LYRICS: TWENTY HOT VERSES OF 2005 Best Extended Metaphor: "Cigarettes" - Mike Shinoda (Fort Minor) Best Club Rhyme: "Just A Little Bit" - 50 Cent Most Humorous Rhyme: "Where's Fatlip?" - Fatlip Best Rant: "Dance Monkey" - Sage Francis Best Politcal Rhyme: "Memorial Day" - Perceptionists (Mr. Lif and Akrobatik) Best Autobiographical Rhyme: "Too Heavy For Cherubs" - Cage Best Biographical Rhyme: "Mrs. Hill" - Talib Kweli Best Topical Rhyme: "Vats of Urine" - MF Doom (Danger Doom) Best Flow: "The Corner" - Common Best Braggadocio: "Touch The Sky" - Kanye West Best Flossy Rhyme: "I'm A Playa" - Paul Wall Best Conscious Rhyme: "All For You" - Phonte and Big Pooh (Little Brother) Best Lesson In Hip-Hop History: "Fumbling Over Words That Rhyme" - Edan Best Dedication: "That Night" - Atmosphere Best Display Of Raw Skill: "Pad and Pen" - Gift of Gab (Blackalicious) Best Rhyme About Hip-Hop: "Someone In My Home" - Zion I Best Show-Stealing Verse: "Get Yours" - T.I. on Lil Kim's The Naked Truth Best Race Rhyme: "Ridin'" - Dead Prez on David Banner's Certified Best Gangsta Rap: "Westside Story" - The Game Most Personal Rhyme: "Whatever It Takes" - Joe Budden(s) THE FIVE BEST COMEBACKS OF THE YEAR 1. Swizz Beats Talk about the comeback kid. After nearly falling off into obscurity after his Casio keyboard scandal a few years back, Swizz got himself a Jay-Z acapella album and turned it into two monster beats of the year, T.I.'s "Bring Em Out" and Cassidy's "I'm A Hustler". He didn't stop there, using his new sound to make hot club shit in the form of Memphis Bleek's "Like That" and '06 sure shot "Touch It", by Busta Rhymes. And he got rid of the football player make-up. Good move, Swizz. 2. Cage Not that Cage ever fell off, but we never expected a record like "Hell's Winter" to come out of Chris Palko. Once pigeonholed as a horrorcore emcee ("Movies From The Blind"), or a leaked-out druggy ("Waterworld"), Cage reinvented himself with his Definitive Jux debut, undergoing an insane transformation both consciously and physically. Beautifully produced, Cage's new outlook on life found him cleaned up and introspective, coming to terms with the sordid details of his past, transforming him into one of the most interesting characters in hip-hop today. 3. Ras Kass Over the last few years, not a lot has gone right for Ras Kass; from being held back by Priority, to being on the run (literally), cease and desist orders, to being imprisoned and finally released. But Ras Kass thankfully came back from obscurity with a slew of fresh guest appearances and a primer of a mixtape "Institutionalized" that not only proved his skills had not eroded, but that he maybe at his lyrical peak! Eat your heart out Shyne! 4. Duck Down Records 2005 officially signaled in Duck Down's re-emergence and simultaneous revival in 2005 with their Triple Threat campaign. Duck Down artists have always maintained mad respect in the streets, but a slew of debilitating ailments; label and distribution woes, lack of product, inner-turmoil, and too many extended family members have kept them on the backburner for the last few years. However, the labels long-overdue uprising was marked by three solid LP's, Sean "Jesus" Price's "Monkey Barz", Buckshot & 9th Wonder's "Chemistry" and Smif N Wesson's "Reloaded" (but can we get another O.G.C. and Heltah Skeltah LP already)? To boot, the label showed an inclination to commingle with Little Brother and there "Justus League" affiliates; bringing together two of the more talented underground cliques in the biz. 5. Hype Williams The innovator of just about every big budget video disappeared over the last couple of years, while every other video director bit his style. So what did Hype do? Reinvent himself - yet again! Not only did he direct the sultry, yet stunning women of the "Gold Digger" video, but he used a new widescreen bar method with Jaime Foxx's "Unpredictable" video (who's gonna bite first?). Just when you thought it was safe video directors, Hype is back! Oh, and word on the street is Hype is working on a Superfly remake, plus an anime Speed Racer movie! Believe the Hype! FALLING DOWN 1. Black Eyed Peas True, BEP made this list once in 2003, but still made more noise than ever in 2005 (does anybody read this shit?), so welcome back guys. Regardless, their brand of once honest hip-hop has fully transformed into sell-out pop trash with a "no wack shit left behind" attitude. They took it to a whole new low with "My Humps" - a (heh) "piss-poor" Ferge solo joint, which ain't no "Hollaback Girl". Unfortunately for the Peas, Fergie's got a solo record on the way - and when she Beyonces them, will anyone still want to funk with their hearts? No-no-no-no. 2. Fat Joe Even with 2004's biggest club hit, "Lean Back", Terror Squad still couldn't go platinum. They tried again in 2005, pushing Joe to the forefront with his latest solo effort, but unfortunately, "Get It Poppin'" didn't really get much of anything poppin' at all - namely, record sales. Couple that with a high-profile beef with 50 Cent, and another lackluster solo record, looks like Joe had to forget about the "All" and settle for "Nothing". We'll fully support a new D.I.T.C. record, however. (cue Aerosmith "Dream on") 3. Memphis Bleek We'll hold off on all of the "future looks Bleek" jokes, they aren't really that funny, but instead more depressing. Can you believe this dude has four albums? He must have saved Jay-Z's life back in the Marcy Projects days, because Jigga has certainly saved his. Let's be honest, Bleek's albums are not all that bad - they're just not all that good, either. And although Bleek had his first true club-banger this year with "Like That", and even landed himself a few 9th Wonder beats on his new LP, the sad fact is, the best shit on the record was the Jay-Z solo cut, "Dear Summer". With the Roc's dissipation this past year, this may be the end of the road for Bleek (cue Europe "The Final Countdown"). 4. G-Unit With 50 starting an unnecessary beef with his biggest and most successful talent, The Game, G-Unit tried to make up for it by signing a whole bunch of second-string rappers to their label. Don't get it twisted, we like Mobb Deep and M.O.P. as much as everyone else, but really, how good could the new Mase and Lil' Scrappy records be? Not to mention the fact that while Tony Yayo was baking with the awful "Thoughts Of A Predicate Felon", 50 had to make up for it by re-releasing his album, plus an onslaught of other projects to keep his name in the spotlight (book, movie, video game, etc). But they'll show us all in 2006 with that long-awaited Olivia album, right? G-G-G-G-G-G-G-Unot! Did I st-stutter, motherfucker? 5. Lil Jon What!?!? Okay?!?! Lil Jon was almost nowhere to be found in 2005. Perhaps our man was taking a break from the busy year before, but after producing perhaps the biggest crossover song of 2004 (Usher's "Yeah"), plus tons of other hits, we figured we'd at least get another few hot club tracks out of the long-haired dread in ‘05. Was nobody tapping him this past year, or did was he taking a long vacation? One thing's for sure, he'll have to come up with some new adlibs with Young Jeezy now in the game. Yeeeeeeeeeah, that's right. Dishonorable Mention: People In Destiny's Child Not Named Beyonce Wasn't it cool of Beyonce to record another album with Destiny's Child? It wasn't exactly a charitable effort, since the group had one album left in their contract. But just like when Tribe broke up before the release of "The Love Movement", the group had to fake it like it was all good for the promotion of this album. Come on people, the album was called "Destiny Fulfilled". Did you really think the break-up that was announced when they were finished working the third single was any coincidence? With Beyonce already on another solo outing, ("Check On It"), those other chicks will certainly "fall off". Hey, watch stage left! --

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