"This cup got me leanin' like tennis shoes on a fat dude."
Reggie Bush and Kool-Aid was fun in a lot of places, but nowhere on there was Doughbeezy as monstrous and/or destructive as he was on the second verse of "Pass The Swisher," the tape's two-and-a-half-minute tink-filled standout.
The "Wait, Whoa, Wait... Can You Say That Again Please?" Award
Killa Kyleon in Marcus Manchild's "We Are Not The Same"
The talented Marcus Manchild crafted a genuinely good song in "We Are Not The Same." He pulled Short Dawg in to balance out his own menace, straddled the production seamlessly, and delivered a pretty spot on opening verse. But then Killa Kyleon showed and ripped the song into a million teeny, tiny ribbons. It's just about impossible to listen to it and catch all of the things he does in his verse.
Most Underappreciated Song
KAB's "Good Music" (produced by DJ Mr. Rogers)
This was one of those situations where the production (a tempered swell built by Rogers with delicate hands) had a symbiotic relationship with the rapper's voice (KAB's scaled back higher pitched ferocity), which is what just about all rap music should aspire to do. That said, who has been playing this song outside of KAB's circle? Tsk, tsk, tsk.
The "This Song Is So Amped Up It Makes Me Want To Pick Up My Computer And Smash It On The Goddamn Floor" Award
Kritikal's performance are ascending, ascending, ascending. He climbs on shit and takes his clothes off and just generally goes nuclear. Here, on "Playing The Way," he corrals that energy splendidly. There's a scene in Jackass 3.5 where they're taking mints(?) and putting them in Coke bottles and then closing them and shaking them and slamming them on the floor, wherein they explode up and around, mashing holes into walls and ceilings and whatnot. That's what Krit has going on with this song.
The "If You Ever Need Your Party To Just Go Fucking Nuts, Play This Guy" Award
Mr. Wired Up (Oh Boy) is good at a bunch of things, but he's exceptional at making party songs that you HAVE to dance to when they come on, even if you don't understand why. You know how you get super excited* when you're in a club (or your car too, we suppose) and the music is extra loud and they play a song that you recognize? His stuff makes you feel like that the first time you hear them. Party tracks, yo. Not everyone can do that shit.
*If you answered yes to this because you've gotten "super excited," you are not a gangster. Thanks.
The "Cy Fyre's Best Beat" Award
Cy Fyre has proven himself to be one of the city's most reliable producers. He's done so with such consistency this year, in fact, that we decided he needed an award named after him that gets awarded to him. So which track of his is the best recently: "Welcome To The Sunny" from Damfoolz's Gaining Respect album. It is a thumping, serious, menacing-in-a-Children-of-the-Corn sort of way winner. Congrats, Cy Fyre on winning the Cy Fyre award.