7. "Scottie Pippen" - Curren$y ft. Freddie Gibbs: I don't have much to say about this one. Two of the best underground MCs go as hard as they can over a space age Alchemist beat. Gibbs verse is probably the year's most quotable, effortlessly stringing together one-liners/ "I'm trying to make a million dollars fuck a million downloads."
6. "Fulla Shit" - Rittz ft. Big K.R.I.T. & Yelawolf: "Fulla Shit" is as close as Hip-Hop has come to capturing the sound and spirit of the Delta Blues in a long while. Drunken philandering is the subject of many a Robert Johnson song. Rittz and K.R.I.T. take a perverse pleasure in lying to groupies, but Yelawolf takes it to whole other level, going out of his way to confuse his girls, sending them flowers with no petals. He steals the show despite the formidable verses from Krit and Rittz.
5. "Sandwitches" - Tyler, the Creator & Hodgy Beats: "They are them. We are us. Kill them." When Tyler and Hodgy debuted this track on Jimmy Fallon, the internet nearly exploded. Even though "Sandwitches" was edited for primetime, Tyler's primal fury and Hodgy's mischievous glee shone through, and the crowd, and the rest of the world, responded. "Sandwitches" is OF's mission statement, wholly original and brimming with contempt for its perceived enemies, including Nahright, kids with parents and God.
4. "Time Machine" - Big K.R.I.T.: Every once in a while comes a song perfectly tailored for driving through country roads with the high beams and radio on. Joining "Road Runner," by the Modern Lovers, and "In the City," by Chromatics, as one of my favorite night driving anthems is "Time Machine," the best track off Big K.R.I.T.'s Return of 4eva, my favorite Hip-Hop release of 2011. "Time Machine," Krit's ode to his muscle car, sparkles, with twinkling chimes and slinky guitars providing a soulful backing track for his laid back delivery. Krit has always been a better producer than a rapper, but his stuttering flow matches his glossy track, helping "Time Machine" rise a cut above the rest of the outstanding mixtape.
3. "I'm On One" - DJ Khaled ft. Drake, Rick Ross & Lil Wayne: I've got to give DJ Khaled some credit. He knows when he's struck gold. Though he recently has been trying to posit himself front and center in his all-star posse cuts (see "Welcome to My Hood"), he wisely gets out of the way after a short intro in "I'm On One." Ross and Wayne do their thing, but the track belongs to Drake, whose chemistry with 40, the track's producer, shows as he switches from his R&B lothario croon and his impressive rapping.
2. "Yonkers" - Tyler, the Creator: "Yonkers" is the pinnacle of Odd Future's career so far, where all the potential is realized into one four minute slice of pitch black, industrial Hip-Hop. Tyler's lyrics are a bit juvenile, but they hit home, venting his anger about modern pop ("stab Bruno Mars in the motherfucking esophagus") while showing his vulnerability ("I just wanna know if my father would ever like me"). Tyler's gravelly delivery is scary, but the Psycho-esque nails on chalkboard beat is terrifying, and for a few minutes you wonder if Tyler really isn't fucking around.
1. "Absolutely" - Fiend: "Absolutely" is almost aggressively laid back, so chill it hurts. The beat, an aria of chopped up vocals, glistening keys and crisp drums, is richer than anything else released in 2011. Fiend floats over the beautiful instrumental, his booming baritone echoing like the voice of God. "Wine and cheese rap" sounds like a joke, but it's a perfect phrase to describe the lush "Absolutely" and the rest of Fiend's Tennis Shoes and Tuxedos mixtape.
