Another year over, a new begun - well almost - so it is time to look back at 2012 in hip-hop, which in my opinion has been a really incredible year especially in terms of indie releases. I will focus primarily on indie releases in this first of a two-part hip-hop 2012 retrospective. Indeed 2012 was a great year for the genre with a wide and rich variety of hip-hop being made by artists from all over, including some incredibly well-made videos - all done on tight budgets.  Year-end lists are by their very nature subjective and this one is certainly no exception. Like all year end "best of" lists, it is wide open to change and alterations (additions or deletions) at a moment's notice. Odds are I wont even agree with my own picks this time next month since my tastes are constantly changing and since there is just so much good music that I am constantly catching up on.

However with that said if I had to pick one hip-hop song based on pure catchiness of both production and lyrics, a song that grabs me as much today as when I first heard it eight months ago, it would be MaLLy & The Sundance Kid's "Shine" (video above) from their 2012 album The Last Great….

1) MellowHype Numbers (Columbia/3 Ent)

2) Far East Movement Dirty Bass (Interscope)

3) Kanye West Good Music Cruel Summer (Def Jam)

4) JJ DOOM Key to the Kuffs (Lex Records)

5) Xzibit Napalm (Caroline)

Odd Future continue their dominating streak at the Hollywood Amoeba with another number one with a bullet release on this week's chart in the form of MellowHype (the OFWGKTA duo of Hodgy Beats and Left Brain) whose sophomore album Numbers shot straight to number one since its release on Tuesday of this week. Although many are saying (and I agree) that this release is not as strong or as in-your-face adventurous as the MellowHype debut  BlackenedWhite, it is still a real good album with standout songs like "Monster," "Break," "GNC," "Monster," and the album's lead single "La Bonita. See that video below along with others from releases in the new Amoeba Top Five Hip-Hop chart including the heavy metal tinged title track from Xzibit's new album  Napalm that arrived in Amoeba this week.  Note that the Far East Movement album Dirty Bass is a chart re-entry of the album that dropped earlier in the summer.

             

1) Kanye West Good Music Cruel Summer (Def Jam)

2) Casual Respect Game Or Expect Flames (Nature Sounds)

3) JJ DOOM Key to the Kuffs (Lex Records)

4)  Homeboy Sandman First of a Living Breed (Stones Throw)

5) Brother Ali Mourning In America & Dreaming In Color (Rhymesayers Entertainment)

Thanks again to E-Lit at the Berkeley Amoeba store for the latest lowdown on all the new hip-hop releases via the above video clip in which he runs through all the new CD and vinyl releases for this week. And a good week it is! New releases include Brother Ali on Rhymesayers with the album Mourning In America & Dreaming In Color that comes with production by Jake One, and Homeboy Sandman (who I will be interviewing here on the Amoeblog in a couple of weeks) on Stones Throw with the album First of a Living Breed that follows two EPs from the prolific NYC artist currently on tour with Brother Ali (they will play the Fillmore in SF on Oct 25th). Other new releases in the store include the brand new Kanye West along with his G.O.O.D. Music crew who finally dropped their awaited first compilation album  Good Music Cruel Summer (note its title includes Summer - not Fall). The 12-track album features along with Kanye such artists as Big Sean, Pusha T, Common, Kid Cudi, Cyhi the Prynce, John Legend, R. Kelly, Jay-Z, 2 Chainz, Raekwon, and Marsha Ambrosius. Of the new album Amoeba.com wrote, "like Watch the Throne, his full-album collaboration with Jay-Z, it’s also a chance to loosen up without having to fully shoulder the expectation set by his solo output (and his ego). …..The non-Kanye songs have their appeal, as well, as on the appropriately faded sounding “Higher,” featuring The-Dream; and the fun, hard-hitting “Sin City,” featuring a pack of artists, including John Legend, singing and rapping over a big beat and sheets of synthesizer. West can’t help be the star of his own show, though, coming back in with what can only be described as a megaballad: 'The One.'"