I’ve grown to abhor doing these end of year lists. I’m currently entering my 6th year of Hip Hop blogging and as opposed to becoming a celebration of the best and often most overlooked Hip Hop releases of the year, it’s merely a long list of albums that were largely ignored by the majority of Hip Hop fans and Rap music listeners. I see these lists differently because of the sheer volume of music I hear yearly, mind you. I’ve heard hundreds of Hip Hop LP’s, EP’s and mixtapes this year.

I’ve heard about 100+ non Hip Hop albums in 2011 and as for instrumental projects and beat tapes? Let’s just say I posted up about 600 beat tapes and instrumental projects on Producers I Know over the 365 days of 2011. Keep in mind that I didn’t even begin to really assert myself on that site and aggressively seek out beat tapes to post until about April. The point I’m making is that I’m deeply immersed in music and I hear so much of it that sitting down and listing it all then paring it down to a top 100 list is more of an undertaking than you can possibly imagine.

I really abhor the whole “post up a list to get a gang of hits and site traffic” game but I overstand that I need to make this list because a fair amount of the projects on my list won’t be on many other people’s list’s. I regret that albums like Hopie Spitshard’s “Raw Gems”, Moka Only x Chief’s “Crickets” or Styles P’s “Master Of Ceremonies” didn’t make the cut. Conversely, I don’t regret that albums like J.Cole’s “Cole World: The Sideline Story”, Big Sean’s “Finally Famous”, Drake’s “Take Care” or Jay-Z & Kanye West’s “Watch The Throne” didn’t make the cut.

Without any further ado, here’s my damb list. I’ll post up more lists in the near future. Here goes:

9^th Wonder “The Wonder Years”

Action Bronson “Dr. Lecter”

Action Bronson & Statik Selektah “Well-Done”

A.Dd+ “When Pigs Fly”

Apathy “Honkey Kong”

AssociatedMinds x EatGood Records “The Highball EP”

Atmosphere’s “The Family Sign”

The Away Team (Khrysis x Sean Boog) “Scars & Stripes”

B(lu) “J E S U S”

Blu “NOYORK”

Bamboo Bros. (Kurious x Dave Dar) “American Jibaro”

Beneficience “Sidewalk Science”

Big K.R.I.T. “Return Of 4 Eva”

Black Milk & Danny Brown “Black & Brown”

The Black Opera “Overture

The Black Opera ““EnterMission”

Blu x Exile “Give Me My Flowers While I Can Smell Them”

Brutal Music x Blaq Poet “Black Poet Society”

Bumpy Knuckles & Statik Selektah “Lyrical Workout”

Castle “Ditch Effort”

Celph Titled x Buckwild “Nineteen Ninety More”*

City Slick (Decay x Fluent) “The Money And His Fool”

Clan Destined’ “Self Titled”

Common “The Dreamer/The Believer”

Co$$ “Before I Awoke”

CunningLynguists “Oneirology”

Curren$y x Alchemist “Covert Coup”

Danny Brown “XXX”

DJ Quik “The Book Of David”

DJ Revolution presents Malcolm & Martin “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me”

The Doppelgangaz “Loan Sharks”

DTMD “Makin’ Dollas”

Edo.G. “A Face In The Crowd”

Elzhi x Will Sessions’ “elmatic”

Evidence “Cats & Dogs”

Fortilive “I vs. I”

The Four Owls “Nature’s Greatest Mystery”

Gangrene x Roc Marciano’s “Greneberg EP”

Grap Luva “Neva Done EP”

Haassan Mackey x Apollo Brown “Daily Bread”

Has-Lo “In Case I Don’t Make It”

Has-Lo “Conversation B”

IMAKEMADBEATS “IMAKEMADBEATS”

J-Live’s “S.P.T.A. (Said Person Of That Ability)”

J The S “The Sky Is Falling”

Jedi Mind Tricks “Violence Begets Violence”

K-Def “Night Shift”

Kaimbr x Kev Brown “Alexander Green Project”

Kendrick Lamar “Section.80”

Kooley High “David Thompson”

M.E.D “Classic”

M.O.P. x Snowgoons “Sparta

Maffew Ragazino “Rhyme Pays”

MarQ Spekt x Kno “MacheteVision”

Median “The Sender”

Meyhem Lauren “Self Induced Illness”

Mr. J. Medeiros “Saudade”

Murs x Ski Beatz “Love And Rockets Vol. 1: The Transformation”

Neek The Exotic x Large Professor “Still On The Hustle”

Oddisee “Odd Seasons”

Oddisee “Rock Creek Park”

Pac Div “The Div”

Paul White “Rapping With Paul White”

People Under The Stairs “Highlighter”

Pete Rock x Smif N’ Wessun “Monumental”

Pharaohe Monch “W.A.R. (We Are Renegades)”

Phonte “Charity Starts At Home”

The Primeredian x Tall Black Guy “Darling Lure”

Prometheus Brown & Bambu “Walk Into A Bar”

Quelle Chris “Shotgun & Sleek Rifle”

Raekwon “Shaolin vs. Wu Tang”

Rapper Big Pooh “Dirty Little Things”

Rashad & Confidence “The Element Of Surprise”

Rasheed Chappell “Future Before Nostalgia”

Reef The Lost Cauze x Snowgoons “Your Favorite MC”

REKS “Rhythmatic Eternal King Supreme”

Roc C “Stoned Genius”

The Roots “undun”

Royce Da 5’9” “Success Is Certain”

Saigon “The Greatest Story Never Told”

Sean Price x Guilty Simpson x Black Milk’s “Random Axe”

Self Scientific “Trials Of The Blackhearted”

Senor Kaos “The Kaos Effect

Shabazz Palaces “Black Up”

Sykzoo “The Great Debater”

Slaine “A World Without Skies 2.0”

SONNYJIM “The Psychonaut LP”

SoulKhan “Pursuance”

Statik Selektah “Population Control”

Strange Fruit Project “A Dreamer’s Journey”

Talib Kweli “Gutter Rainbows”

Tanya Morgan “You & What Army EP”

Thurz “L.A. Riot”

TiRon & Ayomari “A Sucker For Pumps”

Torae “For The Record”

Trek Life “Wouldn’t Change Nothing”

TzariZM “[DAY] Dream EP”

Vakill “Armor Of God”

Vandalyzm “The Proposal”

Willie Evans Jr. “Introducin’”

yU “The Earn”

 *Technically a bonus edition but it’s too good to leave off this list

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