It’s that time of year for us to share with you all our thoughts on the best of 2012. So let’s get into it.
Swaggordon:
1. Kendrick Lamar – Sing About Me [produced by Lyke]
A song that truly drew the listener a mental picture through the use of several small stories. A delicate production laced with intriguing lyrics that captured the emotion of the characters that he wrote about. Kendrick Lamar used his creativity to integrate the fading out of the woman’s voice with the fading out of the actual song. I haven’t heard a song like this in along time, it will probably never get old to me.
2. Dom Kennedy – So Elastic [produced by THC]
A mechanical production mashed with Dom’s easy-going lyrics. A semi-distorted chorus from a female vocalist that just so happened to match the song correct. The soothing sounds from the strings lead to illusions of you walking through the most ancient parts of Hong Kong, but then the beat switches a tad bit and you feel like you are in a 64 and you hear the tick and the tock coming out of the speakers as you drive slow. I still don’t know what “paponi” is to this day.
3. Oddisee – The Gold is Mine
Thank God the gold is minneeee. If your head didn’t bob to this joint, you truly don’t have any rhythm. The production was so funky and so soulful at the same time. The sample was not destroyed rather it was used in a manner that helped Oddisee to get his message out. The breakdown at the end of the song is to die for. The developed flow of Oddisee was pure but what was even more impressive was how personal the lyrics were.
4. Chance The Rapper – 22 Offs
“They told me go on and rock-it, I told them that it’s lift off!” Clever lyrics punched into a sick sample from the “Nauts” what more can I say? The video was just as impressive as the song. Chicago on the rise, again.
5. Schoolboy Q ft. A$AP Rocky – Hands on the Wheel [produced by Best Kept Secret]
Some ratchet ish for sure. This joint had me turnt up so much this past year. Rocky did his thing on this joint and the production matched Schoolboy Q’s style so perfect. If you ever needed an energy boost this past year, forget about them 5 hour drinks, you should have turned this song on and you would have been alright.
Satchford:
You won’t understand the weight of this song unless you are listening to the full album track by track in order. Kendrick Lamar has done this before, bring pure emotion from your ears directly to your heart. This might be one of his best examples. A relatable track that lyrically always grabs my attention and heart. The production is no slacker either. The melodic tunes over vintage drum loops will always sound incredible. 12 minutes of pureness.
The drum loop gives me the chills but when the organ comes in, i lose it. Oddisee rode this track so well, i didn’t know he had it in him to rip like the way he did while adding from food for thought here and there. Nonetheless, this is a top 5 track for me. This one got a lot of rotation from me this year. Well done Spielberg and Lucas.
First off, say peace to Pine Ridge. Regardless of all the unnecessary attention this track got, i loved it. Remaking the classic production from scratch along with dropping some gems lyrically. Lupe did his thing on this, the overall vibe always gets me in the right state of mind. The video was just as nice.
This track is great, I like the way it was done. Its like he’s going down a list of statements asking the listener “do you believe?!” He’s holds nothing back and I can appreciate that. KRIT stay dropping some gems for the average joe.
Ab-Soul stirred the right formula with this track. Adding Danny Brown was probably his best move. Their styles meshed so well over the hypnotic production. There are plenty of notable quotables and those hard drums invoke such a perfect head nod.
Just My Thoughts 
I have to go with Swaggordon
Thx, we would love to hear what everybody else’s favs were for this year as well