End of Year Mixes, 10th Edition!

I have been making mix tapes as long as I can remember. Before I had anyone to make them for, I made them for myself, and I purchased them whenever I had the chance -- generally, whenever I was in Downtown Crossing (they used to call me the "white guy" at Hip Zepi) or in NYC (at Fat Beats or on the street). I have the picture to prove it:

One good thing about my parents saving everything is that my old mixtapes are still around. Ah, memories. pic.twitter.com/MrLc6ZFD3Y

— Paul Swydan (@Swydan) December 5, 2015

Eventually, I started making them for other people. My sister, my girlfriend (now wife), my friends. More or less anyone who I was close with that wasn't super annoyed by me forcing them to listen to "my" music.

One year, it occurred to me that even though I was broke and couldn't afford to buy presents for all of the people I was close to that I could make them a mixtape. Or, by then, it was CDs, but saying "Mix CDs" has always sounded wrong to me. Now, I just say "mixes," but I still think of them as mixtapes.

That was 10 years ago now. The idea was simple, to make two mixes -- Aboveground and Underground. Popular and not popular. The idea was that people always claim that pop music is garbage, and I think that viewpoint is garbage. Maybe the radio is clogged by some clunkers, but I think there are plenty of great songs each year that become popular. To be clear, I don't consider these "the best," just my favorites. Music can't really be defined as "best" as far as I'm concerned.

I haven't written about them every year -- at some point I should go back and write about the first few just for posterity -- but if you click here you can find links for each edition since 2009. I follow a couple of basic rules.

• The strongest rule: The song had to be released during the year in question. Exception - An international song, as songs aren't always/ever released internationally and domestically at the same time.
• The mostly strong rule: The Aboveground mix is picked from the Billboard Hot 100, and the Underground mix is quite the opposite. I usually cheat a couple of songs on the Aboveground mix, but with good reason.

Because this was the 10th edition, I tried to listen to more songs than I usually do -- especially for the Underground mix.

For the Aboveground, artists considered that didn't make the cut include Ty Dolla $ign, Rae Sremmund (I don't get why they're popular), Jessie J, Future, Demi Lovato, Jeremih, Dej Loaf (next year I think), and the last song cut was Lana Del Rey's "High By The Beach." Also, no Nicki Minaj - her album came out last December.

One artist I DIDN'T listen to was Kanye. I think of Kanye albums as one of the true events in music, and I wanted to wait. When he released a few singles, I figured he was close to releasing "Swish." As summer crept in, and news leaked that he had played the whole album for people, I figured it was coming any day. Never happened. Oh well.

ABOVEGROUND MIX

1. Adele - Hello. I mean, do I need to say anything about this? It's phenomenal. You know that already.

2. Drake - Hotline Bling. I've said it before, and the video for this song really kind of rammed the point home -- Drake is A-Rod. They're both generational talents that are just so smart but yet so goofy and awkward, and easy to mock. Try to divorce the song and the video. Once you do, you'll realize this is a classic.
3. Rihanna - B*tch Better Have My Money. Somewhere, ODB is smiling.
4. Natalie La Rose - Somebody f/ Jeremih. I loved this homage to Whitney. It hasn't felt stale all year.
5. Major Lazer - Lean On f/ MO & DJ Snake. Diplo the person is somewhat of a blight on society, but Diplo the artist makes good music. It's a hard thing to separate, but unlike R. Kelly, Diplo doesn't actually sing or rap, so it's a little easier to like his work product.
6. Missy Elliott - WTF f/ Pharrell Williams. Missy is back!!!! And she was smart enough to hit up Pharrell for her return instead of Timbaland, whose recently released mixtape didn't exactly get universal praise, let's say.
7. Fetty Wap - 679 f/ Monty. If I wasn't so stubborn, this would be "Trap Queen," but Trap Queen came out in 2014. And not in December, like Minaj, but in April 2014. "679" is a worthy alternative though. Fetty is the type of artist that Drake has wrought - someone who is good at rapping and singing but isn't really great at either. It goes to show just how good Drake is. Having said that, this is a pretty good song, and it definitely stays stuck in your head.
8. A$AP Rocky - Everyday f/ Rod Stewart, Miguel & Mark Ronson. When I saw this on the album's track listing, I was curious. Rod Stewart? A$AP has been pushing his boundaries, and none moreso than with this. I wonder if he showed Rod the "Purple Swag" video.
9. Jidenna - Classic Man f/ Roman GianArthur. Janelle Monae hit hard with her Wondaland crew this year, and I was overjoyed by it all. This one was bit bigger of a hit than her "Yoga," but I almost included both because they're two of my favorite songs, but I try not to put two songs from the same album on a mix.
10. Carly Rae Jepsen - All That. Jepsen had a lot of hits this year, but this song -- which was the first single off of E-Mo-Tion -- wasn't one of them. I made an exception for it though, because a) it was my favorite cut off her album, and b) it damn well should have hit the Hot 100. Shoutout to my former colleague Summer Anne Burton for never shutting up about Carly Rae Jepsen. It forced me to give her a listen. I had assumed she would end up being a one-hit wonder. NOPE!
11. Taylor Swift - Bad Blood Remix f/ Kendrick Lamar. There aren't enough event remixes these days. This was all that and more -- I think every woman singer under the age of 30 was in the video, as well as a bunch of actresses and Cindy Crawford. (After they show Crawford, Swift kind of looks at the camera as if to say "yeah that's right, I got Cindy Crawford in my video, WHAT" - it's great.) It's why we have music videos. This also doubled as the moment when your mom learned the name Kendrick Lamar, which is a good thing.
12. Ellie Goulding - On My Mind. The last song that made it over Lana Del Rey's "High By The Beach." I liked Ellie's video better. She rode a horse in hers.
13. Alessia Cara - Here. We all went to a party like this in college. Or perhaps after college.
14. Selena Gomez - Same Old Love. I think I might be the only one who liked this track best on Gomez's new album. It feels like a Justin Bieber diss, and I like that.
15. Ciara - I Bet. Speaking of diss songs, man, Future has to be some kind of moron to break up with Ciara. She has always been one of my faves. #TeamCiara over here for sure.
16. Jamie xx - I Know There's Gonna Be Good Times f/ Young Thug & Popcaan. Young Thug put out a lot of material this year, but my favorite track of his wasn't his own, but rather this DJ from across the pond. This one didn't make the Hot 100 either, presumably because Jamie xx is not an American artist? That's about the only reason I can think of.
17. The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face. This is the song that my wife demanded be included this year -- she usually demands at least one. Not that it was a problem. The Weeknd finally let the Emo go for a song, and the results were fantastic.
18. Miguel - Coffee (F*cking) f/ Wale. I was disappointingly underwhelmed by Miguel's album, but this track was a standout. And Wale finally makes it back to the Aboveground mix -- his first time since 2010.
19. Janet Jackson - No Sleeep. Speaking of long waits, Miss Janet hasn't made the mixes since the first edition back in 2006. That's a long time. When I first saw that she recorded "No Sleeep" with and without J. Cole, I was curious. Then I listened to J. Cole's verse. It is possibly the worst guest shot I have ever heard. So Janet stands alone.
20. Dr. Dre - Animals f/ Anderson .Paak. This was the third track that wasn't a Billboard Hot 100 song. But there are a few good reasons why. One, the album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 (the chart for album sales), so I think plenty of people heard about it. Two, the cuts on the song are from DJ Premier. If you know anything about hip-hop, you know just how monumental having Dre and Primo on the same track is. Third, this album -- and this song in particular -- announced Anderson .Paak to the world. He may just be Dre's latest great find. But fourth, and most importantly, is the subject matter. After all his success, Dre is still angry, and it's hard to blame him. The emotion is raw here, and it's an eye opener.
21. Kendrick Lamar - Alright. Nevertheless, I wanted to end on a positive note. I'm fucked up, you fucked up, but if God got us then we gon' be alright. Kendrick the best.

UNDERGROUND MIX

1. Kehlani - You Should Be Here. I'm a little surprised this didn't pop onto the Aboveground mix. This album had a lot of great cuts, including "Jealous" and "The Way," but "Here" stuck with me the most because I spend so much time distracted on my phone, or just daydreaming. It's a good reminder to focus on the moment.
2. Vince Staples - Lift Me Up. A song -- and album -- rich in biting commentary. This is another that belongs on the Aboveground mix. Vince Staples is fast becoming one of my favorite artists, and is a must listen.
3. Blackalicious - The Sun f/ Imani Coppola. There was a ton of comebacks this year, and this was one of them. Blackalicious hadn't put out an album since 2005, but they didn't sound rusty on "Imani Vol. 1" at all. That's pretty impressive.
4. Scarface - Steer f/ Rush Davis. Scarface came back too. Remember Scarface? If you feel like you've been listening to him your whole life, that's probably because you have. Geto Boys popped off in 1988. "Deeply Rooted" was Scarface's first album since 2008.
5. Grimes - Fresh Without Blood. I admittedly don't know a ton about Grimes, but I love this song, as well as "California." I wanted to include it here, and break up the hip-hop a little. I think it flows in pretty seamlessly.
6. Fashawn - Higher. I feel like it's not a coincidence that an album executive produced by Nas has a song about daughters. This album, "The Ecology," was fantastic, and I hard time picking the one track to use. Ultimately, this one got me.
7. Sean Price - Magic f/ Foul Monday & Royal Flush. Rest in peace, Mr. Price.
8. Sadat X - I Know This Game. I always liked Grand Puba (and sometimes Lord Jamar) better than Sadat X, but I still do like him. And this song was great -- Sadat is an old man now and letting everyone know that you never should have doubted him. The A&R story is great, as is the Biggie sample in the hook.
9. Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment - Familiar f/ King Louie & Quavo. I not only had a tough time picking out a cut from "Surf," but I also could have chosen any number of solo Chance the Rapper songs to choose for this mix. Ultimately I picked this one because I liked the blending of the different rappers here, and because this was a nice tongue-in-cheek take on the old "It's All About You" vibe.
10. Anderson .Paak & Knxwledge as NxWorries - Link Up. This won't be the last time Anderson .Paak gets on here. And Kxwledge is great, if you like hip-hop instrumentals.
11. Apollo Brown - Detonate f/ M.O.P.. "I'm El Chapo with a crack flow, you get your sh*t pushed back slow. Simple as that." Simple as that, indeed. This was another album I had a hard time picking one track from, but you can't deny the simple beauty of the Mash Out Posse.
12. Tink - Ratchet Commandments. Timbaland's new protege -- he said Aaliyah appeared to him a dream and called Tink "the one" -- takes it back to a song that was released when she was two years old. I feel old typing that.
13. Edo G. - Last Man Standing (cuts by DJ Netik). Few have been around as long as Edo G., but he has consistently turned out work, so this album wasn't really a comeback for him. He remains one of Boston's finest -- if not its finest period. Sort of depends on whether you want to claim Guru as Boston or New York.
14. GZA - The Mexican f/ Tom Morello & K.I.D.. This was GZA's first song since 2008, and it's definitely not what you would expect from GZA. But it still rocks. It would had to have been pretty bad not to be included here, to be honest.
15. KRS-One - Drugs Won. Poignant and unflinching as always in his first album in four years.
16. Malik B. & Mr. Green - Dark Streets f/ R.A. The Rugged Man & Amalie Bruun. Perhaps my favorite track of the year. If this beat doesn't have you vigorously nodding your head within five seconds, you might want to re-evaluate your whole life.
17. DonMonique - Drown. The standout on a great debut EP (that included a Danny Brown guest shot) from a promising young rapper.
18. Freddie Gibbs - F*ckin' Up The Count. Laced with "The Wire" references, this was the standout cut on Gibbs' new album. I wanted to include "Detonate," which has a harrowing Black Thought guest verse, but the beat on "Detonate" is a little too grating for repeat listens.
19. Rapper Big Pooh - Augmentation. It's a shame we don't get more Little Brother these days, but I will happily settle for Pooh and Phonte recording separately, especially when the songs are this good.
20. Apathy - Fat Kids f/ Blacastan & Merkules. Another track from a New England rapper, this one hits home, as I have let my waistline expand far more than I should have. It's funny too.
21. Capone-N-Noreaga - U.M.A.R. f/ Tragedy. CNN has always had a knack for emotional songs, as well as unlikely acronyms, and this song combines both in a story about a person that the crew wanted to honor before he passed.
22. Awreeoh - It's My Turn Now. Produced by Pharrell Williams, this song is from the three leads in the movie Dope. They're not real musicians -- at least not yet -- but you'd never know it, and this beat is fire. And if you haven't seen Dope yet, you should definitely do that soon.
23. Bonus Christmas Track. Ghostface Killah - Ghostface X-Mas. Ghost put out a couple of albums this year, so I nearly included one of those songs here in addition to this track, but ultimately I felt that this was enough. Also I get kind of exhausted by the volume from certain artists, and Ghost was one of those this year. I somehow missed this song when he put it out a few years ago. That has now been rectified. I don't get why more rappers don't put out Christmas songs. The bar is set so low.

I listened to so much stuff that didn't make the cut here. Jadakiss, Logic, Isaiah Rashad, Large Professor and Czarface were among the last cuts from the mix. Earl Sweatshirt, Diddy (!), Kirk Knight, Joey Badass (really disappointing album from him), Jazmine Sullivan, D.R.A.M., Big Grams (Big Boi's new project), Statik Selektah, Guilty Simpson, Talib Kweli & 9th Wonder, Mad & Blu & Madlib, Cannibal Ox, Ray West & Kool Keith, L'Orange & Kool Keith, Little Simz, Tate Kobang, Cakes da Killa, Raekwon, YG and eMC (worst hooks ever) were also considered. All of the extra listens definitely led to me getting the mixes out a little later this year, but it was worth it, because I am extra happy with what I included as a result.

If you want, you can listen to these mixes on Mixcloud. Embeds are below.

This is always a long post. If you made it this far, thanks for indulging me!

Dj iMAGINE - 2015 Hits: Aboveground by Paul Swydan on Mixcloud

Dj iMAGINE - 2015 Hits: Underground by Paul Swydan on Mixcloud

Ninth Annual End of Year Mixes

Years gone by: 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009. The 2012 link should have the intro/explanation to what I try to do with these mixes.

Aboveground Mix

Lots of pop this year. This was one of the hardest cut downs. Here are the songs that didn't make the cut:
- Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk. Liked the song, but it felt like it would get old quick.
- Jennifer Lopez & Iggy Azalea - Booty. I just don't like J Lo, and adding Iggy after the fact - while a nice admission that no one likes Pitbull anymore (if in fact anyone ever did) - rung a little hollow.
- Jesse J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj - Bang Bang Bang. Just didn't like it as much as their other songs.
- Ella Henderson: Ghost. One of the final cuts.
- Usher f/ Juicy J - I Don't Mind. Good song, but not exactly fresh material.
- Drake - 0 to 100/The Catch Up. One of the final cuts. It just didn't really vibe with the rest of the mix.

That's a lot of cuts. I usually struggle to round of the mixes with songs I like, but this year I had way too much. Then there was also D'Angelo. I know a lot of people have praised the album, but his voice makes it hard for me to hear what he's actually saying, and while I pick it up more on subsequent listens, it bugs me enough that it ruins the whole thing for me. Sorry, D'Angelo.

Let's get to the mixes.
1. Kid Ink - Body Language f/ Usher & Tinashe. I fell in love with this song, so much that I wanted to lead off with it. It's kind of a classic 90s throwback, with the heavy hitters on the hook. You might not think of Tinashe as a heavy hitter yet, but she put out one of my favorite albums this year, and I expect big things from her.
2. Taylor Swift - Blank Space. TS' version of "I Get Around," this narrowly beat out "Shake It Off" (which is her version of "Dirt Off My Shoulder"), mostly because Summer asked me to pick "Blank Space." She gets one request per year, and this was it.
3. J. Cole - Wet Dreamz. Topic selection is everything, be it baseball analysis or music or anything else. This topic definitely stands out, and the beat knocks as well.
4. Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass. The Massachusetts girl makes good.
5. Iggy Azalea - Fancy f/ Charli XCX. Love her or hate her, and I understand both viewpoints, this is an awesome, awesome song.
6. James Newton Howard - The Hanging Tree f/ Jennifer Lawrence. Yes, Jennifer/Katniss, I am coming.
7. Shakira - I Can't Remember To Forget You f/ Rihanna. Most people probably forgot this song came out in 2014, since it debuted on January 13th. But it did, and it's about as superstar a collabo as you can think of.
8. Ariana Grande - Break Free f/ Zedd. It is a little harder to appreciate her songs since she does legit look like a 12-year-old girl, but she definitely can sing. She doesn't quite have Mariah's range or charisma though, so let's knock it off with those comparisons.
9. Calvin Harris - Summer. This joins the semi-long line of songs with my wife's name in them, and it was a smash hit to boot. Easy pick here.
10. Kendrick Lamar - i. Another easy pick. Hope we get more K. Dot in 2015.
11. Selena Gomez - The Heart Wants What It Wants. I couldn't believe it myself when I realized how much I liked this song.
12. Migos - Handsome and Wealthy. I learned of this group when Q-Tip called them "tha truth." That doesn't happen often.
13. Trey Songz - Touchin', Lovin' f/ Nicki Minaj. Trey basically plays second banana on his own song. Nicki crushes her verse. It really was her year. And her outro on the song leads beautifully into...
14. Nicki Minaj - Anaconda. There was a lot of social media fuss around the cover art and video and with good reason, but it's also a damn good song, and I can't really remember anyone having the stones to flip Sir Mix A Lot's beat, so bonus points for that.
15. Charli XCX - Boom Clap. Infectious.
16. Future - Benz Friendz (Whatchutola) f/ Andre 3000. This is the one song I really cheated on. It wasn't one of the six singles from Future's monster album, but since four of the six landed on the Hot 100, I can only assume that this one would have as well had it been chosen. And since this was the one with Andre 3000 on it, it gets the nod. Outkast 4 lyfe.
17. YG - Who Do You Love? f/ Drake. I had heard about YG for awhile, and this song didn't disappoint.
18. Tinashe - 2 On f/ Schoolboy Q. Like I said, Tinashe rocked my world this year. And the Schoolboy Q feature puts it over the top. It also served as Schoolboy's one appearance this year, as I just didn't like his album as much as most.
19. Clean Bandit - Rather Be f/ Jess Glynne. This song doesn't really fit, so it kind of got pushed toward the back, but it was one of my favorite songs of the year.
20. Sam Smith - I'm Not The Only One. Hard to deny this guy's talent, even with a boring name like Sam Smith.
21. Michael Jackson - Love Never Felt So Good (Original Version). I sort of cheated here too, because I believe the version of this song that charted was the one with Justin Timberlake, but that strikes me as unnecessary. The song was brilliant on its own.

Underground Mix

Lots of stuff left off this as well. Jhene Aiko, Boldy James, Gangsta Boo, Ab-Soul, Pusha T, Luke James, Prince, the 1978ers, Ghostface and Lauryn Hill all had songs that didn't make the cut. I'd like to say Wu-Tang Clan and G-Unit also were close to making the cut, but their comebacks were mostly depressing. Oh well, nothing lasts forever.

1. FKA Twigs - Pendulum. I still don't exactly know what this song is, other than a song I'm in love with. And that's enough. Perhaps my favorite song of the year. I don't really make that distinction because who cares, but this song would be in the conversation for sure.
2. Run The Jewels - Blockbuster Night Part 1. I had at times five different songs from this album picked. I probably could have just pasted in the whole thing and called it a day.
3. Lil' B - No Black Person Is Ugly. The Based God puts out so much material that it's basically impossible for me to keep up with it all, but this one cut through it all this year.
4. Statik Selektah - Get Away f/ Joe Scudda and Colin Munroe. Another hard selection, as SS' album had a lot of great choices. This narrowly made the cut over "Alarm Clock" featuring Ab-Soul, Jon Connor & Logic?.
5. Isiah Rashad - Heavenly Father. This album got better every time I listened to it, which is good, because I was initially underwhelmed, especially with the hooks.
6. The Social Experiment - Sunday Candy f/ Chance The Rapper. Chance is barely established and is already trying new things. That's an encouraging sign, especially when the result is awesome music such as this.
7. Vince Staples - Limos f/ Teyana Taylor. Oh my, this beat. I'm in love with this song.
8. Big K.R.I.T. - Mt. Olympus. There were a lot of responses to "Control." This was one of the only ones worth even noting.
9. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - High f/ Danny Brown. "Pinata" is on the short list for album of the year. This was yet another album where I had a hard time picking just one song.
10. Mobb Deep - Dirt. To be honest, I thought their album was pretty uneven, and there weren't a lot of standouts. This was one of the few.
11. DJ JS-1 - Show Shockin' f/ El da Sensai, Tame One and Reef the Lost Cauze. A great throwback beat, with three unheralded but awesome lyricists who are very at home rapping over it.
12. Cam'ron & A-Trak - Dipsh*ts f/ Juelz Santana & Dame Dash. Cam retains his belt for "funniest rapper alive." Not that it was really in dispute. The Dame Dash outro is also hilarious, though probably not in the way Dame intended it to be.
13. Flying Lotus - Never Catch Me f/ Kendrick Lamar. I don't like FlyLo as much as most do, but this song is hard to deny.
14. Ray West & O.C. - Lovers. Another great concept album, and this song was my favorite topic chosen on the LP. The recent rash of producer/rapper collaborations has been great for hip-hop, and this album is a prime example of why.
15. Azealia Banks - Ice Princess. I fear that her legacy will be as the brat who can't shut up on Twitter, which would be a shame, because she makes great music...when she gets around to it.
16. Prhyme - Dat Sound Good f/ Ab-Soul and Mac Miller. The DJ Premier and Royce da 5'9" collabo is another great example of the producer/rapper team up, and here they produce that classic Premo sound, with two (relative) newbies along for the ride.
17. Drake - How 'Bout Now. Drake and K. Dot are so good that they can rule the roost even in years when they don't put out albums. Pretty impressive.
18. Cormega - More. Another of my favorite albums of the year, and this is one of my favorite cuts off of it. The album gets a little preachy at times, but 'Mega has earned that right at this point.
19. Pharoahe Monch - Losing My Mind. This album, and this song in particular, were incredibly revealing.
20. The Roots - When The People Cheer f/ Modesty Lycan. Anything The Roots do is close to an automatic selection. They may not put out albums that frequently anymore, but since they still play together all the time, they haven't really lost a step.
21. Ras Kass & Apollo Brown - Bon Voyage. Nearly picked "How to Kill God" but I felt like this song was a better fit to close out the mix.
Bonus Christmas Track. Fabolous - I Don't F*ck With Christmas. I had a hard time picking a hip-hop Christmas song this year - record more Christmas albums, rappers!!! - but this one came along just in the St. Nick of time.

The Music

I didn't bother embedding the playlists on Spotify this year, because I've sort of had it with Spotify now that they've increased from like one ad every half hour to six or seven. But I did upload the songs to a service called MixCloud. You can check them out below.

Dj iMAGiNE - 2014 Hits: Aboveground by Paul Swydan on Mixcloud

Dj iMAGiNE - 2014 Hits: Underground by Paul Swydan on Mixcloud

Eighth Annual End of Year CDs

Click here for last year's mixes as well as the standard intro. And see here for 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Aboveground Mix

1. Lorde -- Royals: Basically the song of the year. By a teenager no less.

2. Ciara -- Body Party: This song lifts the slow part of the beat from one of my favorite songs of all time:

The song was also sung by Ciara, who was herself just a teenager at the time. This one was a no-brainer for me. It was also one of the hits for breakout producer, Mike Will Made It.

3. Kanye West -- Bound 2 f/ Charlie Wilson: It's not that I didn't appreciate the tone of Yeezus overall, because I did. Kanye might come off as fairly insane during interviews, but the sentiments of his music do have some truth to it. Having said that, this song as the capper is a fantastic reminder that Kanye can be fun, and is one of the best beat flips that you'll find anywhere.

4. Robin Thicke -- Blurred Lines f/ T.I. & Pharrell: This song treads the line between fun and outlandish, but given the waves it made this year, I felt obliged to include it.

5. Lady Gaga -- Do What U Want f/ R. Kelly: Speaking of making waves, little compared with what surfaced about R. Kelly toward the end of the year. I feel pretty conflicted about including a song with him, especially now that I have a daughter. On the one hand, I grew up with R. Kelly. I didn't know about his personal life when I was a kid who fell in love with songs like "Bump And Grind," "Down Low," "I Believe I Can Fly," and others. "Ignition (Remix)" is basically one of my 10 favorite songs, and I've listened to it hundreds -- if not thousands -- of times. On the other hand, some of the things alleged about him are downright disgusting. I suppose that when he was initially acquitted of charges, I shrugged my shoulders and figured it was just haters being haters. But at this point, it's hard to square that view with reality. This article especially drove home what I was feeling. So I think from here on out, I will steer clear of him. Consider this the parting shot.

6. Miley Cyrus -- Wrecking Ball: I would submit that if you just heard this song on the radio and didn't know who was singing it, you'd wholeheartedly enjoy it. Of course, that's probably not possible for most of us, because this was basically Ms. Cyrus' year. And as such, this song had to be here.

7. Lily Allen -- Hard Out Here: One of the few songs on the mix that didn't actually hit the Billboard Hot 100, but I don't care. I love Lily Allen, and this song definitely would have charted if she hadn't spent so much time out of the spotlight.

8. Beyonce -- Pretty Hurts: A more pointed take from Beyonce. I could have easily slipped "XO" or "Drunk In Love" here, but I was especially attracted to this track (as well as "Hard Out Here) because of the birth of my daughter. This song didn't chart either, but given the circumstances surrounding the album's release, that's both not a surprise nor a fair way to judge it.

9. Sara Bareilles -- Brave: What "Roar" would have been if it was, you know, good.

10. Mariah Carey -- #Beautiful f/ Miguel: Still on fire, all these years later, and the duet/assist from Miguel takes this one to another level. This is easily one of her best songs in years.

11. A$AP Rocky -- Fashion Killa: The last of three songs that didn't actually chart. This one wasn't released as a single until November, so it didn't have as much time to chart. A$AP had two other songs that did chart this year, but I had "F*cking Problems" on last year's mix and "Wild For The Night" was one of my least favorite songs on his album. FK was one of my favorites, on the other hand, so that wasn't a real difficult choice.

12. The Neighbourhood -- Sweater Weather: I don't know, I just liked this one. So many pop songs are so worthless that I look hard for the ones that don't totally suck, and this one was the result of that digging. I hadn't heard of the band or song until I sat down to do put the mixes together.

13. J. Cole -- Power Trip f/ Miguel: It's rare that a rapper opens up about being stuck on a girl for so long, be it real or imagined, and the girl in this song is either real or a fantasy girl that he has concocted over a long period of time. Either way, it was powerful. Miguel makes his second appearance without having a song of his own.

14. Drake -- Hold On, We're Going Home: The only other contender for song of the year, in my humble opinion. I absolutely loved "Pound Cake," and briefly considered putting both tracks on the mix, but in the end I had to cut down to one, and this was the clear choice. It'll be interesting to see if Drake can keep getting better. I think his album this year was his best to date, which is saying a lot given how good his second album was.

15. Justin Timberlake -- Mirrors: If you told me sophomore year of college that the twerp from N'Sync would go on to be a multimedia icon for the next two decades, I would have laughed at you until you punched me in the throat, but that's where we find ourselves. The Jay-Z/JT concert at Fenway Park I went to this summer was pretty epic, and JT was never in finer form than when belting this one out. I also loved that he had the stones to go long with every song on this album. It's like he combined the original and remix in each song.

16. Paramore -- Still Into You: As someone who has been married for quite some time, this one really grabbed me. It's true for me, I hope it's true for you (or will be someday).

17. Eminem -- The Monster f/ Rihanna: Similar to my feelings about R. Kelly, I've come nearly full circle on Eminem. I want to eventually write about this topic in greater detail, but to say that I have fallen out of love with the man who once my favorite rapper would be a gigantic understatement. I thought most of his new album was garbage, but this track brings together the kind of topic selection that made him a star with gimmick-free lyrics, and Rihanna on the chorus. Hard to beat that.

18. Schoolboy Q: Collard Greens f/ Kendrick Lamar: Schoolboy Q is going to settle into a long career as the Pippen to Lamar's Jordan, and that is in no way a bad thing. He's a pretty gifted rapper, and whenever the two of them are side-by-side on a track, it's must-listen material.

19. Ellie Goulding -- Burn: Gotta love it when a song about smoking weed permeates pop culture like this one has.

Underground Mix

1. Chance The Rapper -- Juice: Based on this kid's experiences after getting suspended from school, I wish I had been more unruly in my high school days. Although I probably would have just played Madden the whole time, so maybe not. Looking forward to big things from Chancellor in the near future.

2. Janelle Monae -- What An Experience: This song just makes me happy. It's slow enough that you could partner up and slow dance to, but it's lively enough that you could be a little goofy while doing so. In other words, my kind of song. Other songs on her album gained more critical acclaim, but this was my favorite.

3. Danny Brown -- 25 Bucks f/ Purity Ring: One of the great crimes of this year is that I haven't had a chance to listen to Brown's album as much as I would like. Once I get heavy into editing The Hardball Times Annual (please buy a copy if you haven't already done so!) I tend to gravitate toward the familiar. As such, I end up listening to or watching the same things over and over again while editing. Aside from playoff baseball, Thor and Captain America on Netflix and the new Drake album were basically all I consumed for about a month and a half. That's too bad, because Brown's album is fantastic, and this cut especially.

4. Joey Bada$$ -- Unorthodox: The second mixtape that JB dropped, "Summer Knights," was a bit of a disappointment, but this track -- which was actually released about six months earlier as part of a promotion with Mountain Dew (??) -- was a standout. Part of that is due to the still-incredibly-enjoyable scratches from DJ Premier. Premier actually had a few tracks that could have made the cut, but the fact that I listened to this one for most of the year pushed it over the top.

5. Cage -- You Were the Sh*t in High School: Once upon a time, Cage and Eminem were the great white hope's of the underground. That was a long time ago, and Cage is certainly out there, but this one not only is a bit more grounded, but a tease of what his career could have been like.

6. Tony Touch -- Thought Process f/ Black Thought: Tony Toca returned this year, which was pretty surprising. I cut my teeth on his mixtapes once upon a time, and that he got new, non-NBC-glossy content from Black Thought was pretty sweet. Both men can still clearly bring it.

7. Cam'ron -- Golden Friends: Cam'ron -- who once flipped the Monday Night Football anthem, along with many, many others -- flipping the beat to the "Golden Girls" is about the least surprising thing ever. Literally the first song I ever heard from him was him flipping the Magnum PI beat for "357." As ever, Cam is hilarious.

8. Big Sean -- Control f/ Kendrick Lamar & Jay Electronica: The closest this generation will get to "Verbal Intercourse," with K. Dot as Nas, Big Sean as Raekwon & Jay Elec as Ghostface. This song is also on my short list for song of the year, and it tells you all that you need to know about Big Sean that he was too much of a coward to actually put this on his album. Yeah, K. Dot flamed you, but if you didn't know that was coming, then you are way dumber than I thought.

9. Havoc -- Life We Chose (Mobb Deep Remix) f/ Prodigy: Few three-word phrases delighted me as much as "Mobb Deep Remix" did this year. The original version of this song had Lloyd Banks instead of Prodigy, and generally a hip-hop remix will simply add verses rather than take them away, but Hav knew that Banks' contribution to the song was ultimately unnecessary. Hopefully this gets Hav and P back in the studio for '14.

10. Run The Jewels -- Banana Clipper f/ Big Boi: Also on the short list for song of the year. The first few times I listened to this, I thought Big Boi's contributions seemed tacked on, like an afterthought, but I've come around on that view. It's pretty sick that two decades in, El-P is still lacing tracks, and this project may have been his best to date -- still visceral, but also accessible. He and Killer Mike really have a great groove together.

11. Q-Tip & Busta Rhymes -- Butch & Sundance: Speaking of great grooves, this project was such a good idea I don't know why it didn't happen sooner. More of this, please!

12. Wu-Tang Clan -- Family Reunion: Not even half the Clan drops in on this track, but it's a great little song anyway. It's disappointing that we didn't get to hear the whole album this year, but hopefully it'll come to fruition in 2014.

13. Boldy James & Alchemist -- Moochie: I didn't think a "nicknames" track could be done better than Big L's "Ebonics," but this one is a rightful heir. Looking forward to seeing what this dude does in the future, especially if it's once again with Alchemist.

14. Czarface -- Rock Beast: One of the first 7L & Esoteric tracks I ever heard was "Speaking Real Words," with Inspectah Deck. I'm not sure they ever fly onto my radar without that Wu-Tang sign-off, to be honest. They have been delighting me ever since though, and have come full circle with a whole album with Inspectah Deck. There were other tracks with good guest shots, but this one hit the hardest for me.

15. Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge -- The Sure Shot (Parts One & Two): In general, I didn't care much for the way this album went. I didn't care about the backstory of GFK being killed but melted on wax, and having a feud with the DeLuca crime family. I also wasn't in love with the beat selection. But this track, where the DeLuca's are only mentioned once, and the music is more "live band plays traditional hip-hop," was pretty sweet.

16. Action Bronson & Party Supplies -- Practice: I wasn't about to include anything from AB's reprehensible "Saab Stories" project, and considered leaving him off the mix altogether. But the "Blue Chips 2" project is a lot more upbeat and lively, and any song that includes Allen Iverson's most famous rant is a-OK with me.

17. Earl Sweatshirt -- Molasses f/ RZA: For the second straight year, Earl Sweatshirt clocks in at track #17. That happened by accident, but I thought it was funny that my mind continues to work in the same fashion. I love tracks that pair old school with new school, and this was one of the best examples of that this year.

18. Jay-Z -- Open Letter: Jay-Z's "Holy Grail Magna Carta" album was an abomination, and we will never speak of it again. But in the run-up to the album, he dropped this song, for free, and it was a great reminder of just how good Jay still is when he is engaged. Even the White House was compelled to respond to the song.

19. Prodigy & Alchemist -- Bible Paper: A match made in heaven.

20. Yancey Boys -- Quicksand f/ Common & Dezi Paige: I have never been big on J. Dilla, but this beat was nice, and even though I don't care that much for Common these days, he ripped it on this song.

21. R.A. The Rugged Man -- Legends Never Die (Daddy's Halo): If you can listen to this song without tearing up, there's a good chance that you're not human. If you know anything about R.A. The Rugged Man, you know this song was a big departure from what he normally does, which made it that much more special. If my son says anything even half as nice about me someday, I'll know I wasn't a total waste of space on this earth.

Bonus Christmas Track. Mr. Lif -- Santa's Got a Muthaf***in' Uzi: With the emotionally heavy song out of the way, I had to end with a Christmas track that was more off-beat and funny than it was nostalgic and warm and fuzzy. This one fit the bill to the T, and gave me an excuse to listen to Mr. Lif for the first time in years. Seriously, what happened to him?

Here are the Spotify embeds. Note again, that the Underground mix is incomplete on Spotify because almost half of the songs don't actually appear on Spotify. Enjoy!

Seventh Annual End Of Year CDs

Standard intro: Each year, in a (mostly) vain to stay up to date with the music world, I put together an end-of-year CD set, and give them out to some close friends as Christmas/Hanukkah presents (you can see my 2009 and 2010 and 2011 write-ups here). I try to wait until I hand all of them out, but that didn't happen this year, and if I didn't write this up now it just wasn't going to happen.

As a reminder, on the Aboveground mix I use the Billboard Hot 100 as a guide (I said Top 100 last year, which was inaccurate) -- the idea being to try to capture what was popular this past year. The Underground mix is decidedly the opposite, it's just a bunch of rap songs that weren't "popular" that I want to make sure to never forget. The only other rule is that the song had to be released commercially during 2012 (though I relax that rule for international songs that may have been released internationally prior to 2012 but not in the US until this year -- I can't be everywhere, people).

With that, let's get to the 2012 mixes. If you want to listen along, I made Spotify playlists, and stashed them at the bottom. Though I don't think the Underground one is going to play properly, since a bunch of the songs weren't actually on Spotify (also, one song got added twice somehow). That's how you know they're really underground.


Aboveground Mix

1. Frank Ocean -- Thinkin' Bout You: Right off the bat, we have a compromise. I definitely liked "Pyramids" more, but not only did it not chart in the top 100, but more importantly it's nine minutes long, and since I like to squeeze as many songs out of my 80 minutes, I don't like including really long songs. This is actually probably my third-favorite cut off the album -- I got slightly addicted to "Forrest Gump" as well. That's not a knock on this song, which I also love, it's just such a great album.
2. Fun. -- Some Nights: I think these guys may rise and fall quickly, but I really liked this album. I would have gone with "We Are Young," but it was actually released in 2011.
3. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis -- Thrift Shop f/ Wanz: Imagine my surprise when I started doing my research and I found out that this song actually charted! I fully expected this to be a cut on the underground mix. The video is as amazing as the song. Though since I bought it on Amazon I can't load it onto my iPod. Apple is a bunch of haterz.
4. The Lumineers -- Ho Hey: These guys probably have a shorter shelf life than Fun., but I like songs with chants in them. Sue me.
5. Miguel -- Adorn: Probably the best love song of the year. And the beat is just sick.
6. Kendrick Lamar -- Swimming Pools (Drank): It's the shorter version without the skit at the end if you're scoring at home, but it doesn't really matter. It also gave me faith in humanity that this song charted. I was hoping it would, but didn't expect it. This album is on the short list for best album of the millenium (or is it the Newmanium?).
7. Of Monsters And Men -- Little Talks: Another crazy video. I fully blame FanGraphs' Mike Newman for inadvertently persuading me into liking this song/band. There was like a good two weeks where he wouldn't shut up about them.
8. Nas -- Daughters: Ah, growing up. Can't believe Nas' baby mom didn't like this song. There's just no pleasing some people. This song didn't actually chart, but it freakin' should have. What's wrong with you people? Also, it was nominated for a Grammy. (Wait, did I just justify a rap song by saying it was justified for a Grammy? I think I need a shower that felt so dirty. Moving on.)
9. Gotye -- Somebody That I Used To Know f/ Kimbra: I love it when non hip-hop acts use the "featuring" thing in their songs. I feel like that doesn't happen enough. I feel like it's usually a "duet," or "with" or something similar.
10. DJ Khaled / Kanye West -- Cold: For some reason this is billed as a DJ Khaled song, even though he seems to have little do with it. I could have gone with "Clique" here, but Big Sean needs to stop calling himself B.I.G. I'm protesting him until he does. I could have gone with "Mercy," but the hook gets annoying REALQUICK. I could have gone with "New God Flow," but it was long, and I feel like the version that charted probably wasn't the version that included Ghostface, so it just didn't feel right to include it. But moreover, I love that Kanye and Kim Kardashian are all hugged up now, and that he felt the need to slap Kris Humphries on this track. Also, that New York DJ's are digging on Humphries as well. Good times.
11. Taylor Swift -- We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together: Taylor Swift songs always go after Kanye songs. It's just the right thing to do. And, I know some people don't care for her, but she writes her own stuff, which is a big plus, and she dumped a Kennedy. What more do you want?
12. Imagine Dragons -- It's Time: More white people. This is what I get for swearing off Rick Ross, Rihanna and Nicki Minaj for the year. Mariah Carey's "Triumphant" would probably here, but again, no Rick Ross. Sick of that dude. Just go away. Rihanna and Nicki are just on time out though. They'll be back, probably.
13. A$AP Rocky -- F****n' Problems f/ Drake, Kendrick Lamar & 2 Chainz: Also surprised that THIS one charted! Can't wait for his album to drop. Trying to not download the bootleg, that's how pumped I am for it. If that makes sense (it probably doesn't). Also, I love that they don't let 2 Chainz actually rap on this. "Yeah, uh, you can do the hook? Or part of the hook, how about that?" He's the very, very poor man's Busta Rhymes. At least Busta used to get his own verse.
14. Carly Rae Jepsen -- Call Me Maybe: You know you like it.
15. Psy -- Gangnam Style: See #14. I should really live blog the video at some point. It's all gold, Jerry, pure gold!
16. Meek Mill -- Amen f/ Drake: I have to say, I'm not all that impressed by Meek Mill, but I dug this one. Still, Drake murders him on it. In fact, as much as I like A$AP, Drake pretty much murdered him on that "F****n' Problems" as well.
17. Mumford & Sons -- I Will Wait: I sort of wanted to hate this song, since I heard way too much about this band on Twitter this year. But I didn't hate it, so I felt compelled to include it.
18. Bruno Mars -- Locked Out Of Heaven: I was going to include a Bruno Mars song last year, but it had been released in the prior year, so it got the ax. Also, he was on the Bad Meets Evil cut, but still. Situation rectified now. That this is also a Mark Ronson track was the icing on the cake.
19. T.I. -- Sorry f/ Andre 3000: So, I cheated a little on the Billboard Hot 100 thing here also. This wasn't released as a single until after Thanksgiving, and I assumed it would chart, but it apparently hasn't yet. Still, it should, and the fact that Andre 3000 finally comes clean about/admits to the mistakes that led to him and Big Boi -- which is probably a lot more important to me than it is to you -- put it over the top.
20. Adele -- Skyfall: I get kind of tired of people fawning all over her, but damned if she isn't good. Now all I have to do is go see the movie.


Underground Mix
1. Schoolboy Q -- Hands On The Wheel f/ A$AP Rocky: A killer song with an absolutely infectious beat that I was happy to see wasn't overlooked on end-of-year lists. I feel like albums that come out in January run the risk of being overlooked at the end of the year, but maybe that's just the cynic in me.
2. Joey Bada$$ -- Survival Tactics f/ Capital STEEZ: This kid's mixtape, "1999" -- and I say kid because he's like 18, 19 -- was just tremendous from start to finish. He has a whole Pro Era crew. Expect to see them on these lists in future years, although unfortunately, not the gentleman who guested on this track -- Capital STEEZ -- since he apparently committed suicide on Christmas Eve.
3. Angel Haze -- Cleanin' Out My Closet: I could have gone with "This Is Me," or "Werkin Girls" or one of the other tracks off of "Reservation," but "Cleanin' Out My Closet" is probably the most important track of the year. Just an absolutely gut-wrenching record.
4. Main Attrakionz -- Cloud Life: A nice palette cleanser. The "aww man, RIP to 2Pac" cracks me up EVERY TIME. Were they so high that they just realize that he died? Did they suddenly have a spiritual moment where they thought 'damn, how could we NOT shout him out?' Did they think of doing it after watching the 2Pac hologram? Or was it just a spur of the moment thing? I need to know why 2Pac was shouted out in this song more than 15 years after he died. (Also, shout out to Matt Dennewitz from Pitchfork. That dude is alright. Buy his albums.)
5. Big Boi -- Mama Told Me f/ Little Dragon: Probably this mix's weak link. Probably should have gone with "Sixty-Seven Turbo Jet" from Curren$y & Harry Fraud here, but I kind of liked it that Big Boi stuck it to Little Dragon's label for refusing to allow her to appear on the track. And also that it's a better version of an actually released song.
6. Talib Kweli -- Push Thru f/ Curren$y & Kendrick Lamar: Automatic entry from Talib Kweli is automatically entered. Although K. dot kind of crushed him on it. It's OK though, Talib is still putting in work, and you gotta love that.
7. Action Bronson -- Thug Love Story 2012: This song is all over the place, and complete nonsense in a jovial way. Kind of like a Ghostface track. I know, I know, tired comp. But it's true.
8. Aesop Rock -- Zero Dark Thirty: It took me a long time to get what was being said on "Wu-Tang Forever" because I would just kind of zone out to the beats. This song is very similar to that.
9. El-P -- Oh Hail No f/ Mr. Motherf*****g Exquire & Danny Brown: "I like the part where you cried, I liked nothing else."
10. Odd Future -- Rella: It's amazing to think that this group of guys is responsible for spawning Frank Ocean's career. I mean, I'd like to think that Frank would have broken through without them, but it probably would have taken a lot longer, if it happened at all. Methinks there's more than meets the eye with Odd Future. Can't wait to see what's next.
11. Sean Price -- Bar-barian: In one of my FanGraphs chats this year, one commenter kept asserting that Sean Price was/is the best rapper of all time, and got really angry with me when I laughed off the comment -- mainly because it's a laughable comment. But that stuck in my head, and I ended up checking out the album. So, here's to you, anonymous chat commenter.
12. Blu & Exile -- Growing Pains f/ Johaz & Fashawn: You absolutely did have to be Bo Jackson! Still bitter that you couldn't throw to Bo, and had to throw to Marcus Allen instead. F Marcus Allen.
13. Clyde Carson -- Slow Down f/ The Team: This Bay-area rap crew never would have been on my radar were it not for the fact that this was apparently Pablo Sandoval's walk-up song this year. So here's to the intersection of baseball and hip-hop!
14. Killer Mike -- Big Beast f/ Bun B, T.I. & Trouble: Never been all that into Killer Mike before, but "R.A.P. Music" was phenomenal. Almost went with the title track, or "Reagan" here, but I decided there weren't enough posse cuts on the mix yet (that's a joke, there's plenty).
15. M.I.A. -- Bad Girls (N.A.R.S. Remix) f/ Missy Elliott & Azealia Banks: I probably could have stayed simple and just went with the original version, but her accent is just weird when she is straight rapping (like in the last verse) instead of sing-songy rapping. Also, I couldn't find an Azealia Banks cut from this year that was worthy, so sneaking her in on this remix was a nice compromise. Plus, Missy back from the dead! Azealia and Missy may actually be kindred spirits.
16. Kanye West -- White Dress: All KimYe all the time! I'm slightly amazed that this song didn't chart, or that people really didn't make a bigger deal out of it. There's still time, I guess. It might be one of his best songs, which is saying something.
17. Earl Sweatshirt -- Chum: This dude is deep.
18. Captain Murphy -- The Killing Joke: More clever Batman references in hip-hop please.
19. Freddie Gibbs -- Shame f/ BJ The Chicago Kid: You would think that I would have heard a song cleverly dedicated to one-night stands before, but I don't think that I have. Let me rephrase that. I'm sure I have, but none were as memorable as this song, which is just marvelous.
20. Danny Brown -- Grown Up: Danny Brown's version of "Juicy."
21. Wu-Block -- Crack Spot Stories f/ Raekwon & Jadakiss: "Fiends at the door, I'm too lazy to let them in, turkey sandwich, barbecue chips, ESPN." Sounds just like me ... except for the dope fiends at the door part ...
BONUS CHRISTMAS TRACK. R. Kelly -- A Love Letter Christmas: I don't follow the current year thing for this last track, because it's too hard to find good Christmas music. But leave it to R. Kelly to create the Christmas remix. Maybe someday he'll even find his snow girl.

Spotify playlists:

Sixth Annual End Of Year CDs

Each year, in a (mostly) vain to stay up to date with the music world, I put together an end-of-year CD set, and give them out to some close friends as Christmas presents (you can see my 2009 and 2010 writeups here). I finally handed out the last one on New Year's Eve, so I figured it was high time to put up this year's list.

As a reminder, nearly all of the songs on the Aboveground mix reached the Billboard Top 100, while the Underground mix are songs that are decidedly the opposite. The only other rule is that the song had to be released commercially during 2011.

Aboveground Mix
1. Adele: Rolling In The Deep
This one was solidified early in the year. I don't really think there was a better candidate for song of the year.
2. DJ Khaled: I'm On One f/ Drake, Lil' Wayne & Rick Ross
One question -- is DJ Khaled still the DJ for the Terror Squad? Ha. The beat here shines the brightest, and that's saying something, as all three rappers turn in excellent verses, particularly Rick Ross. It's funny that Ross pops up here, since I don't care for him at all. But despite his lackluster catalog overall, he finds a way to put up or be a part of one good single every year -- he's managed to find his way onto my collection in five of the six years I've done it. He's like the Michael Young of hip-hop.
3. Coldplay: Paradise
Any song that features people dancing in elephant costumes in its video is a winner in my book.
4. Jay-Z & Kanye West: Ni**s In Paris
I know some people didn't care for Watch The Throne's decadent ways, but I loved it. Of the two most popular singles from the album, this and "Otis," this was the clear choice for me. I actually found "Otis" to be one of the weaker tracks on the album overall, and even liked tracks like "No Church In The Wild" and "Murder To Excellence" better than Paris, but I stuck to my format here, for better or worse.
5. Gym Class Heroes: Stereo Hearts f/ Adam Levine
Feel free to hate on this one, but this track really bangs. I kind of think of Gym Class Heroes as the poor man's and pop man's GZA.
6. Britney Spears: Till The World Ends
The most over-the-top Britney single ever? The world could be collapsing all around you, but hey, as long as we're dancing, it's all good!
7. Bad Meets Evil: Lighters f/ Bruno Mars
I've only been waiting for this reunion since 1999. "Scary Movies" is still one of my favorite tracks of all time.
8. Nicki Minaj: Super Bass
Pink Friday didn't meet my expectations, but this bonus track, which was for some reason not released until this year, is hard to deny. Yes, she uses her voices, which I don't much care for in general, but here, they intertwine nicely. A runner-up for song of the year.
9. Foster The People: Pumped Up Kicks
This song was apparently first written in 2009, but became the little pop song that could only in this year. I relish in songs that have violent themes but catchy little dittys, where you end up merrily singing the chorus without even realizing what you're singing. Good times.
10. Kelly Rowland: Motivation f/ Lil' Wayne
A second song where the beat is the champion, it's always nice to see Kelly Rowland -- who I always felt got unfairly shafted out of further fame and fortune when Beyonce set off on her own -- see some success. The brief cameo from Weezy here gives him three appearances on the mix, the most for the year and tied for the most in any year (Kanye West, 2008; Drake, 2010). I find this amusing, because I really didn't think it was that great of a year for him. But he keeps turning up.
11. Dr. Dre: I Need A Doctor f/ Eminem & Skylar Grey
This is the second straight year where the maddening doctor has released a single for an album that has not yet been released in full, and may never be at all. I didn't like this song when it first came out because I was upset that Nate Dogg didn't get to sing the hook, but that's kind of silly -- Skylar Grey did a good job with the hook.
12. David Guetta: Without You f/ Usher
David Guetta gets the heavy hitters, and I preferred this track to the Nicki Minaj/Flo Rida track. I do have some standards, and not including Flo Rida songs is one of them.
13. Maroon 5: Moves Like Jagger
Of course, my standards aren't that high.
Me: I need to get going on my end-of-year CD's.
Wife: Oh! Are you going to put "Moves With Jagger" on it? I love that song.
Me: Uh.......sure.
14. Lil' Wayne: 6 Foot 7 Foot f/ Cory Gunz
Six foot, seven foot, eight foot, bunch! There wasn't much that stood out on Tha Carter IV -- this and "Outro" was about it.
15. Beyonce Knowles: Countdown
I really enjoyed 4, and might have included the track with Andre 3000 here, but "Countdown" was the standout single.
16. Lady Gaga: You And I
I'm not really concerned with the way in which she was born, especially since that song was more of the same from her. But this was a departure, and while I generally don't care for country music, I thought this was a well-done song, and more still, a brave effort that should be commended. She could have easily churned out 10 "Born This Way's" and still sold a gazillion records, but she didn't. That's refreshing.
17. Drake: Headlines
This album has stirred so many different emotions in me it isn't funny, but the bottom line is that it's an awesome piece of work. I would have preferred "Marvin's Room" here, but the track is simply too long, so "Headlines" it is.
18. Kreayshawn: Gucci Gucci
Between her beef with Rick Ross, and her girl's use of the N word, people may tire of Kreayshawn quickly, but if she ends up a one-hit wonder, it certainly was a memorable hit. "I got the swag and it's pumping out my ovaries" was one of the funniest, if not best, lines of the year.
19. Rihanna: We Found Love
At this point, Rihanna is a legend, and legends are comfortable standing at the back while everyone does their thing, patiently waiting to explode and re-claim the crowd when it's their turn. And explode is exactly what "We Found Love" does. It also fits well at the end since it debuted late in the year.
20. The Muppets: Life's A Happy Song Finale
I'll be fairly pissed when The Muppets is inevitably ignored for Best Picture, but that's a discussion for another time. This was a pretty good year for me personally, and I thought this was a fitting way to cap it. If you think that's corny, well then corn me up. Life's a happy song, when there's someone by your side to sing along.

Underground Mix
1. Aaron Spacemuseum: One Night Standard
A gratuitous lead entry, and it's not even hip-hop. Aaron is a good friend of mine, and it's been a long time since he put out any music in a long time, so I was excited for his EP, which was an excellent five song set. Do me a favor and pick it up, you won't be disappointed!
2. A$AP Rocky: Peso
One of my favorite albums of the year, I thought about putting one of the versions of "Purple Swag," but I felt the original was too short, and Chapter 2 was too long.
3. NaS: Nasty
"Any rebuttal to what I utter get boxcutter." Indeed. It's been too long since we had a NaS solo album, and this was a marvelous appetizer.
4. Kendrick Lamar: HiiiPower
"Trying to stay above water, that's why we shun the Navy." Classic, and that's not even the best line of the song.
5. The Roots: Make My f/ Big K.R.I.T. & Dice Raw
I kind of like "Kool On" a little better, but it's an upbeat song and the album overall is more morose, so "Make My" is a more emblematic choice (plus it was the single they released, which I do like to try to stick to when there is one). And while it may seem odd to see The Roots on an underground disc, the album really hasn't sold that well. It hasn't charted at all, and had only sold 84,000 copies between its Dec. 2 release date and Christmas, which is a shame.
6. Action Bronson: Larry Csonka
Full disclosure, I'm late to the party on Action Bronson, and still haven't listened to either of his projects from this year in full. But I knew I needed to include something from him here, and I have a hard time turning down songs named after athletes.
7. Freddie Gibbs: Menace II Society f/ Dom Kennedy & Polyester
I liked Freddie's take at a west-coast style song.
8. Apathy: Stop What Ya Doin' f/ Celph Titled & DJ Premier
Any time a rapper titles his album Honkey Kong, he gets a song on my CD!
9. Tyler, The Creator: Yonkers
TTC is another guy who I haven't fully delved into yet, but this song and video will undeniably go down as the most memorable of the year.
10. Azealia Banks: 212
This chick is filthy. She's like a sped-up Nicki Minaj, which I didn't think was possible. Looking forward to her debut album.
11. Childish Gambino: Bonfire
Pitchfork famously lampooned this album, but I enjoyed it. I actually enjoy "Fire Fly" a little more, but I was so squeezed for time trying to fit everything in that I couldn't spare the extra 10 seconds, so "Bonfire" will have to do. Sometimes you gotta make the hard decisions!
12. Danny Brown: DNA
Realistically, I could have just copy and pasted all of XXX here and just called it a day, it's that good. You could make a case for a half-dozen other tracks from the album.
13. Random Axe: Chewbacca f/ Roc Marciano
"Your tough talk, I don't get it / you wouldn't fight a ticket, so why recite a lyric." Tough-guy rap sometimes gets lost in the shuffle these days, making this even more important to include.
14. Mobb Deep: Get It Forever f/ NaS
Speaking of tough-guy rap, thank goodness for Mobb Deep's return. Black Cocaine wasn't their strongest effort, but "Get It Forever" was good enough to whet my appetite. "I did my little bid." You did Prodigy, now get back in the lab!
15. Curren$y & The Alchemist: Scottie Pippens f/ Freddie Gibbs As Kramer would say, Curren$y is so prolific! Curren$y plus The Alchemist equals pure gold, to borrow another Seinfeld-ism, and Freddie Gibbs here is the icing on the cake.
16. Lil' B: I Hate Myself
Lil' B goes on a personal journey over a lush track. Just like Drake's Take Care, Lil' B's I'm Gay disc was great music to write to at the end of the year.
17. Ski Beatz: Looking For Me f/ L.E.P. Bogus Boys & Terri Walker
Ski is an awesome producer, just check this resume. He actually gets the production credit on this track and the next.
18. Talib Kweli: Cold Rain
With each passing year, Kweli seems to slide further out of the zeitgeist, but he still hits as hard as he ever did. I have my fingers crossed that the Black Star album actually happens.
19. Pete Rock & Smif-n-Wessun: That's Hard f/ Sean Price & Styles P
Rounding out the album with two awesome posse cuts. The song's title says it all.
20. Mr. Muthaf**kin' eXquire: The Last Huzzah! Remix f/ Despot, Das Racist, Danny Brown & El-P
This song is just bananas. One of the best singles of the year, and perhaps one of the best remixes of all-time, even if breast milk doesn't really make my day.
BONUS CHRISTMAS TRACK. Eazy-E: Merry Motherf**king Christmas f/ Menajahtwa, Buckwheat, Will 1X & Atban Klann
I ended the Aboveground Mix with a sappy cut, so you know I had to go in the complete opposite direction for the bonus Christmas track. Merry motherf**king Christmas!