THE ULTIMATE (MOSTLY) 90'S RAP/R&B PLAYLIST!!

Dear Beloved Reader,

I love my blog. I know I neglected it for almost a year but I really do. My favorite posts are usually my favorite songs of the year posts. Why? Because I get to rank and write blurbs about tunes I love, duh. Like... who WOULDN'T love doing that? But I have to say... I think this one tops all of those posts combined.

A lil' backstory: First, you must know that I'm an 80's baby. While I appreciate 80's culture, I spent my glory years(?!) in the 90's. I have a special admiration for that decade and, for some odd reason, I've recently regressed to my teenage years. I started collecting baseball cards again. I copped Mortal Kombat for my PS3 (if any of y'all wanna buy me a PS4, please feel free). But most of all, I've been listening to 90's music non-stop. The reasoning? A combination of those songs being legendary, the reminiscing and reliving memories as I get older, and today's music (especially rap) being pathetic and brainless.

A few months ago, I started working on an iPod playlist that featured my favorite songs from that decade. Initially, I hand-picked about 150 songs I had in my personal collection. I was so excited about it, I posted a Facebook status mentioning it. And I may have told some folks in my inner circle. And outer circle. Basically, anyone who was willing to listen to me, I was telling them about this playlist. You may have expected people to tell me to stfu, but no! They were actually interested! They wanted a copy of it! Begging! Pleading! Well... maybe not all of that... but the point is, they were intrigued, curious... for many of the same reasons I made the playlist in the first place. Their excitement got me even more excited, and I felt it was my duty to release this list to the masses. The world needed this.

I felt a huge responsibility before I just leaked this list out there. While I was perfecting it, it became quite clear that 150 songs wasn't gonna cut it. The 90's was packed with so many timeless tunes that I had to increase the capacity. And I did, adding 50 more songs, making it an even 200. But wait, what about this song? And that song? Surely, I can't leave those off. Let's add them! OK, now I'm up to 250. I was still missing songs. Shit, this isn't easy. The truth is, I could make this playlist 500 songs and still miss some crucial material, but I had to draw the line somewhere. And that line was 300. For Sparta, muthafuckas.

So here we are. 300 of the 90's finest jams. A few things you should know before I present the list: This is strictly a rap/R&B playlist. I think that should be clear by the title but you know there's gonna be some oblivious asshole asking 'where's Madonna?' You should know I'm more of a rap head, so this is a rap-heavy list. No H-Town, Shai or Silk here, ladies. Your panties will likely have to get moist elsewhere.

Also, I'm a born and raised New Yorker, so there is some regional bias here. There's a lot more NY/East coast shit because that's what I listened to growing up. So yes, your list, depending where you're from, is likely to vary from mine. And that's cool. If you're from the Midwest, South, West coast... shit, if you're from another country... feel free to share some of your favorite songs that I missed. I'll check them out if I haven't heard them (who are we kidding? I'm a 90's rap guru. Of COURSE I've heard them!) and maybe I'll even revise my list.

Two strict guidelines I also enforced: 1) No more than 10 songs per artist (not including features) and 2) No hokey songs. Even though the latter may sound that way, I don't mean it as disrespectful. I thoroughly enjoyed a lot of those songs. Coolio's 'Fantastic Voyage', Skee-Lo's 'I Wish' and Naughty By Nature's 'OPP' will always hold a special place in my corazon, just not a special place on my playlist. Basically, if it gets played in a sports arena, you won't see it on here. If you're not a hardcore 90's rap addict, a lot of these songs will look unfamiliar to you. And I love that. In my world, being obsolete is a good thing.

Lastly, while I made sure not to include any songs that were released after December 31st, 1999, I MAY have snuck in some 80's songs on there. Sue me. It's a handful, I promise. I didn't do this to complicate the list, just that the specific 80's songs on there were too good to leave off a playlist that ultimately is meant for me to recapture the feeling of that era. When you're making your playlist, leave them off if you're a stickler for the rules. If anything, use my list as a template... of complete and utter awesomeness.

Enough talking, here's the list. Hit me up on Twitter (@geequenyc) and share your thoughts!

(In alphabetical order by artist name)

Aaliyah 'Are You That Somebody?'
Aaliyah 'One In A Million'
Adina Howard 'Freak Like Me'
Ahmad 'Back In The Day (Remix)'
Artifacts 'Wrong Side Of Da Tracks'
A Tribe Called Quest 'Electric Relaxation'
A Tribe Called Quest 'Find A Way'
AZ 'Gimme Yours (feat. Nas)'
AZ 'Sugar Hill (feat. Missjones)'
Bad Meets Evil 'Scary Movies'
Beatnuts 'Off The Books (feat. Big Pun & Cuban Link)'
Beatnuts 'Watch Out Now'
Big L 'Ebonics'
Big L 'Put It On'
Big Punisher 'I'm Not A Player'
Big Punisher 'Still Not A Player (feat. Joe)'
Big Punisher 'Twinz (Deep Cover '98) (feat. Fat Joe)'
Black Moon 'Buck 'Em Down (Remix)'
Black Moon 'I Got Cha Opin (Remix)'
Black Rob 'Whoa!'
Black Star 'Definition'
Blackstreet 'Before I Let You Go'
Blackstreet 'Joy'
Blahzay Blahzay 'Danger'
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony 'Thuggish Ruggish Bone'
Boyz II Men 'Motownphilly'
Brand Nubian 'Don't Let It Go To Your Head'
Brandy 'I Wanna Be Down'
Busta Rhymes 'Everything Remains Raw'
Busta Rhymes 'Fire It Up'
Busta Rhymes 'It's A Party (feat. Zhane)'
Busta Rhymes 'Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See'
Busta Rhymes 'Tear Da Roof Off'
Busta Rhymes 'Woo-Ha! (Got You All In Check)'
Camp Lo 'Black Nostaljack (Come On)'
Camp Lo 'Luchini (This Is It)'
Cam'ron '357'
Canibus 'Buckingham Palace'
Canibus 'Get Retarded'
Canibus 'Second Round K.O.'
Capone-N-Noreaga 'T.O.N.Y. (Top Of New York)'
Case 'Touch Me, Tease Me (feat. Foxy Brown & Mary J. Blige)'
Changing Faces 'Stroke You Up'
Channel Live 'Mad-Izm (feat. KRS-One)'
Children Of The Corn 'American Dream'
Cocoa Brovaz 'Black Trump (feat. Raekwon)'
Common 'I Used To Love H.E.R.'
Common 'Resurrection (Extra P Remix)'
Craig Mack 'Flava In Ya Ear (Remix feat. Notorious B.I.G., LL Cool J, Rampage & Busta Rhymes)'
Craig Mack 'Get Down'
Crooklyn Dodgers 'Return Of The Crooklyn Dodgers'
Cypress Hill 'Boom Biddy Bye Bye (Remix feat. Fugees)'
D'Angelo 'Brown Sugar'
D'Angelo 'Devil's Pie'
Da Brat 'Da B Side (feat. Notorious B.I.G.)'
Da Brat 'Funkdafied'
Da Bush Babees 'We Run Things'
Das EFX 'Real Hip Hop'
De La Soul 'The Biziness (feat. Common)'
De La Soul 'Itsoweezee (Hot)'
Diamond D '5 Fingas Of Death (feat. Big L, Lord Finesse, AG & Fat Joe)'
DJ Honda 'Travelling Man (feat. Mos Def)'
DJ Muggs feat. Wyclef Jean 'John 3:16'
DMX 'Get At Me Dog (feat. Sheek)'
DMX 'Ruff Ryders Anthem'
DMX 'Stop Being Greedy'
Domino 'Sweet Potato Pie'
Dr. Dre 'Forgot About Dre (feat. Eminem)'
Dr. Dre 'Nuthin' But A G Thang (feat. Snoop Dogg)'
Dr. Dre 'Still D.R.E. (feat. Snoop Dogg)'
Dru Hill 'How Deep Is Your Love (feat. Redman)'
Dru Hill 'In My Bed'
Eminem 'If I Get Locked Up (feat. Dr. Dre)'
Eminem 'Just Don't Give A Fuck'
Eminem 'Role Model'
EPMD 'Crossover'
EPMD 'So Whatcha Sayin''
Eric B & Rakim 'Paid In Full'
Erykah Badu 'On & On'
Eve 'Gotta Man'
Eve 'What Y'all Niggaz Want'
Fab 5 'Leflaur Leflah Eshkoshka'
Faith Evans 'You Used To Love Me'
Fat Joe 'Don Cartagena (feat. Diddy)'
Fat Joe 'Envy'
Fat Joe 'Firewater (feat. Raekwon, Big Pun & Armageddon)'
Fat Joe 'John Blaze (feat. Nas, Big Pun, Raekwon & Jadakiss)'
Fat Joe 'Success'
Firm 'Desperados (feat. Canibus)'
Firm 'Phone Tap'
Flipmode Squad 'Cha Cha Cha'
Foxy Brown 'Get You Home (feat. Blackstreet)'
Foxy Brown 'I'll Be (feat. Jay-Z)'
Fugees 'Fu-Gee-La'
Fugees 'Killing Me Softly'
Fugees 'Nappy Heads'
Fugees 'Ready Or Not'
Gang Starr feat. Inspectah Deck 'Above The Clouds'
Gang Starr 'Full Clip'
Gang Starr 'Mass Appeal'
Gang Starr 'Work'
Gang Starr 'You Know My Steez'
Geto Boys 'My Mind's Playin' Tricks On Me'
Ghostface 'Winter Warz (feat. U-God, Masta Killa & Cappadonna)'
Gina Thompson 'The Things That You Do (Bad Boy Remix feat. Missy Elliott)'
Ginuwine 'Pony'
Goodie Mob 'Cell Therapy'
Grand Puba 'I Like It (I Wanna Be Where You Are)'
Groove Theory 'Tell Me'
Group Home 'Supa Star'
GZA 'I Gotcha Back'
GZA 'Liquid Swords'
GZA 'Shadowboxin' (feat. Method Man)'
Heltah Skeltah 'Operation Lockdown'
Heltah Skeltah 'I Ain't Having That (feat. Starang Wondah & Doc Holiday)'
Horace Brown 'Things We Do For Love (Remix feat. Jay-Z)'
Ice Cube 'It Was A Good Day'
Ill Al Skratch 'Where My Homies'
Ill Al Skratch 'I'll Take Her (feat. Brian McKnight)'
Jagged Edge 'I Gotta Be'
Jay-Z 'Ain't No Nigga (feat. Foxy Brown)'
Jay-Z 'Brooklyn's Finest (feat. Notorious B.I.G.)'
Jay-Z 'Dead Presidents'
Jay-Z 'Feelin' It'
Jay-Z 'Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)'
Jay-Z 'Jigga My Nigga'
Jay-Z 'So Ghetto'
Jay-Z 'Streets Is Watching'
Jay-Z 'Where I'm From'
Jeru The Damaja 'Come Clean'
Jodeci 'Come & Talk To Me'
Jodeci 'Freakin' You (Remix feat. Raekwon & Ghostface)'
Joe 'All The Things (Your Man Won't Do)'
Junior Mafia 'Get Money (Remix)'
Junior Mafia 'I Need You Tonight (feat. Aaliyah)'
Junior Mafia 'Player's Anthem'
Junior Mafia 'Realms Of Junior Mafia'
Juvenile 'Ha (Remix feat. Jay-Z)'
Keith Murray 'Most Beautifullest Thing In This World'
Keith Sweat 'Nobody'
Killarmy 'Fair, Love & War'
Kool G Rap 'Fast Life (feat. Nas)'
KRS-One 'MC's Act Like They Don't Know'
KRS-One 'Step Into A World (Rapture's Delight)'
Lauryn Hill 'Lost Ones'
Lil Kim 'Crush On You (feat. Lil Cease)'
LL Cool J 'Doin' It'
LL Cool J 'Hey Lover (feat. Boyz II Men)'
LL Cool J 'I Shot Ya (Remix feat. Keith Murray, Prodigy, Fat Joe & Foxy Brown)'
LL Cool J 'Loungin' (Remix feat. Total)'
LL Cool J '4, 3, 2, 1 (feat. Method Man, Redman, Canibus & DMX)'
Lord Finesse 'Hip 2 Da Game (Buckwild Remix)'
Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz 'Deja Vu'
Lost Boyz 'Beasts From The East (feat. Canibus & Redman)'
Lost Boyz 'Lifestyles Of The Rich & Shameless'
Lost Boyz 'Jeeps, Lex Coupes, Bimaz & Benz'
Lost Boyz 'Music Makes Me High'
Lost Boyz 'Renee'
Lox 'If You Think I'm Jiggy'
Lox 'Money, Power, Respect (feat. Lil Kim & DMX)'
LSG 'My Body'
Luniz 'I Got 5 On It'
Mad Skillz 'The Nod Factor'
Mariah Carey 'Breakdown (feat. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony)'
Mariah Carey 'Fantasy (Remix feat. ODB)'
Mary J. Blige 'Be Happy'
Mary J. Blige 'I Love You'
Mary J. Blige 'Real Love (feat. Notorious B.I.G.)'
Masta Ace 'The I.N.C. Ride'
Mase 'Feels So Good'
Mase '24 Hours To Live (feat. Lox, DMX & Black Rob)'
MC Lyte 'Cold Rock A Party'
Method Man 'All I Need (Remix feat. Mary J. Blige)'
Method Man 'Bring The Pain'
Method Man 'Make Ups 2 Break Ups (feat. D'Angelo)'
Method Man 'Release Yo Delf'
Method Man & Redman 'Da Rockwilder'
Method Man & Redman 'How High'
Mic Geronimo 'Masta I.C.'
Mic Geronimo 'Shit Is Real'
Missy Elliott 'All N My Grill (feat. Nicole & Big Boi)'
Missy Elliott 'The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)'
Missy Elliott 'Sock It To Me (feat. Da Brat)'
Mobb Deep 'Drop A Gem On 'Em'
Mobb Deep 'Give Up The Goods (Just Step) (feat. Big Noyd)'
Mobb Deep 'Hell On Earth'
Mobb Deep 'Quiet Storm (Remix feat. Lil Kim)'
Mobb Deep 'Shook Ones (Part II)'
Mobb Deep 'Survival Of The Fittest'
Mona Lisa 'Can't Be Wasting My Time (feat. Lost Boyz)'
Monica 'Don't Take It Personal (Just One Of Dem Days)'
Monica 'Like This & Like That'
Monifah 'I Miss You (feat. Heavy D)'
Mos Def 'Ms. Fat Booty'
Mya 'Best Of Me (Remix feat. Jay-Z)'
Mya 'It's All About Me (feat. Sisqo)'
Nas 'If I Ruled The World (feat. Lauryn Hill)'
Nas 'It Ain't Hard To Tell'
Nas 'The Message'
Nas 'Nas Is Like'
Nas 'One Love'
Nas 'Sweet Dreams (Remix feat. R. Kelly)'
Nas 'The World Is Yours'
Next 'Too Close'
Nine 'What Cha Want'
Notorious B.I.G. 'Big Poppa'
Notorious B.I.G. 'Hypnotize'
Notorious B.I.G. 'Juicy'
Notorious B.I.G. 'Mo Money, Mo Problems (feat. Mase & P. Diddy)'
Notorious B.I.G. 'Notorious Thugs (feat. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony)'
Notorious B.I.G. 'One More Chance (Remix)'
Notorious B.I.G. 'Sky's The Limit (feat. 112)'
Notorious B.I.G. 'Unbelievable'
Notorious B.I.G. 'Warning'
Notorious B.I.G. 'Who Shot Ya'
Noreaga 'Banned From TV (feat. Nature, Big Pun, Cam'ron & Lox)'
Noreaga 'Super Thug'
NWA 'Straight Outta Compton'
O.C. 'Time's Up'
OGC 'No Fear'
Ol Dirty Bastard 'Brooklyn Zoo'
Ol Dirty Bastard 'Shimmy Shimmy Ya'
Onyx 'Last Dayz'
Onyx 'Shut 'Em Down (Remix feat. Noreaga & Big Pun)'
OutKast 'ATLiens'
OutKast 'Elevators (Me & You)'
OutKast feat. Goodie Mob 'Git Up, Git Out'
OutKast 'Skew It On The Bar-B (feat. Raekwon)'
OutKast 'Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik'
OutKast 'Wheelz Of Steel'
Pete Rock & CL Smooth 'I Got A Love'
Pete Rock & CL Smooth 'They Reminisce Over You'
Pharcyde 'Drop'
Pharcyde 'Runnin''
Pharoahe Monch 'Simon Says'
Playa 'Cheers 2 U'
Public Enemy 'Public Enemy No. 1'
Puff Daddy 'All About The Benjamins (Remix feat. Lox, Lil Kim & Notorious B.I.G.)'
Puff Daddy 'Been Around The World (Remix feat. Mase)'
Puff Daddy 'Can't Nobody Hold Me Down (feat. Mase)'
Puff Daddy 'Victory (feat. Notorious B.I.G. & Busta Rhymes)'
R. Kelly 'Bump N' Grind'
R. Kelly 'Your Body's Callin''
Raekwon 'Criminology'
Raekwon 'Ice Cream (feat. Ghostface, Cappadonna & Method Man)'
Raekwon 'Incarcerated Scarfaces'
Rakim 'It's Been A Long Time'
Rakim 'New York (Ya Out There)'
Rampage 'Wild For Da Night (feat. Busta Rhymes)'
Ras Kass 'Soul On Ice (Diamond D Remix)'
Redman 'Da Goodness (feat. Busta Rhymes)'
Redman 'I'll Bee Dat'
Redman 'Time 4 Sum Aksion'
Redman 'Tonight's The Night'
Roots 'Clones'
Roots 'Concerto Of The Desperado'
Roots 'Proceed'
Roots 'What They Do (feat. Raphael Saadiq)'
Roots 'You Got Me (feat. Erykah Badu)'
Royal Flush 'Iced Down Medallions (feat. Noreaga)'
Royce Da 5'9 'Boom'
Show & AG 'Next Level'
Slick Rick 'Children's Story'
Slick Rick 'Mona Lisa'
Slick Rick 'Sitting In My Car'
Smif-N-Wessun 'Bucktown'
Smif-N-Wessun 'Sound Bwoy Bureill'
Smif-N-Wessun 'Wreckonize (Remix)'
Smoothe Da Hustler 'Broken Language (feat. Trigga The Gambler)'
Snoop Dogg 'Gin & Juice'
Snoop Dogg 'Who Am I (What's My Name?)'
Sparkle 'Be Careful (feat. R. Kelly)'
Subway 'Fire'
Soul For Real 'Candy Rain'
Soul For Real 'Every Little Thing I Do'
SWV 'Can We (feat. SWV)'
SWV 'Right Here (Human Nature)'
Tha Alkaholiks 'Daaam!'
TLC 'Creep'
TLC 'Red Light Special'
Total 'Can't You See (feat. Notorious B.I.G.)'
Tracey Lee 'The Theme (It's Party Time)'
Usher 'U Make Me Wanna'
Warren G 'Regulate (feat. Nate Dogg)'
Westside Connection 'Bow Down'
Wu-Tang Clan 'Ain't Nuthing To Fuck Wit'
Wu-Tang Clan 'C.R.E.A.M.'
Wu-Tang Clan 'Protect Ya Neck'
Wu-Tang Clan 'Triumph'
Wyclef Jean 'Gone Till November (Remix feat. R. Kelly & Canibus)'
Wyclef Jean 'Guantanamera (feat. Celia Cruz)'
Xscape 'Just Kickin' It'
Xzibit 'Foundation'
Xzibit 'Paparazzi'
112 'Only You (Remix feat. Mase & Notorious B.I.G.)'
2 Pac 'Dear Mama'
2 Pac 'Hail Mary'
2 Pac 'So Many Tears'
2 Pac 'Temptations'
702 'Steelo (feat. Missy Elliott)'

Thank you for the read and God bless the 90's!

Sincerely,
GeeQue
90's Rap Guru

My favorite 40 songs of 2013

Remember me? :D

Let's get the obligatory "Happy New Years!' shit out the way. Hope 2014 is kind to ya. Truth is, for all the great shit 2013 brought to me, more blog posts was not one of them. But it's a new year, new me! Just kidding... I hate when people say that. However, I am gonna start on a positive note and give you an original piece... and one that often stirs up some emotion.

It's my favorite songs of 2013!

I doubt anyone besides myself will notice that I didn't post one of these for 2012. Was it because the music was so atrocious that I decided to skip one altogether? No, actually. I have the list, and it's delightful! It may sound like a lame excuse but I just never got around to posting it. I vowed to never make that mistake again so I'm giving y'all muthafuckas this list. Read it and love it.

One slight change from the last time I posted one of these: I made it a top 40 instead of a top 50. This was not something I planned on doing before making the list but I felt like I was reaching by adding on 10 more songs just 'cause. Less is more and all that. To compensate, I added blurbs to just about every song, because I'm sure you wanted to read more of my expert analysis.

As always, a refresher to the criteria: These are MY favorite songs of the past year. Not the BEST. Not the most POPULAR. Just my FAVORITE. (Envision me yelling every time you see something in caps) I write this because while you can offer your opinion and feelings on what your fav jams of 2013 were, this list is hard to debate because it's the shit I like. You'll notice a lot of dance songs on here. Yeah, 'cause a dude was hitting the treadmill hard last year (until that one day in November when I killed it running 3 miles in something like 25 minutes and sprained my foot so bad I could hardly walk on it for the next week). In response to the lack of hip-hop (my preferred genre of music, if you didn't know), I say show me where to get some and I'm there. Unfortunately, I'm not able to be online all day searching for underground shit to satisfy my rap urges (I just put on some 90's shit for that) and the new shit, especially the mainstream stuff, is horrible.

OK, here's the list. Have fun and hopefully I will speak to you guys a lot more in 2014. Enjoy!

40. Bruno Mars 'Treasure'
Saw him in concert last year, amazeballs!

39. Daft Punk feat. Pharrell 'Get Lucky'
How smooth was this? Perfect summer song

38. Avicii feat. Aloe Blacc 'Wake Me Up'
Liked Aloe Blacc ever since 'I Need A Dollar'

37. Haim 'The Wire'
Thought they were strange when I saw them on SNL but this rocks

36. Action Bronson feat. LL Cool J & Lloyd Banks 'Strictly 4 My Jeeps'
Would love to see hear more NY rap like this in '14

35.  B.o.B 'Missing'
Underappreciated MC who always speaks his mind

34. Jay-Z 'Picasso Baby'
33. Drake feat. Jay-Z 'Pound Cake'
Surprisingly, my fav MC ever doesn't crack the top 25

32. Big Sean feat. Kendrick Lamar & Jay Electronica 'Control'
Verse of the year candidate by Kendrick. Got damn!

31. Icona Pop 'I Love It'
Two Swedish chicks yelling about crashing their car? Yes, please!

30. M.I.A. 'Y.A.L.A.'
This is what happens when you shazam songs from commercials

29. Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull 'Live It Up'
Every time these two hook up, they make it on here

28. Rihanna 'What Now'
Finally dropped as a single. Best song off of 'Unapologetic'

27. Sevyn Streeter feat. Chris Brown 'It Won't Stop (Remix)'
She might not have the best voice but this is so smooth

26. Ludacris 'Hell Of A Night'
Luda always kills these light, fun club songs

25. Britney Spears 'Til It's Gone'
24. Pitbull feat. Kelly Rowland 'That High'
Both dropped at the end of the year but they've been on repeat heavy

23. Sam & The Womp 'Bom Bom'
22. Fergie, Q-Tip & GoonRock 'A Little Party Never Killed Nobody'
This is what happens when you occasionally watch 'Dancing W/ The Stars'

21. Afrojack feat. Chris Brown 'As Your Friend'
20. Will.I.Am feat. Chris Brown 'Let's Go'
Fuck rehab, Breezy. Just make a dance album with shit like this on it

19.  J. Cole feat. Amber Coffman 'She Knows'
Couldn't get into the album but this bangs

18. Mack Wilds 'Own It'
This feels so New York. Kudos to the remix w/ Jadakiss, too

17. Kid Cudi 'Young Lady'
'Indacud' was one of my fav albums in '13

16. Eminem 'So Much Better'
When Em drops an album, he's guaranteed a spot on my list

15. Sia feat. The Weeknd & Diplo 'Elastic Heart'
The 'Titanium' chick strikes again!

14. Tegan & Sara 'Closer'
I can now cross 'liking a song by Canadian lesbian twins' off my bucket list

13. One Republic 'Counting Stars'
'No more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars' YES

12. Ylvis 'The Fox (What Does The Fox Say)'
Anyone who knows me knows this could easily be my #1. Hilarious!

11. Calvin Harris feat. Ellie Goulding 'I Need Your Love'
Loved this even more after I saw the video

And now, I present my favorite 10 songs of 2013!

10. Miley Cyrus 'We Can't Stop'
I tried to fight it. I really did. But the fight was not a fair one. For all the negative things I can say about her (and trust me, I realize that she's an industry puppet who's playing out this ridiculous character for attention), I have to give credit where it's due. Shit, even I was twerking to this.

09. A Great Big World feat. Christina Aguilera 'Say Something'
Jay-Z famously said 'sensitive thugs, y'all all need hugs.' Well, dammit, I need a hug and I need it now. Is this depressing? Uhhhh HELL YEAH. This is the song you play right before your disaster of a relationship comes to an end. Pillows are soaking up tears to this shit right here. You're gripping your teddy bear extra tight. But sometimes pain sounds so beautiful.

08. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis 'Can't Hold Us'
Are they corny? Sure. A song like 'Thrift Shop' wasn't going to change that (although I love the message). This? Yeah, this is serious. Any MC who would've rapped over this beat with that hook would've made it into a banger, but they didn't get that chance. Macklemore did. And that makes him one lucky, successful ass dude.

07. Pusha T feat. Future 'Pain'
I hate Future. Seriously, I do. If you replaced him with T-Pain on any song he's on, the song is instantly 10000x better. But that's how much I love this song... that I could bare his down-syndrome sounding ass on the hook. And for that, and many other reasons, Push wins rap album of the year accolades in my book.

06. Joell Ortiz 'Roll Deep'
Let's see what we have in play here: A dope NY MC, who just so happens to be Puerto Rican, rhyming over a hard beat that samples Big Pun AND Frankie Cutlass? How can this NOT be in my top 10? 'I'm in here going pernil, that's one step up from ham'. Songs like this remind me that I still love H.E.R.

05. Drake feat. 2 Chainz & Big Sean 'All Me'
From the moment Drake says 'Got everything, I got everything', you know shit's about to go down. Wouldn't consider myself a fan of any of these dudes but when you can get the best out of all 3 of them over a beat like this with a memorable hook, you have a great anthem.

04. Neighbourhood 'Sweater Weather'
It wasn't until recently (and by recently, I mean last night) that I realized that the lead singer is a dude. And that's probably not a great sign. But trust me when I tell you that something about this song just feels good. Maybe because it feels like California and I was in LA in June (show-off alert!) but I digs this.

03. Robin Thicke feat. T.I. & Pharrell 'Blurred Lines'
Here's where I brag about downloading this song (and not illegally, either!) in April, way before the frenzy. I'm a visionary! May I add that I previously hated Robin Thicke. He didn't feel authentic to me, and in his past efforts he sounded like he was trying too hard. But Pharrell LACED him. Add the simplistic, yet genius video and you have what was possibly the biggest song of '13.

02. Capital Cities 'Safe & Sound'
A cool dude like myself (ahem) listens to cool music. And this, my friends, is cool. Although they're essentially repeating the same four lines over and over again, the vibe of this song (mainly due to the awesome use of horns) is just... cool. Also doubles as one of my favorite videos of the year.

01. Lorde 'Royals'
I remember the day so vividly. I was in the passenger side of the whip, radio on blast, and both Hot 97 and Power 105 (NYC desperately needs a better 'urban' station) had commercials on so I (tentatively) switched to z100. And that's the moment I fell in love with this song. And then Rick Ross added a verse on it and, surprisingly, didn't ruin it. Yes, this song is amazing. Yes, this is my favorite song of 2014. And yes, you can call me queen bee.

Another year, another list. What were your favorites of 2013? I probably won't care but feel free to let me know. Just kidding! Kind of.

This Shit Cray

Couldn't understand why this clip was on YouTube listed under the category 'pets & animals'. But then I watched it. It makes sense now.

Snoop Dogg & The Top 20 MC's of All-Time Debate

In June '09, I was asked by one of my industry pals (that sounds so douchey) to come up with a list of the best 20 mc's of all-time. Now, I'm an 80's baby so my knowledge on older mc's like Grandmaster Caz & Melle Mel is limited so it wouldn't be fair to include them on my list. I keeps it real! Being a true lover of hip-hop, it was a diffucult challenge at the time. I played with the list more than I'll ever admit.

Fast forward to 2011. After having Dr. Dre's 'Kush' in heavy rotation, I started thinking about Snoop's place in history. Originally, I didn't have him on the list, but why the hell not? Sure, he isn't the most skilled lyricist out there but there's a lot more to being great than just being a lyricist. It's the same reason mc's that only focus on lyrics tend to be boring. Flow, charisma... these things matter. They also happen to be two of Snoop's biggest strengths and reasons he continues to be relevant nearly 20 years after he first graced the scene. Factor in that longevity & the fact he's has a classic album in his catalog & he has a good case for being on there.

Here's the original list I presented a year & a 1/2 ago (in no particular order):

Jay-Z
Notorious B.I.G.
KRS-One
Slick Rick
Eminem
Nas
Rakim
Ice Cube
Black Thought
Redman
2 Pac
LL Cool J
Big Pun
Ghostface
Kool G Rap
Scarface
Common
Lauryn Hill
Andre 3000
Prodigy

I've mentioned Snoop as someone who probably deserves a spot on there. Kanye has made a huge case since then w/ his latest album. DMX had one of the greatest runs in hip-hop history when he first came out. Shit, the fact that I don't have Kane on there would make some people not take this list seriously.

The only one on the original list I'd feel comfortable swapping out is Ghostface & even that's not easy. For now, let's do that & put Snoop in his place. However, if Kanye keeps this up, he's bound for a spot on there sometime in the near future (bye bye, Prodigy?) And thus the list is ever-changing. We'll re-visit this topic in another 18 months when I'm sure my list will look completely different.