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Happy New Year from The Return of the Cool!

The Return of the Cool blog will not be posting anything else until the New Year, so shoutout to all of you who have made this blog popular, and expect bigger and better things from us in 2013.  The Return of the Cool blog isn't going anywhere!  We're just getting started (;

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

-Kairi

<3

Honorable Mentions

There were A LOT of hot mixtapes and albums this year, way more than 10 that's for sure.  Look below to see which two mixtapes were thisclose to making the list year:

Meek Mill- Dreamchasers 2

Dreamchasers 2 was a big hit this year.  With songs like "Amen," "Burn" and "Used to Be" and with features like 2 Chainz, Drake, Fab and French Montana, this mixtape was a smash.  

A$AP Mob- Lord$ Never Worry

It was good to see the whole team collaborate.  Lord$ Never Worry was indeed, trill.  Every song was pretty good, but "Purple Kisses" and "Gotham City" definitely stood out.  Special shouts to A$AP Ferg, hope to hear more from dude.

#1. Kendrick Lamar- Good Kid, m.A.A.d City

As if you didn't already know.

So let's talk about the best album of the year.  Yes yes y'all, Kendrick Lamar's Good Kid, m.A.A.d City is #1, and on this album he gives us 12 reasons why.  Moving over 500,000 units making it certified gold, GKMC has already been classified as a classic hip-hop album.  Kendrick is a bomb storyteller, letting us in as he reminisces on growing up in Compton with the homies and that "crazy ass girl Sherane."

The Deluxe Edition

Each song speaks on the real.  It's one of those albums you have to listen to from beginning to end, interludes included, which shouldn't be a problem because GKMC is crack.  He starts off with "Sherane a.k.a. Master Splinter's Daughter," a trip to get some gone wrong, ending with his mom and dad leaving him a hilarious voicemail.  It transitions into "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe," which strays away from the story the album is telling but serves as one of the most popular tracks.  He then proceeds to turn up on "Backseat Freestyle,"(produced by Hit Boy) taking us back to when he was 16 living carefree.  On "The Art of Peer Pressure," we hear the prelude to the intro track and how he ended up at Sheranes'.  As you can see, as I said before, it's just better to play this from beginning to end- the story is dope.

Kendrick and Sherane

The features on the album are perfect for it.  On "Money Trees," fellow Black Hippy member Jay Rock rips his verse, getting more recognition from the song than K. Dot himself.  The song "Poetic Justice" with Drake and a sample from Janet Jackson is a certified smash, now we're just waiting on the video, which Lamar hopes Miss Jackson will appear in.  MC Eiht appears on "m.A.A.d City," hopping on one of the album's more animated tracks with ScHoolboy Q yelling throughout, and Dr. Dre, one of GKMC's executive producers, appears on "Compton," reminding us that the infamous city has been holding the rap game down.

Girrllll.

Songs not mentioned such as "good kid" (featuring and produced by Pharell and Chad Hugo), "Real" (feat. Anna Wise), and the two-song collabo "Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst" were just as good as the rest of the album.  And of course by now everybody and their daddy knows how hot "The Recipe" and "Swimming Pools (Drank)" tracks were this year.  K. Dot and the rest of Black Hippy are really changing the game right now, and with all the hype around them right now, 2013 is looking even better than 2012 for the group (though we may not ever get a group album).  Shoutout to Kendrick Lamar for giving us that real just in time to make the top spot in 2012, and let us hope he continues to keep his consistency and show out even more next year. Salute to the TDE gang- y'all #1!

This album is a must buy.  Go cop it if you haven't already.  Also look out for the short film Kendrick is directing for the album (!!!).  Look below for the video to "Swimming Pools (Drank)" and song snippets from each one on the album:

Kendrick Lamar- Swimming Pools (Drank)

#2. Frank Ocean- Channel Orange

It gives me great pleasure to announce that Frank Ocean is number two on the countdown for his first studio album, Channel Orange.  When I mentioned him on my other blog last year, I knew for a fact he would be around for a while, releasing one of the best mixtapes of 2011, nostalgia, Ultra.  His voice and music give off the coolest vibe, and when "Thinking About You" was released online he had the internet going CRAZY!  With nU he already garnered a buzz, but with that song followed by "Sweet Life" and the almost 10-minute "Pyramids," he solidified himself as a staple in R&B.

Channel Orange is one of the best R&B albums to come out in years.  Each song is more beautiful than the last.  On "Bad Religion" and "Forrest Gump," Frank lets us into his personal life, expressing his feelings for his first love -a man- which we found out about this past summer when he put up this Tumblr post.  Like I said in my previous post about nU, I love how open and honest he is, and he continued this on CO. On songs like "Pilot Jones" ad "Lost," Mr. Ocean speaks on his former female lovers and how they've gotten caught up in the drug lifestyle. You almost forget this man is telling a story because you're so wrapped up in the flow and his voice on the album.  And let's not get into the songs with features. MAN.  The homie Earl Sweatshirt finally got some widespread recognition with his bars on "Super Rich Kids," and John Mayer had a smooth instrument solo on the track "White," although I would have much rather preferred the version where Frank Ocean sang (as featured on The OF Tape, Vol. 2- listen here). "Pink Matter" though?  With Andre 3000? Between Frank's awesome vocals, the lyrical content, the dopest feature, AND a reference to Dragon Ball Z, this is definitely one of the best tracks on Channel Orange.  Hell, even the interludes are hot.  From the intro "Start" where he is playing Street Fighter on the PS to the the other interludes where he gears us up for the next track (which is good reason as to why you should listen to this album in order), they all go.  The hidden track "Golden Girl" on the end of "End" with Tyler, the Creator is also a nice surprise.  I haven't even mentioned "Crack Rock" and "Sierra Leone," but if you have listened to CO you know that this entire album is perfection.

Listen to one of the best albums of the year below, so good that Frank is nominated for SIX Grammys in 2013- hats off to him.  Also check out the videos for "Pyramids" and "Thinkin Bout You," as well as his newest track, "Wise Man," off the Django Unchained soundtrack:

 

Frank Ocean feat. John Mayer- Pyramids

 Frank Ocean- Thinking About You

#3. Nas- Life Is Good

Nas is one of the best rappers of our time.  Being raised in Queens myself, I grew up on his music.  So it was no surprise that his 10th studio album, Life Is Good, would bang.  He has always been great at storytelling, and he didn't fail to do it on LIG.  The wise lyricist created one of the best albums of they year, taking it back with old school hip-hop beats and telling us stories of his personal life.

The intro, "No Introduction" assured us that this album, like his others, would be classic, reminiscing about being raised in Queensbridge.  He then continues to go in on the following tracks like "Loco-Motive" feat. Large Professor and "A Queens Story."On one of the more popular tracks entitled "Daughters," Nas reflects on fatherhood and raising his daughter, catching rage when the "social network" told him to get his kid.  He then goes on to speak about Kelis, dedicating the song "Bye Baby" to her, though the entire album was influenced by their divorce (see album cover). His other singles, "Nasty" and "The Don" made me feel like I was back in Southside in the early 90s, listening to reggae and the latest in hip-hop on Hot 97.  So many artists this year have had hits, but so many lacked substance.  Luckily for us, one of the Hip-Hop Kings came back and showed them what it really is, getting nominated for Best Rap Album at the Grammys, which will be presented next year.  There have only been a handful of albums this year that I could stand to listen to straight through, and LIG was on the top of the list.  Rick Ross, the only rap feature on the album, made sure to come strong on "Accident Murderers."  It almost makes you upset that this dude doesn't rap like this on the regular. Nas of course, slays.  One of the best songs on the album, the smooth "Cherry Wine," features the late Amy Winehouse and makes you wish they could have done more tracks together.

Nas will forever be what a lot of these rappers wish they could. Period.  Just a few weeks ago a deluxe edition of Illmatic was released but was quickly sold out (trust, I was mad when I tried to order it and was shut down). 21 years in the game and this MC is still gettin' it in like this.  Let us all hope he continues to drop a new album every once in a while, reminding of us what greatness truly is.  If you got the bread and are in NYC for New Year's Eve, check him out with Elle Varner at Radio City Music Hall here.  Check out some videos from Life Is Good and a few tracks from the album below:

 

Nas feat. Amy Winehouse- Cherry Wine

 

Nas- Daughters

Nas- The Don