'Kamikaze' succeeded in going platinum thanks to the help of a bloke by the name of Kanye West, to whom 2004 really belonged. This Chicago native broke through into the mainstream thanks to his top-nothced production on Jay-Z's classic 'The Blueprint'. In 2004 however, a near fatal car crash lead Kanye to come from behind the boards and pic up a mic to devastating effect. His soul-influenced beats were helped by the genius of violinist Miri Ben-Ari, but his rhymes really shone as Kanye talked about everything from education to God to the how the slave trade still exists and brought these messages to the mainstream.

Outside of Chicago, the Benzino and Ja Rule vs Eminem and 50 Cent beef continued to rage, but quite frankly everyone stopped listening (and reading). Outkast dominated the first part of the year as their 2003 released Speakerboxxx/The Love Below continued to knock out single after single, most of which never seemed to come out of rotation. Jay-Z's 'The Black Album' was tampered with by everyone from England's very own Dangermouse to metal rappers Linkin Park. Cam'ron surpised everyone by dropping a very, very solid album, Eminem confused everyone by dropping a very, er, album, but the true story came again from Chicago as EC Illa hooked up with The Legendary Traxtser for the 'Whitefolks' album which is already being hailed as a classic. Buy it now!

As for 2005, eyes back on Chicago!

Top 10 Records
The records 2004 wouldn't have been complete without:

10) Cassidy w/ R Kelly - Hotel
9)  Oukast - The Way You Move
8)  Method Man w/ Busta Rhymes - What's Happening
7)  Nick Cannon w/ r Kelly - Gigolo
6)  Kanye West - Jesus Walks
5)  Usher w/ Lil Jon & Ludacris - Yeah
4)  Jay-Z - Dirt Off Your Shoulder
3)  J-Kwon - Tipsy
2)  Fat Joe w/ Remy Martin - Lean Back
1)  Twista w/ Kanye West - Slow Jamz

Finally, 2004 my man Twista blew up!

Top 10 Albums

10) Ludacris - The Red Light District
9)  Eminem - Encore
8)  Jadakiss - Kiss of Death
7)  Psychodrama - Time vs Life... The Neverending Story
6)  Daz Dillinger - DPGC: U Know What I'm Throwin Up
5)  Cam'ron - Purple haze
4)  Federation - The Album
3)  Kanye West - The College Dropout
2)  EC Illa aka Whitefolks - Whitefolks
1)  Twista - Kamikaze

The 2004 Awards

Male Solo Artist of the Year
Twista

If i'm brutally honest, despite Twista being my all-time favourite emcee, i never thought i could justify giving him this slot. But in 2004, Twista didn't just break into the mainstream, he made himself a household name and went multi-platinum. A total of 5 singles were released of the 'Kamikaze' album, ensuring Twista stayed with us right through the year. And with everyone from Mariah Carey to acid house group The Prodigy asking for guest appearances, fans of all genres now know this Chi-Town native's name.

Female Solo Artist of the Year
Kelis

A quiet year for the ladies, with no notable female emcees dropping worthy albums, i had to turn to the world of R'n'B for a lady her had almost been forgotten. At one time Kelis had given up on America and only released her albums in Europe where she still had a relatively solid fan base. But one annoyingly catchy dancefloor filler in the name of 'Milkshake' pushed Kelis to the top of the ladies charts. A succession of singles including collaborations with Nas and Andre 3000 ensured Kelis' status was not found upon just a one-off single.

Group of the Year
Federation

Out of absoloutely nowhere, but hitting like a shotgun to the rib-cage, this group just jumped upon me. I only came across them because of their collaboration with Twista on 'If I Had A Gun', but that alone made me immediately crave their album. Rick Rock's flawless production on 'Hyphy' and 'Go Dum'b accompanied by the hardcore gangsta raps of Doonie Baby, Mr stres and Goldie Gold meant The Federation just culdn't be forgotten. From beginning to end, their debut album begged to be played at the highest volume, and boy did i do that!!

Producer of the Year
Kanye West

The first producer to win this award 2 years in succession, but quite frankly, at the moment there might as well not be another record producer on the planet. When he wasn't busy carving out hits for Twista, Jadakiss and Usher, he had Maroon 5 banging on his door asking for a remix. And amidst all this he dropped an album that had most people (including Kanye) questioning how The Source didn't give the album a 5-mic classic rating. I'm sure he'd prefer this award anyway.

Beat of the Year
Scott Storch - Lean Back performed by Fat Joe

Scott Storch went from notable to beat-maker to the man who can now charge ,000 a beat, knowing people will pay it from this club-banger alone. And when it wasn't feeling dancefloors across the world, it was used on every radio station and street corner by rappers flexing their freestyling skills. Lil Jon even did his best to re-create it for the remix, bless his cotton socks.

Lyricist of the Year
Kanye West

When thw two biggest rappers on the planet are known for wanting to kill his ex-wife and shoot everyone in sight (Eminem and 50 Cent), Kanye's forward made a refreshing change to what we were hearing on our radio, and he said it all in 2 bars:

"So here go my single dog radio needs this
They say you can rap about anything except for Jesus
That means guns, sex, lies, video tapes
But if I talk about God my record won't get played Huh?"

Simple yet oh-so effective


Verse of the Year
Kanye West - Jesus Walks (2nd verse)

To the hustlas, killers, murderers, drug dealers even the strippers
To the victims of Welfare for we living in hell here hell yeah
Now hear ye hear ye want to see Thee more clearly
I know he hear me when my feet get weary
Cuz we're the almost nearly extinct
We rappers are role models we rap we don't think
I ain't here to argue about his facial features
Or here to convert atheists into believers
I'm just trying to say the way school need teachers
The way Kathie Lee needed Regis that's the way yall need Jesus
So here go my single dog radio needs this
They say you can rap about anything except for Jesus
That means guns, sex, lies, video tapes
But if I talk about God my record won't get played Huh?
Well let this take away from my spins
Which will probably take away from my ends
Then I hope this take away from my sins
And bring the day that I'm dreaming about
Next time I'm in the club everybody screaming out


And as for 2005...

Dr Dre should finally be releasing the much-anticipated 'Detox'. With it in the pipeline for this long, the Dr must be operating on something truly spectacular. But until that happens, expect new albums from Beanie Sigel, Clipse, Memphis Bleek, Missy Elliot and David Banner! But once again you better have both eyes firmly fixed on Chicago. As the three heavy-weights Twista, Kanye West and Common are all set to drop new albums, and it could be the underdogs who having the biggest bite with The Legendary Traxster set to drop what could prove to be THE classic Chicago rap album. All the best for 2005...PEACE!