the restless LP"
7. Jay-Z – “The Dynasty: Roc La Familia” – Def Jam
. 8. Rah Digga – “Dirty Harriet” – Elektra
9. Dead Prez – “Let’s Get Free” – Loud
10. Ja-Rule - "Rule 3:36"


.:.:. BEST UNDERGROUND ALBUM.:.:.

And the winners are...
1. Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek – “Reflection Eternal” – Rawkus
2. AZ- "SOSA-The official bootleg"
3. Slum Village – “Fantastic Vol. 2” - Goodvibe 4. Planet Asia – “The Last Stand” EP – Mona Hip-Hop
5. Lyricist Lounge:Volume 2
6. BigL - "The Big Picture"

Most Disappointing Albums Of The Year (And Why)
EVERY CASH MONEY RELEASE IS WACK!!!!!
Sauce Money – “Middle Finger U” -
Don’t get it twisted, Sauce can rhyme his ass off, but the switching of labels (MCA to Priority) made this release too late – and by the time it dropped, the outdated tracks featuring people like Puff Daddy & Lil Kim did nothing but embarrass him.

LL Cool J – “Greatest Of All Time” -
“Ill Bomb” gave us a lot of hope. We really thought LL was going to bring it back with this album. Did he? Nope. “G.O.A.T.” was rushed and over-hyped, and it’s cookie cutter format showed mad laziness by the rapper / Fubu spokesperson. We actually put this album to the test to see which was more entertaining - listening to LL Cool J's "G.O.A.T." or renting a goat. The goat was much more entertaining, and a lot more friendly. Sorry L, You just can’t crown yourself the “Greatest Of All Time”, and then drop a shitty album.

Deltron 3030 – (Del, Automator, Kid Koala)
This album wasn’t really that bad, and it did have a few memorable moments. The problem is that it just wasn’t that good, either. The chemistry between Del and Automator was about as explosive as that of a firecracker with no fuse, seeming like the artists were on two different pages when collaborating. Many tried to like this release, painting it up to be another classic because of the names involved, but the truth of the matter is it just wasn’t, as it’s predecessor, Dr. Octagon was.

Wu-Tang Clan – “The W”
Another album that wasn’t bad, but compared to any of their previous releases or even the double disc “Wu-Tang Forver”, this album was about as exciting as our new president's middle initial. It had it’s moments, but all in all was a thrown together piece of work with too many unneeded guests, lacking any kind of continuity or cohesion – a factor that made many of the Clan’s earlier releases certified classics.

De La Soul – “Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump” Once again, not bad – just not what we expected. De La Soul broke tradition, enlisting a high-profile guest list of producers and emcees for the first installment of the three part “Art Official Intelligence”. This was still one of the best albums of the year, but with so many guests, it lacked direction and focus, sounding more like a mixtape than a De La Soul album.


MOST GAY SUSPECT RAP LINES
Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being homosexual, and we really don’t have any problem with what people do behind closed doors. But sometimes some of these so-called straight rappers show their true colors in their rhymes. (Don’t take this too seriously, ya’ll – we don’t really think that these rappers are gay – and if they really are gay, then we told you so! No disrespect meant to any of the following names mentioned, living, dead, or gay.)
1. “In Y2K, niggas gonna feel me, literally” – Problemz on “Hotness”
2. “Matter Fact When You See Me, Give Me Some Brain” – Everlast – “Whitey’s Revenge”
3. “I’m the Queens representative” – Q-Tip on “Let’s Ride”
4. “Ridin’ around in fancy cars, Getting’ head from rock stars” – American Cream Team on Raekwon’s “Power”
5. “P touch niggas like masturbation” – Party Artie on A.G.’ s “Muddslide”
6. “Ask Beavis, I get nuthin’ but head.” – Big L on DITC – “Get Yours”
7. “Don't feed me shit on a spoon nigga, give it to me raw, I can take it, I can taste it, give me some more" – NOTS Click on “Straight Raw”***
8. “Put my foot on the gas and smooth rip a nigga’s ass” – Rasco on Bahamadia’s “Special Forces”
9. “I strip the beat like a Chippendale” – Del on Terracosta’s “Dynasty”
10. “If you thinkin’ I’m a bitch, then I’m fuckin’ you right here!” – Billy Danze of M.O.P. on “Warriorz”
***Also filed under the “what the fuck does that mean” department.

2000 Seasons:
Albums That Never Saw The Light Of Day

1. Shabaam Sahdeeq - “3-D” or “Scand’lous” – Rawkus Shabaam Sahdeeq finally parted ways with Rawkus, after releasing several singles on the label. The Polyrhythm Addict switched the title on the album once or twice, and every year things seemed to look progressively worse for Shabaam, despite an album that boasted (previously released) collaborations with Eminem, Xzibit, Alchemist, Talib Kweli, Sporty Thieves, and Pharoahe Monch. Sahdeeky has now been picked up by Universal for a rumored “ignorant amount of money”. We wish him the best of luck.
2. Run DMC – “Crown Royal” – Profile / Arista After creating absolutely no buzz for themselves on the Method Man featured “Simmons Incorporated”, as well as its remix, the follow-up, “Queens Day” (w/ Nas & Mobb Deep), also did nothing to respark interest in these one-time kings of Queens. If you caught the depressing ass VH1 “Behind The Music” special on the group, it only made you bow your head in shame, seeing the sad state the group is now in. They hope to save themselves with collaborations with Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock in 2001, but seem to have forgotten that nobody cares.
3. Lord Have Mercy – “The Ungodly Hour” – Elektra It’s a shame that both Elektra and the Flipmode Squad turned their backs on Lord Have Mercy, because he’s a nasty emcee, and “Wicked Ways” was the sure shot – even if Flex didn’t jump on it. Dropped by both the label and his crew, Lord Have is back out on the corner – but never fear – he may reappear this year under the supervision of producer Nottz – independently, at least. We don’t understand it, the kid could have been another Jordan.
4. Ras Kass – “Van Gogh” or "Dante's Inferno" – Priority Priority teased us last year with “Oral Sex”, a bangin’ Beatminerz production showing Ras Kass hungrier than ever. After, Ras took it to the next level on “West Coast Mentality”, a wasted track on the “Three Strikes” soundtrack that really should have been a single and could have been huge in Cali. Magazine ads taunted us with “Van Gogh – Coming Soon”, but the year has passed, and still nothing! Hopefully the “Golden State Project” will drop this year, but then again, if it’s gonna hold up the release of this album, we’ll wait ‘til 2002 for Golden State.
5. Pacewon – “The Pacewon Effect” – Ruff Nation Here’s another mystery – after the underground success of “Step Up” and “I Declare War”, the focus was switched to the Outsidaz’ “Nightlife” EP, and more recently a forthcoming Outsidaz full-length project, “The Bricks”, due out next year. Also, the switching of distribution from Sony (as Ruff House) to Warner / ADA (as Ruff Nation) further complicated things for the label. Sadly, Pace’s album did get out on the internet, but by now he’s probably scrapped that material anyway. If your still thirsty for new material from Pace, check his recent indy 12” “Sunroof Top”.
6. Royal Fam LP & Shyhiem – “Man Child” – Wu-Tang Records It seems like Wu-Tang cooled their jets this year, after realizing the No Limit approach to releasing albums was only hurting their once flawless rep. It seems like RZA and crew wanted to rethink their plan of attack, only releasing, “The W” this year. Nevertheless, both albums were finished, and both got leaked on the net. It looks like Loud may take over the distribution for Wu-Tang Records in ’01, so there’s a chance we might still see these releases.
7. Tragedy - “Blood Type” – Gee Street Gee Street folded this year, and Trag’s labelmates, the Jungle Brothers, swung to V2, but he was left out in the cold. His singles “Bing Monsters” and “Blood Type” didn’t do much, except for piss off Noreaga. A few of the singles were white-labeled, including the track with RZA. No word on the intelligent hoodlum’s future –but it’s we bet it’s no thug’s paradise! (Bad pun, sorry.)
8. ‘Clipse – “The Funeral” - Elektra

No buzz killed this one – but that’s your fault – why’d ya’ll front on “The Funeral” – a dope song and a dope video!? Bet you didn’t know that the entire album was produced by The Neptunes, either – (the team behind Mystikal’s “Shake Ya Ass” and Jay-Z’s “I Just Wanna Love Ya”). Magazines dissed the album, which didn’t help the situation – leaving this album at the funeral, for real. What a shame.
9. Blood Of Abraham – “Eye Dollar Tree” – Atomic Pop

Signed to the world’s first – (and last) – internet record label, Blood Of Abraham got out just in time, as the label sadly folded. This is too bad – lots of good material on this album, including collaborations with Black Eyed Peas, Kool Keith, and Divine Styler. Not to mention the “Eyedollartree” video, that they were giving out promotionally, was really fresh – hip-hop meets film noir. Maybe this year it will still happen for these guys – hopefully!
10. Non-Phxion - “The Future Is Now” – Matador
The future is now? Nah, the future is actually sometime other than now. Ill Bill and the crew decided that their album could do better on a different label, and pulled away from Matador. No word how they got out of their contract, but they’re currently shopping a new deal. Kinda makes those “Thug Tunin’” promo 12” singles a hot little E-Bay item, eh? Maybe we’ll see this album sometime this year.

THEY WON'T BE AROUND NEX' YEAR... Ya'll won't be around next year... Falling Down.

.::.Killah Priest - While his debut “Heavy Mental” showed promise with good production and smart lyricism, it’s follow-up, “View From Masada” did the exact opposite, even going as far as emulating the styles of Bone Thugs In Harmony on some tracks. What a mess. It’s doesn’t seem likely that the Four Horsemen project (Ras Kass, Kurupt, Canibus & Priest) will work wonders for KP’s future either. .::.Sauce Money - Constant delays of Sauce’s debut ended up making the album sound hella outdated when it finally dropped. The breaking away from Roc-A-Fella didn’t help either. And shit, his fuckin’ ass cusses like a motherfucker, which is never good for getting radio play. .::.Cam’Ron - Sure, that little “Roxxane” sample was kinda fresh, but how much of a shelf life does this guy have left in him? Do people even know/care that he dropped a second album this year? .::.50 Cent - Dissing everyone on “How To Rob” wasn’t the best way to make friends in the industry, big fella – even if it was all fun and games. When Ghostface Killah, Jay-Z, Ja Rule and Big Pun dis you back, who’s left to take your side? We guess he didn’t know the ledge. .::.Amil - Word is she either got pregnant and/or dropped out of the Roc-A-Fella family. While nobody was really checking for her anyway, her debut album “All Money Is Legal”, featured a picture of Amil next to a lion, and it was hard to tell the two apart. Sure, she sounds cute an all, but sometimes she sounds like a down-syndrome baby – and who wants to hear one of them rap? .::.Flipmode Squad - People are starting to care less and less about Busta Rhymes, considering he drops the same album every year. Need proof? Just ask MTV, who even got behind “Fire” for their “Making The Video” show, which still neglected to get Busta the usual amount of radio/video play. Sadly, not many people jumped on the Rah Digga bandwagon either, and the replacing of star running back, Lord Have Mercy, with Roc Marciano hasn’t scored them any points either. Now the legacy is left in the hands of Rampage the Ever-Expanding Boyscout and junior emcee Baby Sham, and let’s face it, he’s no Lil’ Bow Wow. Only the rumored label-switch to Loud can really turn things around at this point. Or maybe a LONS reunion album, for chrissakes. .::.Terror Squad - The tragic death of Big Pun also took the life of the Terror Squad’s career. While Pun helped respark interest in Fat Joe, his death definitely has taken the spotlight off of TS, and just like Flipmode, labels are starting to realize that nobody gives a leaping leprechaun about Wu-Tang style crews in the first place. Unmemorable singles from Cuban Link aren’t helping the situation either. .::.Run DMC - Is this the most depressing thing ever? VH1’s “Behind The Music” special on Run DMC displayed rap’s greatest trio ever in shambles. Run was portrayed only as a greedy reverend who wants to reunite for all the wrong reasons, while DMC could care less about the reunion after losing his voice, wanting to do bluegrass rap or something. After a series of remixed remixes and horrible 12” singles, an estimated 4 people are checking for “Crown Royal”, and three of them are in the group. Who ever heard of a Run DMC album getting pushed back for two years? .::.Swizz Beats - If the Sprite commercials didn’t do it, then the Limp Bizkit remix must have. Seems like absolutely nobody is checking for Swizz, after his little Casio fiasco, not to mention putting listeners of The Lox’s album to sleep. With DMX leaving Ruff Ryders to do his own thing, who’s gonna employ this guy in ’01? Maybe he can do commercials for shoe polish instead. .::.Noreaga - This guy might have one more album in him, but that last Capone N Noreaga album was only saved by Primo and Alchemist beats. Noreaga’s rhymes have gotten progressively worse, getting to the point where good production can’t cover up his awful lyrics. (“Bone a bitch in her butt, make her say what what”.) Given the rumor that Nore will no longer work with The Neptunes (because they are rumored homosexuals), don’t expect another “Superthug” or “Oh No” anytime soon. And plus his pops just died.

And... 55 Reasons To Live Another Year Time to move out of the slums! Here’s the reasons to not commit suicide or get killed within the next 365 days. This list compiles all of the albums that are rumored to be in production or scheduled to drop this coming year. And don’t get all indignant and shit if some of these don’t come out over the next year, cuz the way labels and artists switch up release dates, half of these won’t drop anyway.

Rakim – “Oh My God” – Aftermath
Method Man – “Tical 0”
Redman – “Malpractice- Where’s Reggie Noble” OUT NOW !!!
Jadakiss – “Kiss the game goodbye” OUT NOW !!! – Interscope
Mos Def & Talib Kweli (blackstar) – Untitled – MCA
The Roots – Untitled – MCA
Buc Fifty – Untitled – Battle Axe
LMNO – “Leave My Name Out” – Battle Axe
Black Thought – “Masterpiece Theatre” – MCA
D-12 – “Devil’s Night” – Shady Records -OUT NOW
Golden State Project (Xzibit, Ras Kass, Saafir) - Untitled – Open Bar
Kool G. Rap – Untitled - Rawkus Nas – “Stillmatic 2001” or “D.O.A. (Death Of Escobar)” – Columbia
Planet Asia – Untitled – Interscope
. Saukrates – Untitled – Def Jam
Kam - "Kamnesia" - Jcor
Swollen Members – “Bad Dreams” – Battle Axe
Raekwon & Ghostface Killah – “Cuban Links 2” – Loud (?)
Royce The 5’9 – Untitled – Game
Alkaholiks – “X-O Experience” - Loud
AZ – Untitled – Motown
Soundbombing 3 – Rawkus
Poets Of Rhythm – Untitled - Quannum Projects
Lyrics Born – Untitled – Quannum Projects
Ali Vegas – “Generation Gap” – Columbia
Neptunes – “N.E.R.D.” – Capitol (?)
Mr. Len & Prince Paul – “Pity The Fool” – Matador
Arsonists – LP – Matador
J-Live – EP – 7 Heads
Killarmy – LP – Loud
Shyhiem LP – Loud
Big Pun – Tribute Album – Loud
Sean Price aka Ruck of Heltah Skeltah – LP – Duck Down
Sticky Fingaz - "Black Trash: The Autobiography of Kirk Jones" - Universal
Truth Hurts - LP - Aftermath
Grand Agent - "By Design" - Groove Attack
Run DMC - "Crown Royal" - Profile


Pour a little liquor out...
Deaths
Rest in peace to all fallen hip-hop heads.
DJ Rob-One
Big Pun
George Jackson (UBO)
Yusef Afloat (of The Nonce)
Mausberg
DJ Screw
Banky (American Cream Team)
Jack The Rapper
E-Kliptz (Cydal)