Thankfully though, some of our favorite artists are still creating them. And they’re doing so with a message attached more times than not. Whether the music video goes hand-in-hand with the song itself, or brings a new perspective to the viewer, the cinematic quality of videos old and new should be celebrated for the masterpieces they are. And you best believe we’ll be celebrating our favorites, from all genres, from here on out…

• Eminem – “3 A.M.” – Maybe its the initial shock of it, but this is mad impressive. I was absolutely uniterested in Eminem’s comeback album and after hearing this song previously I was like “eh..” But this video is dope as fuck. The imagery is so incredible that I just had to keep playing it over and over after I first saw it. – Dank Lucas

• Ice Cube – “Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It” – Seeing the kids being brainwashed (and the distributing of blame) in the classroom is not very different from the way we grew up ourselves. The history books, the churches, the ideals our parents passed down as the “right way” to live our lives, should all be subject to questioning should some confusion arise. Cube’s lyrics and the familiar images in this video are powerful. – J.C.

• El-P – “Deep Space 9mm” – I never enjoyed NYC as much as I do when it’s portrayed in rap videos. Whether it’s the neighborhood of angry looking ruff-ryders popping wheelies on ATV’s, or the less than glamorous everyday feel of this video… this is as independent as the music itself.  So low-budget you say to yourself “I could’ve done better,” but guess what? You aren’t creative or cool enough, so you didn’t. – TimS

• Madvillain – “All Caps” – Hip Hop and Comic books. Need I say more? – TimS

• KRS-One and Marley Marl – “Hip Hop Lives” – Back when Nas declared “Hip Hop Is Dead” there were too many people that misunderstood what he was trying to say, which was that the Johnny-come-lately-on-the-radio garbage won’t stand the test of time. Since then former adversaries KRS-One and Marly Marl joined forces a few years back to create a criminally overlooked album that spawned this old school video, to help remind the young heads what it means to last forever. – J.C.

• Nas – “Be a Nigger Too” – This is the reason i fell in love with hip hop… uncensored expression, fly shit, and the denouncement of hate. Plus we get the sick spoken piece at the beginning! Nasty Nas at his finest. Oh yeah, and Rik Cordero owns music videos right now like Lebron’s gonna own the Magic next round! (Sorry Hawks and Celtics fans.) – Dank Lucas

The Hip-Hop Edition - In a year in which a gremlin sold nearly three million albums (a million in one week!) and a number of highly anticipated releases never happened, there were still a few handfuls of extremely well executed music that was delivered. In my opinion, one of those albums was a classic and appears at the top of this list. Since then, we had the worst fourth quarter in recent memory with very few releases that meant anything to anyone. So we forge into 2009 hoping for some rumored classics to see the light, and potential to be realized by some emerging talent. But most of all we (and by we I mean me and my three cats) hope to never hear the word “swagger” used ever again. I don’t care if Jay-Z shows up on Bill O’Reily talking shit about Obama while wearing some tight paisley pants, as long as he and every other rapper stops using that fucking Old Spice deodorant scent of a word. – TimS

1.) Nas – Untitled - Not only did Mr. Jones release the best album of 2008 but it might’ve been the most daring and important record since the ground-breaking efforts of N.W.A. and Public Enemy. To be honest, I think most people fail to understand how imperative releases like this are. In the modern day musical landscape this album is not only on an island, but an island that hasn’t been discovered yet, full of weird animals and disease curing plants that are plucked from the golden soil by big-titty women. From the chilling opening track “Queens Get the Money” to the triumphant yet slightly skeptical closer “Black President”, Nas weaves with impossible fluidity between varied musical backdrops. Those that felt he was going for controversy just to sell records must’ve forgotten who Nasir was and what his catalogue says about him as an artist. He tried to alter his vision to sell records in the late nineties but that phase didn’t last long and I think he’s reached a point where he’s doing what he feels people need, not what they want. With that said, beat selection will always be Nas’ biggest flaw. If you give him the choice of a DJ Premier track or a Chris Webber track he won’t always make the right decision. For the most part there are no real standout beats, or clunkers, on this album so the focus definitely stays on the lyrics, which is right where Nas needs it. The idea of race doesn’t dominate the subject matter so much as it permeate throughout the album, making everything a little darker and more poignant. Nas makes you work when you listen to this album which is why so many people dismissed it. But if this album isn’t in your collection then go ahead and throw out the rest of your classics P.E., Jay-Z, KRS-One, Ice Cube and Eric B. & Rakim records. Get rid of your Bob Dylan and Bob Marley albums. Or instead go out and buy this album and add to the essentials. Key Tracks- “Queens Get the Money”, “Sly Fox”, “Project Roach”, “Hero”, “Untitled” Bonus: The Nigger Tape - A Mixtape released by Nas and Green Lantern. Too many songs from the actual album but worth the download for the Mike Tyson song and the Dr. Pepper sampling “Be a Nigger Too”.

2.) The Roots – Rising Down - As far as raw rap skills are concerned there is no one better than Black Thought, so every release by the Legendary Roots Crew will always be filled with top-notch rhyming. Questlove proves his ever-evolving genius time after time with not only his orchestration of The Roots’ releases but by renting out his production expertise elsewhere in the music industry. Add those two elements, with the fact that they have a long list of friends that like to add their artistry to anything these Philly representatives do, and you have another supremely dope, borderline classic, LP. I was kind of hoping to hear Black Though take his rhyming to another level with this album (I was actually wondering if he could leapfrog Nas and Jay-Z on my all-time list) but too many guest appearances made that impossible. Not that that was a bad thing for the outcome of this record. There were a total of 19 guest verses from 11 different emcees, from local Philly boys Truck North, Dice Raw, Malik B., Peedi Peedi and Porn, to NY representatives Styles P. and Saigon. Regular collaborators Talib Kweli, Common and Mos Def join newcomer Wale as well on the eighth studio album for The Roots. The music is dark and hypnotic throughout, matched by the accompanying lyrics delivered by the varied emcees. And in case you at some point bumped your head and forgot how ridiculous the flow coming from the mouth of Black Thought was, be sure not to miss “75 Bars”! Key Tracks – “Rising Down”, “ 75 Bars”, “Criminal”, “I Will Not Apologize”, “Singing Man”, “Rising Up”

3.) Heltah Skeltah – D.I.R.T. - Some of the best underground producers provide a head-nodding canvas for Sean Price and Rock to paint upon. That was probably a bad setup, because if you’re not familiar with them (then you’re a fucking lame) you might now be expecting vivid storytelling to emerge from this reunited duo. But that is definitely not the forte of these shit-talking experts. Every single gangsterized battle rhyme is full of some of the most humorous braggadocios attitude you will ever hear. Sean Price has established himself as one of the most consistently dope spitters of the last few years and when Rock is on point it is mind blowing. A few Boot Camp Clik guest appearances round out this hard-hitting, unapologetically simple release from the Brooklyn veterans. Fuck concepts. Fuck complex song structures. Sometimes you just want lyrics that give you that bad smell face (real heads know what that face is), and beats that make your neck hurt from the first to last song. Key Tracks – “Everything is Heltah Skeltah”, “The Art of Disrespekinazation”, “Twinz”, “Smack Muzik”, “Ruck N Roll”

4.) Guilty Simpson – Ode to the Ghetto - Without a doubt the best produced album of the year. Let me run the producers down. Madlib (5 songs), Black Milk (3 songs), Mr. Porter (3 songs), Oh No (2 songs), and one song each by DJ Babu and J Dilla. I can’t put this CD on without listening to the entire thing. Lyrically, Guilty isn’t the most intricate or flashy of MC’s. He’s simple and plain in every aspect except in the dominating sound of his voice. In no way am I saying he is weak on the microphone, quite the contrary. It’s just that he goes about attacking a verse in a stripped down simplistic flow and his content doesn‘t have any excess (get your metaphors somewhere else). By staying simple he compliments the futuristic boom-bap of the beats on this album similar to the way C.L. Smooth complimented Pete Rock’s drum and horn based production. The two MC’s aren’t necessarily similar except in the way in which their simple styles allowed complex musical backdrops to seem simple as well. Fuck it, I can sum this album up in one easy equation. Dope Beats + Dope Rhymes = Dope Album. Key Tracks - “American Dream”, “She Won’t Stay at Home”, “I Must Love You”, “The Future”, “Pigs”, “Run”, “The Real Me” Bonus: Guilty Simpson formed the group Random Axe with Sean Price from Heltah Skeltah and producer/MC Black Milk. The album is reportedly done and expected to be released on Duck Down Records in ‘09.

5.) Joe Budden – Mood Music 3: The Album - I was sleeping hard on Joey B. When his first commercial single came out it completely turned me off and I never checked for him again. A number of people would tell me how sick he was but I kept ignoring the output of the New Jersey MC. Finally, I received a copy of Mood Music 3: The Album. I’m not sure if there is a rapper out today that has the ability to be as dope as he is in as many ways – whether he’s being personal (dissecting his own life in ways that only Marshal Mathers is familiar with), spitting vicious battle lines, or being lyrical just for the sake of being lyrical. Now that I think of it, the way he goes about attacking songs is quite similar to a young Eminem, though their styles are completely different. It’s always nice to be able to relate in some way to the artists we listen to so it’s effective that Joe Budden is so open with the demons that affect his life. Now, anybody can cry and bitch on the microphone, so you need an undeniable skill in both writing and rhyming so you don’t come off like some shitty ass open mic poet reading his diary. And Joe is as good of a writer as he is a rapper which doesn’t happen very often. The beats are nothing to get too excited about nor are they completely below average, but I would love to hear what Budden would sound like on top-notch production. Like the dream collaboration of DJ Premier and Nas, I think there is a classic album waiting to be made with Joe Budden and Pete Rock’s names all over it. Key Tracks – “Dear Diary”, Un4given”, “Thou Shall Not Fall”, “Ventilation”, “Secrets” Bonus – Formed super group Slaughterhouse with fellow MC’s Royce Da 5’9’’, Crooked I and Joel Ortiz. Released two songs via Internet and are rumored to be completing full-length album.

6.) Killer Mike – I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind II - if anybody on this list could sell a million records I would hope for it to be Killer Mike. Not only has he been hustling independently with his music and his label, but he’s one of the most intelligent people in the hip-hop community. I wish a lot more people would recognize not only what he does with his music but also what he represents. Everything that comes from this man feels 100-percent honest, whether he’s talking about the industry, the streets, religion or politics. He doesn’t bite his tongue and he doesn’t pander to current trends. With all that said, Killer Mike also spits his fucking ass off. A brutal delivery that pounds the beat with brute force, along with uncompromising lyrical content, make him one of the most intriguing MC’s to ever come out of the south. If only Organized Noize could once again provide an entire album’s worth of production, this time for Mike to delve into, I think a classic would be born. But for now the cast of producers he enlists work well in providing proper backdrops for Mike’s message. Let’s hope his recent signing to T.I.’s Grand Hustle brings him more attention. Key Tracks - “10 G’s”, “Can You Hear Me”, “Pressure”, “I’m the Shit”, “Good-Bye (City of Dope)”

7.) Q-Tip – The Renaissance - Since A Tribe Called Quest disbanded in 1998, Q-tip has made a highly slept on solo album in 1999’s Amplified and an extremely well regarded, but shelved album, Kamal the Abstract. Not exactly a decade worth of material, at least not what Native Tongue fans would’ve hoped for, but sometimes it’s worth waiting to see what happens with certain artists (don’t act like you stopped caring if Detox ever gets released or if Andre 3000 makes a solo album) because you might just be rewarded with something special. Remember The Love Movement? I loved that album and thought the added element of a Detroit beatmaker known then as Jay Dee (he also worked on Beats Rhymes & Life) worked well with the pre-existing production core The Ummah. The production on The Renaissance feels like a homage to the late great J Dilla (who has two of his own beats on the album) and to the sound that the Tribe ended their career with. Q-tip handled the rest of the album himself and I hope he starts producing more and more for other likeminded artists, because this is the type of sound that will never sound cliché or trite. Like his friend and fellow musician, Dilla, Q-Tip has made an album that is timeless in it’s sound. And that’s a hard feat to accomplish. Especially when your doing it on a so-called comeback. Key Tracks- “Won’t Trade”, “Getting’ Up”, “Move”, “Dance on Glass”, “Shaka”

8.) Freeway – Free at Last - when every rapper claims to be the boss or a drug lord it’s kind of refreshing to hear somebody that is so secure with being the next man. And Freeway plays that role well. He knows he isn’t 50 Cent or Jay-Z when it comes to the magnitude of his stardom but the Philly Freezer is nobody’s next-in-line when it comes to rhyme skills. Freeway has been killing verses since Jay-Z put him on The Dynasty, but here he finally parlayed that incomparable voice and rugged lyrics into a fully developed album. One thing is sure, you’ll never have to worry about Freeway coming soft on a track. He’ll make mistakes in the form of cliché big-balling club tracks, but for the most part Freeway goes hard with an undeniable flow that never seems to waver in it’s gully manner. Gone are the Just Blaze and Kanye West tracks of his past, which I think is a good thing. Dame Grease, Jake One and a number of up-and-coming producers are more kindred to the sound he creates, allowing a more cohesive and less forced sound than that of his debut album. Key Tracks – “It’s Over”, “Spit That Shit”, “Reppin the Streets”, “Nuttin on Me”, “I Cry” Bonus – The Month of Madness was a daily web series that took place in December. Freeway released a new song as a free download everyday of the month.

9.) 9th Wonder & Buckshot – The Formula - The Boot Camp Clik veteran MC and the North Carolina native return with their second collaboration and it delivers the same laid-back ruggedness that the previous album established. Soulful samples and hard-hitting drums create the perfect backdrop for Buckshot’s ever maturing flow and lyrical content. Seriously, this is what hip-hop sounds like all grown up. And every producer should try to find an MC that compliments their style as well as Buck compliments 9^th Wonder. For those that thought 9th Wonder’s beats were either overrated or lacking in true substance when he was a member of Little Brother, expect harder hitting drums and a more organic sound as he has developed the process in which he makes his beats. Now when it comes to Buckshot you get consistency, in the same way as Guru of Gang Starr. So you know what to expect. Key Tracks- “Ready (Brand New Day)”, “Just Display”, “Throwin’ Shade”, “Man Listen (Cause Ummm)”

10.) eMC – The Show - Rule No. 980: anything that Masta Ace is involved with is unquestionably (absolutely 100% unquestionably) dope. Add the fact that Wordsworth, Punchline and Strick round out this supergroup, you get exactly what I just said – an album by a supergroup. What else can I say? Did I mention Masta Ace was involved? Key Tracks- “Git Some”, “EMC (What’s it Stand For)”, “Make it Better”, “The Grudge”, “Winds of Change”

–– 2008 Honorable Mentions – Jake One – White Van Music; Atmosphere – When Life Gives You Lemons…; Statik Selektah – Stick to the Script; DJ Babu – Duck Season 3; DJ Revolution – King of the Decks; Ice Cube – Raw Footage; Black Milk – Tronic; Scarface – Emeritus; Immortal Technique – 3^rd World

–– Most Disappointing Album – Common – Universal Mind Control - Common is amongst the slim group of MC’s that have earned the right to do whatever the fuck they want. He’s played it safe with albums like Be and Finding Forever. He’s allowed his creativity to soar on albums like Electric Circus (completely underrated/overhated) and Like Water for Chocolate. And he’s remained both loved by critics and fans. But what the fuck is this shit? Gaaaaaaaaaaaarbage!! Just because he’s earned the right to do what he wants doesn’t mean it’ll work. And this definitely doesn’t work. This album was so bad it literally pissed me off. So I hope Lonnie makes lots of money in Hollywood while making tons a very dope movies through a plethora of roles that are as diverse as they are challenging, and hopefully iconic. No irony here, I really do mean that. But next time Pharrell says he’s got beats for him to hear I hope he schedules a fucking audition.