While the Plug One 50′s top 20 albums list is designed to be authoritative (or at least highly opinionated), the top 30 tracks list tends to be a mishmash of random favorites.

These are a few songs that caught my ear. Some were important singles; others were just “YouTube singles”; and still others were random MP3s. It was actually difficult to put together, not due to an abundance of choices, but because I usually pay attention to albums, not songs. I can’t promise that the situation will improve next year, and I’ll learn to remember the cuts that I liked, but shit, it would make this job a lot easier, wouldn’t it?

I decided to rank the top ten, if only to highlight the ones that truly stood out for me, and then alphabetized the rest.

1. Raekwon, “House of Flying Daggers”
Ice H20 Records/EMI

Raekwon caught everyone’s attention with this throwback to the glory days of Wu. Over a banging track from the late J Dilla — which, it should be noted, was reportedly commissioned before Dilla’s death — Rae, Inspectah Deck, Ghostface and Meth drop a bag of heat rocks, with GZA on the chorus. It let us know that the long-delayed Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt II would actually be good.

2. Eminem, “Beautiful”
Interscope

Relapse should have sounded like this bittersweet single, not the drug-addled attempts to reclaim Slim Shady glory that made it such a disappointment. It proves that Eminem, when not sheltered by Jimmy Iovine and a nation of suburban Stans, is still capable of producing great records. Bonus points earned for “Beautiful’s” accompanying video, which paid elegiac tribute to Em’s native, broken-down Detroit.

3. The Roots, “How I Got Over”
Def Jam

“Out on the streets, where I grew up/First thing they teach you is not to give a fuck/That type of thinking will get you nowhere/Someone has to care.” Brilliant.

4. Cage, “Nothing Left to Say”
Definitive Jux

Cage’s official single, the serial killer fantasy “Depart From Me,” got the Shia LaBouef video treatment, but this teaser single made a bigger impression on me. It honors his late friend and rhyme partner Tero “Camu Tao” Smith, an underappreciated vet who died from cancer last year. (A few major blogs who shall remain nameless, unaware of Camu Tao’s talents, struggled to mount tributes.) Cage gives him the musical tribute he deserves, promising to “live through Camu” over smash-mouth guitars and a raucous El-P beat.

5. Hudson Mohawke, Polyfolk Dance EP
Warp

This five-track instrumental 12-inch summarized Hudson Mohawke’s ideas, with the standout “Velvet Peel” at its whimsically digital center.

6. Buckshot & KRS-One, “Robot”
Duck Down Records

After Jay-Z’s “D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)” blew up, the airwaves Buckshot tried to claim credit for starting the anti-vocoder trend since his track dropped first. I liked when KRS-One rapped”Go online, look up Kraftwerk/everything we doing is past work.” It was kinda corny: these days, any teeny bopper can not only download Kraftwerk’s complete catalog, but their influences and their followers, which is neatly documented by Allmusic.com. You have to read deeper into Kris’ line to get his overall point — these silly trends really are reverberations of what’s come before them. It’s simple wisdom.

7. Anti-Pop Consortium, “Volcano”
Big Dada

After reuniting last year following a six-year layoff, I wondered if Anti-Pop still had the potential to “disturb the equilibrium.” This vibrant battle rap let me know that my fears were unfounded.

8. Sa-Ra Creative Partners, “Love Czars”
Ubiquity Recordings

Technically, this 10-minute locked-groove symphony isn’t a hip hop track; you’ll have to dig up the remix featuring Jay Electronica and Ta’Raach for that. However, it exemplified future soul, and all the cross-currents — from hip hop to house music and future jazz — that flow through it.

9. J Dilla feat. Black Thought, “Reality Check”
Nature Sounds

“Reality Check” was a diamond amidst the rough, unfinished beats and sloppy vocals of Jay Stay Paid. Black Thought’s rant about reality TV hell, with its allusions to Public Enemy’s “She Watches Channel Zero,” rolled over Dilla’s synth-y track like a third rail.

10. Mos Def, “Casa Bey”
Downtown Records

Mos Def’s The Ecstatic was effortlessly innovative, and this laser-sharp example of his lyrical prowess, set to his own jazzy shapeshifting beat, was a sterling representation.

And here’s the rest of the list in alphabetical order:

Aceyalone & The Lonely Ones, “The Lonely Ones”
Decon

Asher Roth, “Lark in My Go-Kart”
SRC

Busdriver, “Least Favorite Rapper”
Anti-

Cage, “Depart From Me”
Definitive Jux

Cam’ron, “I Hate My Job”
Asylum

Clipse, “Kinda Like A Big Deal”
Columbia Records

The Clonius, Adroit Adventures EP
Ubiquity Recordings

Del and Tame One, “The Franchise”
Gold Dust Media

Dorian Concept, “Tropical Trilingual Tease” (online sample track from “Trilingual Dance Sexperience”)
Affine Records

Drake, “Best I Ever Had”
Universal Motown

Filastine, “Marxa”
Soot Records

Finale, “Jungle Music”
online MP3

Kero One, “Welcome to the Bay”
Plug Label

Mos Def, “Supermagic”
Downtown Records

MF Doom, “Lightworks”
Lex Records

Pill, “Trap Goin’ Ham”
Grade A Muzik

Raekwon, “Surgical Gloves”
Ice H20 Records/EMI

Tanya Morgan, “Hardcore Gentlemen”
Interdependent Media

Themselves, “Roman Is As Roman Does”
Anticon

Theophilus London, “Cold Pillow”
online MP3

The Cool Kids and Clipse are touring together and separately throughout August. Dates below.

• 8/08: Starlight Ballroom, Philadelphia, PA (1)
• 8/12: Granada Theater, Dallas, TX
• 8/14: First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN (1)
• 8/14: Clubhouse, Phoenix, AZ (2)
• 8/15: LAX, Las Vegas, NV
• 8/16: House Of Blues, Pomona, CA
• 8/17: House Of Blues, Los Angeles, CA
• 8/18: Canes, San Diego, CA
• 8/21: Metro, Chicago, IL (1) (3)
• 8/21: Granada Theatre, Lawrence, KS (2)
• 8/22: Orpheum Theater, Madison, WI (2)
• 8/23: St. Andrews Hall, Detroit, MI
• 8/25: Intersection, Grand Rapids, MI
• 8/26: House Of Blues, Cleveland, OH
• 8/27: Lee’s Palace, Toronto, ON (2)
• 8/28: Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA (2)
• 8/29: Mighty, San Francisco, CA (1) (3)
• 8/30: SOB’s, New York, NY (2)
• 8/31: National, Richmond, VA
• 9/01: Norva, Norfolk, VA
• 9/03: Brick Street Bar, Oxford, OH (2)
• 9/10: Showbox, Seattle, WA (1) (3)

(1) Clipse only
(2) Cool Kids only
(3) Sneaker Pimps

Cool Kids photo by Huy Doan. Clipse photo by Estevan Oriol.

• Blu signs with Sire/Warner Bros., prepares to learn Industry Rule #4080 (hiphopdx.com)

• Elliott Wilson prepares to launch RapRadar, yet another mainstream rap aggregator site (folio.com)

• New RNC chairman Michael Steele wants to woo hip-hop voters, one-armed midgets (washingtontimes.com)

• Beastie Boys working on new album (ew.com)

• Overrated “legend” Rick Rubin (yeah, I said it) working with overrated rappers Clipse (ew.com)

• Eminem’s digital royalties lawsuit against Universal Music Group goes to trial (rollingstone.com)

Late passes: J. Period & Q-Tip, The Abstract Best (jperiod.com), Cool Calm Pete’s The Food Theme (thememagazine.com), Amanda Diva’s Spandex, Rhymes and Soul (myspace.com)

Clipse
Hell Hath No Fury
Re-Up Gang/Star Trak/Zomba

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

If you like good beats and rhymes, you will like this record. If you like lyrics about selling cocaine, you will really like this record. On Hell Hath No Fury, Clipse further the marriage between rapping and “pushing weight” with style and finesse. Just when it seemed that every avenue of word play had been explored in regards to talking about coke, Virginia brothers Malice and Pusha T legitimately raise the bar while glorifying the lifestyle.

Instead of the ever-so-common braggadocio found in cocaine rap, Clipse bring an element of sympathetic guilt. Throughout Hell Hath No Fury, there are a number of religious references that let the world know the
brotherly rap duo have consciences. “Sorry Heavenly father/Once again I hate to bother/Its ‘P’ the evil creeper sending some to the grim reaper/Meanwhile me and my mistress like Solomon and Sheba,” raps Pusha T on “Mamma I’m So Sorry.” They make clear, however, that they are young, rich and more concerned with Bapestas and Ferraris, so they’re going to enjoy it while they can.

The premier track off Hell Hath No Fury is unquestionably its lead single, “Mr. Me Too.” Pharrell must have bought a new production tool to make the “blunted” effects of the song. Still, I thought that after “Frontin” everyone agreed Pharrell shouldn’t sing on recordings anymore, but here the brand of a man is at it again in
“Hello New World.” With tracks like “Ain’t Cha’ and “Nightmares,” he almost makes up for it –… almost.

Regardless of where your opinions over cocaine rap lie, Clipse undeniably destroy each track. Some of the aggression on Hell Hath No Fury may go deeper than just an assault of hungry emcees, and relate to
their frustration in dealing with Zomba Records, which constantly delayed its release. But now, with Hell Hath No Fury finally out and drawing universal acclaim perhaps Clipse might find peace now with their moral dilemmas.

– James O’Connor