My personal trip down memory lane continues. I’ve already recapped the first half of the rap in the millennium in parts one and two, now we push past the halfway mark with 06-07. Here’s the next chapter of the past decade of music as I remember it.

2006

For some reason, I get this depressed feeling when I start thinking about ’06. Maybe it’s because I pretty much bought into Nas’ whole “Hip-Hop Is Dead” campaign. I mean, how could I not?

Being in New York it seemed like everyone was feeling sorry for hip-hop, except for them snap happy southerners. They were still getting most of the spins and pushing units—albeit of the ringtone vary—with joints like Yung Joc’s “It’s Going Down” and DJ Unk’s “Walk It Out.” Heck, even the reclusive Andre 3000 came out to rep on the remix of Unk’s dance-inducing hit.

Certainly, Jim Jones made NYC proud with his widespread hit “We Fly High (Ballin’),” and Fat Joe had the clubs poppin’ with “Make It Rain,” but that wasn’t enough to make a disgruntled New Yorker such as myself feel better about hip-hop.

Not even the return of the king himself could do it. In fact when Jay-Z did the expected by announcing his return I was actually rooting against the then-president of Def Jam. I was feeling like the old guy had lost a step and the last thing hip-hop needed was Jordan with the four-five coming off the bench to save the game.

Honestly, when Cam’ron spit, "Sign a rapper from the borough, get off Jeezy’s dick and Rick Ross…shit" on the Hov diss record, “It’s Going Down,” I was in full agreement with him. Then, when I heard Kingdom Come, my point was proven. In the court of public opinion, the album was regarded as one of Jay’s worst by far. Not for a second was I buying that “30 was the new 20.” C’mon, son!

Despite my overall gloomy feeling about hip-hop at the time I still saw some bright spots for the future. Lupe Fiasco was impressive on his debut, Food & Liquor. On my first listen of the album I couldn’t get past “Hurt Me Soul.” I must have played that track 20 times over before I got to the rest of the album. The Chicago rapper was dope and he was becoming the golden child for the budding “hipster” movement. It felt like every hip-hop event I went to there’d be dudes on skateboards dressed like Pharrell and Kanye. I couldn’t figure it out at the time.

What I did know for sure, though, was that Rick Ross’ “Hustlin’” was a hit. The big man from Miami who rapped under the pseudonym of the real life LA drug kingpin shipped plenty of units of his debut Port Of Miami, which debuted at No. 1, thanks to having a huge first single. And while I wasn’t inspired by sophomore efforts from Young Jeezy (The Inspiration) and The Game (Doctor’s Advocate), watching T.I.’s rise to mega stardom was impressive. No one had a bigger 2006 than T.I. The “King of South” went Hollywood as he starred in the coming of age flick ATL and topped the charts with his fourth album King.

Sadly, producer J. Dilla passed away before he got a chance witness the success of Donuts and finish one of my favorite albums of year, The Shining. In the end I walked away from a dim 2006 with an unexpected gem, Birdman & Lil Wayne’s Like Father, Like Son as my go to album.

Playlist Of The Year
1. J. Dilla feat. Common & D’Angelo - “So Far To Go
2. Jim Jones - “We Fly High (Ballin’)
3. Rick Ross - “Hustlin’
4. Ghostface Killah – “The Champ
5. Birdman & Lil Wayne – “Get That Money

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2007

After the gloom and doom of the previous year, I decided to snap out of my lull. I let go off my New York-centric hang-ups and jumped all the way into whatever hip-hop was offering. 2006 was aberration for me.

I’ve never been the angry, close-minded listener. I can get selective at times given my appetite for a particular sound, but I’ve never just shut things down on pure hate. For what it’s worth, I was a hater in ’06—guilty as charged. But not 2007, I got back to being me and threw some Ds on it.

Rich Boy’s hard-charging anthem “Throw Some D’s” was a favorite of mine. I even bought the ringtone for my phone. Wait a minute mother… before you get at me for ringtone shopping, I told y’all in the beginning I went all in this year. So much so I was cranking Soulja Boy’s “Crank That” to the point I was SB's most ardent defender in debates about him ruining hip-hop. I just couldn’t accept the argument that artist like Soulja Boy were the death of the music. The artists that were complaining just needed to make better shit.

In fact, there was good stuff for people to listen to. Common’s Finding Forever was a quality album. UGK’s Underground Kingz and Ghostface Killah’ Big Doe Rehab provided something for the old heads to bop to. If you were trying to ride that last wave of the Roc-A-Fella dynasty you had Beanie Sigel’s Solution and Freeway’s Free At Last to rock to. Lupe’s sophomore turn, The Cool was better than the first. Devin The Dude’s Waitin’ To Inhale was another high point of the year. (And I don’t even smoke.) Plies provided some quality singles on his debut The Real Testament, and Playaz Circle nabbed some spins for their Lil Wayne-assisted club banger, “Duffle Bag Boy.”

Better than that, T.I. brought his inner struggle to life on the reflective album T.I. vs. Tip, while Jay-Z was on to the next one with the cinematic American Gangster. Where 2006’s Kingdom Come was a failed attempt to save hip-hop, AG proved that Hov had regained his superhero powers.

The biggest moment of the year, though, would come when rap titans Kanye West and 50 Cent squared off in a much-hyped SoundScan clash. Kanye’s Graduation topped 50’s Curtis by selling a million in its first week. Obviously, this was kinda like a big deal, but I didn’t get caught up it in. I was done with extracurricular stuff and had gone back to just enjoying the music.

Playlist of The Year
1. 50 Cent - “I Get Money
2. Kanye West - “Big Brother
3. Jay-Z - “Say Hello
4. Devin the Dude feat. Snoop Dogg & Andre 3000 - “What A Job
5. Cassidy feat. Swizz Beatz - “My Drink N’ My 2 Step

Log in tomorrow as I run through the final portion of the decade in part four. —Rondell Conway

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