Episode three of the daily top 5 charts in the countdown to 2012. Genre of the today, as promised: College Hip Hop. If 2010 was the year of the rise of college hip hop (let’s just call it that, since Asher Roth kinda started it), 2011 was the year the genre came of age.
And while you may argue that the music these twentysomething year olds make isn’t all that complicated, it sure has gotten loads of attention. Yes, they may have high pitch, squeeky voices. Yes, they might steal their beats or just sample a whole Arcade Fire song. And yes, most of the their lyrics are about #firstworldproblems. But, fuck it, who cares? It’s cool, catchy, uplifting, often creative and just plain cool. Yes, that’s how cool it is. A couple of our favorites:
[youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otPxoVQiIGo[/youtube]
Childish Gambino – Freaks and Geeks
Donald Glover, you don’t have to call him childish, made it to the big league this year. Glover embodies the internet. A geeky kid, with a strange -yet unbelievably glorious- sense of humor just screaming out what he likes, loves and especially hates in life. ‘Freaks and Geeks’ is the best example of that. Even with ridiculous postponing (read: cancelling) of the awesome TV-show ‘Community’ (In which he is part of the cast), Childish Gambino is here to stay. Good for us.
Complimentary MP3:
[youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQCAaGem0xM[/youtube]
The Dean’s List – Dear Professor
The Dean’s List is the only ‘real’ group on this list, which is kind of weird with the whole frat situation in most colleges. Their mixtape ‘The Drive In’ hit early in the year, but ‘Dear Professor’ stuck around. And what is it with this song? It’s starts out as a happy hardcore theme from the 90’s, shifts over into a proper hip hop beat and then shift gears again into drum and bass when rapper Sonny Shotz utters hist first verse. Complete insanity and yet it works surprisingly well.
(Oh wait, you didn’t get the ‘happy hardcore theme from the 90’s’ reference? It’s a European thingy. If you didn’t get it, watch this.)
[youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lnwZpPUjVU[/youtube]
Chiddy Bang – Too Much Soul
Another internet sensation, but hey, aren’t they all nowadays. Chiddy‘s easy flow over a high pitched sample, produced by the great Xaphoon Jones makes this song just the very essence of college hip hop. The guys from Philadelphia did not release an official album or mixtape this year, so we had to wait for the occasional dropping of a song. Their first album is due next year. Can’t wait.
[youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74TFS8r_SMI[/youtube]
Mac Miller – Donald Trump
Probably the most listened to artist on this list, young Mac Miller was all over the place this year. Dropping stuff all year round, Mac has not been sitting down and smoking weed all the time. You simply cannot be this productive while on drugs. His pumped up flow is clearly what sets him apart. In ‘Donald Trump’ he’s kind of reminiscent of Eminem. Of course, lyrically, Mac Miller is far from Eminem, but he surely makes an impression and he sure was on his Donald Trump-shit.
[youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNkI6IEsssc[/youtube]
Hoodie Allen- You Are Not A Robot
While working at Google, Hoodie Allen came across this beautiful woman called Marina and her band The Diamonds. Hoodie clicks on the song hears Marina singing about robots and thinks to himself: I should make a remix of this song. that’s how we imagine this song was created. Glad it got created, that’s for sure. The braggy lyrics and -again- a high pitched sample, this time of Marina’s normally husky voice, just embody this made up genre perfectly.
Complimentary MP3:
Honorable mention: this.
Common and Drake,has reminded us all of why Hip Hop rivalry is healthy. new Hip Hop artistsjust don’t have that spark that classic hip hop artists had.