Which Rappers Had the Best Music Series?

Say what you will about Kanye West, but there is no denying that the man is a trendsetter. And while that doesn’t mean we want to see dudes parading around the city in the skin-tight, blood-red ensembles that have recently become a staple of his live performances, we love the trend of free weekly music that his G.O.O.D Friday series has started online.

Ever since ‘Ye made the “Power (Remix)” his first G.O.O.D Friday drop on August 20th, everyone from Vado, to Joe Budden, to Lloyd Banks have laid claim to their own personal days for free releases. Even RZA just announced plans for #WuWednesdays. But as our man Rob already pointed out, ‘Ye is not the first web-savvy rhymer to bless fans with periodical free releases online. So we decided to take a look back and rate the most notable ones to sort out just who exactly runs this (free, online) rap shit. —Calvin Stovall

GO TO LAST PAGE TO VOTE FOR THE BEST WEEKLY SERIES

CROOKED I - HIP-HOP WEEKLY SERIES

After nearly 12 years in industry limbo and on the brink of obscurity, the Long Beach native (and man widely credited with originating this concept) began flooding MySpace and the blogosphere with weekly freestyles over everything from pop hits like Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” to Left Coast classics “Deep Cover” and “Xxplosive.” Beginning in April of ’07 and lasting until April ’08, the buzz Crooked built off of the series earned him a spot on XXL’s first Freshmen 10 (then known as Leaders of the New School) cover and led to his teaming with fellow net-favorite MCs Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz and Royce Da 5’9 to form Slaughterhouse.

Highlight: “Blueprint 2 (Freestyle)”

Originality - XXL
Quality - XL
Consistency – XL
Overall – XL

MICKEY FACTZ - THE LEAK, VOL.1: THE UNDERSTANDING & THE LEAK, VOL.2: THE INSPIRATION

If Crooked birthed the free online weekly-release concept, the Bronx’s Mickey Factz raised it to new heights. Instead of just putting out freestyles, Factz used MySpace to put out his two 2008 mixtapes one song at a time, week by week. By releasing high quality, carefully conceived songs, which included a reflection on the murder of Sean Bell and collaborations with Drake and the Cool Kids, the 2009 XXL Freshman earned the respect of peers, bloggers and fans alike, and raised the standards for any rapper looking to make a name for himself (or herself?) online.

Highlight: “Good Money" (Produced by 9th Wonder)

Originality – XL
Quality – XL
Consistency – XL
Overall – XL

GORILLA ZOE - 28 MIXTAPES IN 28 DAYS

By far the most ambitious attempt we’ve seen thus far, XXL Freshman class of ‘08 member (sensing a pattern?) Gorilla Zoe announced at the beginning of this year that he would be releasing one full-length mixtape per day during February. Although the second month is the shortest on our calendar, it was certainly a marathon for Zoe and company as they flipped a new mixtape each day. Despite the ambitious move, the series came and went without heavy fan fare. It may have had something to do with the fact that the tapes’ titles (Shaquille Zoe’neal, The Greatest Zoe on Earth and I’m Zoe Good) were more clever than the rhymes they contained.

Highlight: “I Am”

Originality – XL
Quality – M
Consistency – XL
Overall - L

FREEWAY'S' MONTH OF MADNESS

For the entire month of December, Freeway dropped an original track daily. Featuring production from the likes of Alchemist, Don Cannon and Erik Sermon, the Philly bol (not the blogger) served up enough raw to keep fans heads bobbing through the long, cold winter. Despite the quality and attention to detail that Free put into the tracks, by the end of the month, his grating voice, frantic delivery and lack of diverse subject matter lost our interest before we even finished our Christmas shopping. Not even a puzzling, but intriguing, James Blunt feature late in the month could save Free from falling victim to his own monotony.

Highlight: “Everlast”

Originality – L
Quality – XL
Consistency – XL
Overall -XL

KANYE WEST - G.O.O.D. FRIDAYS

Struggling veterans and ambitious rookies looking to get a rep are one thing. But when one of the biggest names in the game promises to release a new song for free every Friday until Christmas, it’s kind of a big deal. It becomes even more remarkable when said artist actually delivers on his promise with star-studded, album-quality tracks that include appearances by the likes of Jay-Z, Mos Def and Raekwon. By dropping songs that are better than niggas’ albums (plural), Yeezy has turned the game on its head and distilled his mission to its most basic purpose—getting G.O.O.D Music out to the fans. After all he’s given, we have to forgive him for some fashionably late entries and unnecessary guests verses (we're looking at you, Swizzy). Even ‘Ye couldn’t go through with his threat to cancel the now sacred Internet hip-hop holiday as punishment for the unauthorized leaks.

Highlight: “So Appalled” ft. Jay-Z, Pusha T, Swizz Beatz, RZA & CyHi the Prynce