Let’s wrap 2008 up, shall we? Even if the album is more or less dead as an institution there actually were some good releases this year.

10 Best Albums of 2008:

#1. KanYe West – "808’s and Heartbreak" (Roc-A-Fella, Island Def Jam)
Best album of the year, no question about that. KanYe fell in love with the auto-tune effect when he teamed up on the official remix of Lil’ Wayne’s Lollipop. The romance came in full bloom throughout "808’s and Heartbreak"; 12 tracks sung with auto tune, accompanied by minimalistic sounds generated by the Roland TR-808. The regular KanYe fans was worried, giants as allmusic.com gave it bad reviews but for me, this is the best work KanYe has ever done, from the very beginning with the pong-sounds in Say You Will ‘tl the very end with Pinocchio Story.

He redeemed himself from the poor "Graduation", left the bear costume and the childish "If I don’t win, the awards show loses credibility"-attitude back in school and took the first struggling steps into the real world as a full grown man, 31 years of age. "All" it took was his mothers tragic passing and some other life crises tearing up the heart. He became the hip hop-version of Morrissey but when Moz dresses the world in black inside and out, KanYe puts on some grey tweed and hipsterglasses. "808’s and Heartbreak" proved the full on hater in me wrong and shoved that he actually got some talent underneath that though veneer.

#2. Lil’ Wayne – "Tha Carter III" (Cash Money, Universal, Young Money)
It’s so hard to isolate one thing that defines Lil’Wayne anno 2008 and make him fully justice. But with his sixth studio album, the third chapter of The Carter-series, the 3 apple high tattooed little dwarf with a floor mop on his head marked his position as number 1, the greatest rapper alive. But maby Lollipop is the x-marker on the map after all? It’s definitely one of the best songs that came out of 2008.

#3. DJ UNK – "2nd Season" (Koch Records, Oomp Camp)
I’ve got a nasty habit of always forgetting just how much I like DJ UNK and his little lisp. "2nd Season" is the perfect follow up to his debut from 2006 and it’s hard to pick favorite tracks when the whole album is as good as it is (with some few exceptions like You’re The One with Sean Kingston and Dangles). But aside from the two singles Show Out and In Yo Face, Where My Ladies At ft. Blazed a spot on, Sweep Da Flo’ ft. Ying Yang Twins another She Freaky a third. UNK also was apart on one of the best tracks that came out this year, Three 6 Mafia’s I’d Rather.

#4. Three 6 Mafia – "Last 2 Walk" (Columbia Records, Sony Records, Hypnotize Minds)
Speaking about the triple six mafia, I missed when DJ Paul and Juicy J were in Sweden and made history, like this little piece over here. But I didn’t miss their th album and Last 2 Walk was good. Not their best work, far from it, but it had some strong songs, aside from I’d Rather they also jumped on the magic of the Lollipops in Lolly Lolly (Pop That Body) with Project Pat.

#5. Buraka Som Sistema – "Black Diamond" (Fabric Records)
”Black Diamond” became one of the first regular releases of Fabric Records, unfortunately the release was kinda overlooked and it probably had something to do with the fact that the record was released back in Portugal 6 months earlier and some lazy peeps slept on it. But the two releases differs and one of the distinctions is the little jewel Skank and Move with Kano, quite the opposite to the kuduro inferno of Sound of Kuduro with M.I.A., DJ Znobia, Saborosa and Puto Prata.

#6. Craig David – "Greatest Hits" (Warner Music, Sire Records)
My love for Craig David seems everlasting. He’s one of them musicians who’s born with the rare talent to sound as flawless live on stage as he do on record. I still get shivers down the spine by 7 Days and Fill Me In. One of the new tracks on his ”Greatest Hits” was Where’s Your Love, (a track that first was released on the old UKG label Ice Cream Records) where he invited Tinchy Stryder and Rita Ora to pay a nyce homage to the old UKG with some reworking of Colours’ hit Hold On.

#7. Kano – "140 Grime St." (Bigger Picture Music)
Kano did an official comeback to grime. It didn’t sound as good as the KA from the N.A.S.T.Y-days or when Girls Loved Boys or P’s and Q’s but it sounded okay. In comparison to many other grime releases this year it was more than okay. Like the ones from Wiley for example, to be perfectly honest, I don’t remember a single track from Grime Wave, but some cred should go to Wiley, the production he did on Anywhere We Go was a straight A, another good track from the album was Hunting We Will Go with Ghetto and I really liked Hustler as well. Still wondering what ever happened with the Swedish remix with Lazee and Adam Tensta?

#8. Tittsworth - "12 Steps" (Plant Music)
Baltimore club music is on the rise again no matter what some shady hipster says. Still love Broke Ass Nigga and Almond Joy and WTF ft. Kid Sister and Pase Rock but the best step of them 12 was the collabo with The Federation in Drunk As Fuck. Read my full review over here.

#9. JME - "Famous?" (Boy Better Know)
I don’t know if this can count as one of the best albums of 2008, but its def one of the ones I’ve spend most time listing to. I have always had a soft spot for JME and Famous? is good, but not as good as I want it to be, to some point his 4 prior mixtapes are better.

#10. Yo! Majesty - "Futuristically Speaking...Never Be Afraid" (Domino Records)
Kano did an official comeback to grime. It didn’t sound as good as the KA from the N.A.S.T.Y-days or when Girls Loved Boys or P’s and Q’s but it sounded okay. In comparison to many other grime releases this year it was more than okay. Like the ones from Wiley for example, to be perfectly honest, I don’t remember a single track from Grime Wave, but some cred should go to Wiley, the production he did on Anywhere We Go was a straight A, another good track from the album was Hunting We Will Go with Ghetto and I really liked Hustler as well. Still wondering what ever happened with the Swedish remix with Lazee and Adam Tensta?

I bet IF R. Kelly’s "12 Play: Fourth Quarter", Kid Sister’s "Dream Date", Ciara’s "Fantasy Ride" and Newham Generals Generally Speaking, had come out when they were scheduled I think they would have been on the list as well. Albums is not my thing really, or well, the ones above I liked but I’m more a single kinda gal, so here’s the complete list of:

The best tracks of 2008:
Nasty Jack – My Name
Afrikan Boy - Lagos Town
Mz Streamz - Tear It Up
Tinchy Stryder ft. Taio Cruz – Take Me Back
KanYe West – Street Lights, Welcome to Heartbreak
E-40 ft. Shawty Lo – Break Ya Ankles (prod. Lil’ Jon)
KiD CuDi – Day’N’Nite
Jazmine Sullivan - Bust Your Windows
Wiley ft. Kano and Ghetto - She's Glowing (Remix)
Emynd ft. Young Chris - We Don't Give A...
Boy Better Know (JME, Wiley, Skepta and Frisco) – Too Many Man
GoldieLocks – Smash & Grab
Jim Jones ft. Ron Brownz and Juelz Santana – Pop Champange
Ms Dynamite – Bad Gyal
Camar – Slide Up Slide Down
The Dream ft. Lil' Jon – Let Me See the Booty
Busy Signal – Tic Toc (M.I.A. Remix ft. Rye Rye)
Buraka Som Sistema ft. Kano - Skank and Move
Kano ft. Ghetto - Hunting We Will Go
Shystie ft. Subzero - Pull It
Craig David ft. Tinchy Stryder and Rita Ora - Where's Your Love
Girlie ft. Lil' Wayne - Girlie's Got It
Roll Deep - Club 7
Girlicious – Like Me
The Count and Sinden ft. Rye Rye - Hardcore Girls (Don Rimini Nasty Boy Mix)
77Klash ft. Johnny Osbourne – Mad Again
Beyoncé – Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)
Yo! Majesty – Booty Klap (prod. Basement Jaxx)
Henok Achido ft. Lazee – Take My Cool Off
JME - Juju Riddim
Keri Hilson ft. Lil' Wayne - Turn Off
Silverlink ft. Jammer and Badness - The Message Is Love
Cam'ron - Bottom Of The Pussy Hole
Juney Boomdata ft. Marc DeCoca - Wassup With Da Pussy
Mams Taylor ft. The Game and Lil' Kim - Get Up On It (prod. Lil' Jon)
Pitbull ft. Lil' Jon – Krazy
Ghislain Poirier ft. MC Zulu – Go Ballistic (Toddla T and Duckbeats Remix)
BlaqStarr - Bang Hard
Roll Deep ft. Janee - Do Me Wrong (Boy Better Know Remix)
Tittsworth ft. The Federation - Drunk As Fuck
DJ Diamond Kuts ft. Dwizz, Pumpkin and Casino - Salt, Pepper, Ketchup and Hot Sauce (DJ Diamond Kuts Remix)
Ghetto ft. Tamzin – Sing For Me
N*E*R*D - Everyone Nose (BASS ILL EURO Juke Remix)
Lee Carr ft. Jadakiss – Stilettos (Remix)
Stuffa and Andy ft. Mapei – Pretty Girls (Krazy Fiesta Remix)
Trina ft. Killer Mike – Look Back At Me
R. Kelly ft. KanYe West and Nom - Freak Show
TRAI'D - Gutta Bitch
Ashanti - Good Good (Fiend Version)
Roots Manuva - Buff Nuff
Mic Terror - Juke Them Hoes (Prod. by Mano)
Hollywood Holt - Caked Up
Jay Sean ft Frisco, Chipmunk, Jammer and Skepta - Stay (Boy Better Know Remix)
Gym Class Heroes ft. The Dream - Cookie Jar
Chopper City Boyz ft. B.G – Bubble Gum
Lil' Wayne ft. KanYe West and Rasheeda – Lollipop (Remix)
DJ Q ft. MC Bonez - You Wot
HotStylz ft. Yung Joc and R. Kelly - Lookin' Boy (Remix)
Kitty Katt - Crank Dat Kitty Katt
Rick Ross ft. Pharell - Get Down
Dizzee Rascal ft. Calvin Harris and Chrome - Dance Wiv Me
Kaliko ft. Hurricane Chris - Drink 'N Dro
Lil' Kim – Respirator
Sway ft. $tush - F UR X
Nelly – Bay
Show Stoppas - Whoop Rico
Skepta - Rolex Sweep
Three 6 Mafia ft. DJ UNK - I'd Rather
A1 Bassline - It's Alot
Lucy Love – NO V.I.P
Larry Tee and Princess Superstar – Licky
Usher ft. Young Jeezy - Love In This Club
Buraka Som Sistema ft. DJ Znobia, M.I.A., Saborosa and Puto Prata - Sound of Kuduro
Lauren Mason – Blondie
Wiley – Wearing My Rolex
H 'two' O ft. Platnum - What's It Gonna Be
Chipmunk ft. Double S, Ice Kid, Maverick & Griminal - Who Are You (Remix)