January 4, 2013 raj
Hello, and thank you for making your way to the 2nd annual RAJYS. I am your host and in case you are unaware of what you just clicked on, let me give you a quick gist. I will present a category and the nominees. Instead of having to wait months to see who the winner is, just click that handy little spoiler button to reveal it. I wanted to do something different than the usual lists and have found this to be a more fun way of presenting the best and worse of 2012. This year, I have added a few more categories to switch it up. Again, all voting is done by me and the decisions are final. Let’s go!
Note: Opinions do not reflect the views of MJF, though it should.
Best Album
Kendrick Lamar – Good Kid, m.A.A.d City
Gary Clark Jr. – Blak & Blu
Ab-Soul – Control System
Reptar – Body Faucet
Poolside – Pacific Standard Time
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Trust me when I say this was the category I had the hardest time choosing the winner of, because 2012 really had some fantastic releases from both up-and-coming and established artists. This one has to go to Gary Clark Jr for his timeless classic “Blak and Blu” where he makes modern rock relevant and cool again. This album single-handedly restored my faith in the music industry.
Honorable mentions:
Kinetics & One Love – You Are Not Alone
The Game – Jesus Piece
Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls
Nas – Life is Good
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Worst Album
Wiz Khalifa – O.N.I.F.C
Minus The Bear – Infinity Overhead
Lupe Fiasco – Food and Liquor 2
Kreayshawn – Something About Kreay
Purity Ring – Shrines
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Lupe Fiasco takes the cake for this one. It should not even have the “Food And Liquor” tag attached to it because it brings dishonor to the original album. I know I will get a backlash for this choice, but for those of you who disagree I beg of you to re-listen to the original F&L. Once you do that, listen to F&L II. Minus The Bear was a close second but that is not worth delving into. The fact that Lupe ousted Kreayshawn in this category alone means he needs to either re-evaluate his career or quit for good. Come at me Lupe stans!
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Most Missed Breakup
The Civil Wars
The Cool Kids
Das Racist
LCD Soundsystem
G-Side
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The most missed breakup RAJY would have to go to the The Civil Wars. Joy and John impacted so many people with their music during their short-lived career and the cause of the breakup is still unknown. Hopefully, it is just a mere hiatus and we will be laughing about this next year.
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Best EP
TNGHT – TNGHT EP
Hoodie Allen – All American
Zed’s Dead & Omar Linx – Victor
King Fantastic – SocioPoliticalPimpTalk
The Polish Ambassador – Superpowers
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Not a sorority chick but the Hoodie Allen EP gets my vote for this category. It was a very well done EP and it’s rare now-a-days to have one without any use of samples. Like a board game, it is enjoyable for the whole family.
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Best Mixtape
Heems – Wild Water Kingdom
Rockie Fresh – Driving 88
Big Sean – Detroit
Bastille – Other People’s Heartbreak pt 2
Childish Gambino – Royalty
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God, oh god! Big Sean takes this RAJY for best mixtape for a few reasons. You can tell that he puts a lot of time in his craft and it was hard to determine if there were any fillers on this tape. It helps that it was full of all original production and features were limited. Props to Sean for delivering a high quality project without rushing it!
Honorable Mentions:
Kids These Days – Traphouse Rock
PRO ERA – PEEP: The aPROcalypse
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MJF Freshman of the Year
Joey Bada$$
Chief Keef
Captain Murphy
Trinidad Jame$
Phony Ppl
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2012 was Chief Keef‘s year no doubt. As long as he doesn’t screw things up (over and over again) 2013 could be it as well. He can thank his team for putting up with his mess. On that note, where’s that molly water?
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Breakthrough Artist
Gary Clark Jr
Chief Keef
Meek Mill
PSY
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This one was an obvious choice. The first ever to hit a billi views on YouTube? OK PSY, you win. This doesn’t mean you have won me over yet since you made those anti-USA remarks. Eh, alright since it was forever ago so you are forgiven, I guess. Just do yourself a favor and stay away from washed up has-beens like MC Hammer. Not a good look on your bright future. OPPA GANGNAM STYLE!
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The Kanye Award (Biggest Attention Whore)
RiFF RaFF
Odd Future
Lupe Fiasco
Chief Keef
Kitty Pryde
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Chief Keef. Get this dude off Instagram and put him in a classroom with the surroundings of textbooks and spinning globes.
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Producer of the Year
Young Chop
Mike Finito
Hit-Boy
Mike Will Made It
Key Wane
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This was one of the harder categories to choose from, which is another reason why I can’t make lists. Young Chop gets my vote just because none of the other producers can get me as hype. Every time I hear that “Us” beat it makes me want to blast some rifles at the shooting range and I’m one of the most peaceful guys you will ever meet. YoungChopYoungChopYoungChopYoungChopOnDaBeat
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Best Career Move
Kid Cudi back on drugs
Trinidad Jame$ signing to Def Jam
Flying Lotus starts rapping
2 Chainz signing to G.O.O.D
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Let’s face it. WZRD was an awful album. I don’t know if there was a reverse intervention but thank the lawd Kid Cudi is back to his old ways. “Just What I Am” was the realest track of 2012 and we know what to thank for that.
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Worst Career Move
Rick Ross cancelling tour
Chief Keef using Twitter
Kanye West knocking up Kim K.
Krispy Kreme changing his name
Lil Wayne quitting rap to skateboard, then going back to rapping.
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This one was simple. While Chief Keef is infamously known as a PR nightmare, this year proved that Lil Wayne has fallen off since he decided to skateboard. He even mentioned in some interviews about how he really doesn’t like rapping. I understand if the label is forcing the rapper to put out material but that last mixtape he released was pure garbage. Anyone who has half a brain has to agree with me on this. If the shoe doesn’t fit anymore then why wear it?
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TV Show of 2012
The League
Breaking Bad
Homeland
Louie
Parks & Recreation
Congrats to everyone who made the list this year. Your hard work did not go unnoticed and we appreciate you being good sports about the decisions. Along with last year, there were way too many projects to choose from because 2012 was a great year for music. Do you agree/disagree with any of the choices? Let me hear it, and we will see you back here for the third annual #RAJYS!
