Over the next couple of weeks, Backbeat will feature some Top Ten lists from around the Village Voice Media chain. Click here for previous year-in-review coverage from Backbeat and VVM.
Hip-hop A-listers including Rick Ross, Akon and Plies were caught grossly exaggerating their gangster credentials this year. (Turns out they were painfully law-abiding. The horror!) But even if your favorite rapper wasn't caught in a lie, you can bet he or she put out a hilariously absurd record or two in 2008.
As music critics, the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation, our latest feature. For the benefit of those who happen to be curious, we've compiled a list of all the things we're listening to this week. Feel free to chime in with your own picks after the jump.
Rick Ross's new album, Deeper Than Rap, released last week on Def Jam, topped Independent's best seller list for the week ending April 26. Asher Roth's new disc, Asleep in the Bread Aisle, grabbed the second spot while the Dream, UGK and Jadakiss rounded out the top five. See the full breakdown after the jump.
Maris the Great, in living (or at least almost living) color.
Grrrrrr.
Today in Backbeat Online:
• Moving Pictures: Casselman's Bar & Venue, MBV, Autumn Film, Primasonic, Maris the Great, Adai, To Be Eaten and Dualistics.
• A first look at the new Fray video.
• Are you doing your part to help Green the Scene?
• Rick Ross top seller at Independent Records.
• Depeche Mode grabs top spot at Twist & Shout.
• Discharge top seller at Wax Trax.
Today in Cafe Society:
• Mel Master pops
Tech N9ne's new album, Sickology 101, knocked Rick Ross' Deeper Than Rap down to the second spot on Independent's best seller list for the week ending May 3. The Dream and Keri Hilson grabbed slots in the top ten for the fourth week in a row. See the full breakdown after the jump.
For the second week in a row, Tech N9ne's Sickology 101 and Rick Ross' Deeper Than Rap grabbed the first and second slots at Independent Records for the week ending May 10. Keri Hilson, Gorilla Zoe and the Dream continue to hold on to slots in the top ten. See the full breakdown after the jump.
