It’s Bigger Than Hip Hop: HipHopDX Staff’s Non-Rap Picks of 2011

Like the name states, most of what we do at HipHopDX pertains to Hip Hop. From news to music to videos, we’re constantly on the rap forefront looking for new ways to promote the culture. However, our seasoned staff aren’t just one-trick rap ponies. We have many passions, and a variety of music is one of them. As a gift to ourselves (and to you), the DX staff picked some tracks from 2011 that weren’t rap, but we enjoyed them. Hopefully you will too.

Jake Paine, Editor-In-Chief

I’m one of those people that lives in a few different musical worlds. Besides my bread and butter, Hip Hop, I am a big fan of the music that contributed to Hip Hop: ’60s R&B and Pop, ’70s Jazz and Funk, and all waves of Garage Rock, Classic Rock and Psychedelia – plus all sorts of Rare Groove. When it comes to Internet-era music, I really enjoy reading other journalism (Fader, Wax Poetics, Complex, Pitchfork, etc), but also, I trust my friends and (independent radio). Mainly, HipHopDX contributor and music aficionado Kevin S. Gary (@FASmackhead) helped me this year in particular, discover three key albums which prompted stellar songs (and a shiveringly-good video) from Cut Copy, Destroyer and Lana Del Rey. TV On The Radio continues to be one of my favorite bands since cassettes went out of vogue (The Hold Steady, LCD Soundsystem and The National share said honor), and their albums continue to be the best stuff Interscope’s been a part of since Game’s debut.

Jake’s List

TV On The Radio – “Will Do”

TV On The Radio – “Second Song”

Lana Del Rey – “Blue Jeans”

Cut Copy – “Need You Now”

Destroyer – “Kaputt”

Kathy Iandoli, Music Editor

I feel confident in saying that my iTunes playlist this year had a British accent. Beyond that, electro-anything has been my sound of choice when I haven’t been rocking with rap. I can credit artists like Esthero, Bjork, and Portishead for turning me onto the electrofied obscure goodness that dominates my headphones. At the same time, I thank my mom for introducting me to Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, Joan Baez, Carly Simon, and Carole King who also Folk my shit up. Over the past few years, this thing called Folktronica happened and my worlds collided. Then, Hip Hop jump onboard and it was a win-win. My list reflects some of that (shout out to Ellie Goulding and Florence and the Machine), but it also harbors some of those in-betweeny artists who get the thorough Hip Hop cosign (Frank Ocean, Lana Del Rey, The Weeknd), but don’t sit at the same lunch table. If there’s a solid synth present or acoustic guitar present, it’s always a good time to me.

Kathy’s List

Ellie Goulding – “Lights”

The Weeknd – “High For This”

Lana Del Rey – “Blue Jeans”

Frank Ocean – “Swim Good”

Florence & the Machine – “Shake It Out (The Weeknd Remix)”

Omar Burgess, Editor-At-Large

Lots of people love projecting the image created by the million different Clear Channel owned radio stations that claim to be “all Hip Hop all the time!” It’s a claim that’s about as pointless as the Bigfoot tractor sound effects they use to announce it, since such a prominent part of Hip Hop is sampling from other genres. For many of us that are Internet savvy and own iPods, it’s more enjoyable to blur the lines between different musical genres. That applies to SBTRKT making drums tracks that channel what Afrika Bambaataa, The Jungle Brothers and Dr. Dre tapped into while experimenting with Electronic, dance music. Conversely—or maybe inversely—Frank Ocean along with Zo! and Phonte infused some soul into old Rock and Pop classics and remade them instead of sampling them. The left field contributions of Thundercat and Flying Lotus speak for themselves. And “Hey” by LA trio King would have been dope no matter what era it was released in. While there were no rapped verses on any of these tracks, I thought they all created something totally new or experimented with genres and turned the old into something different and unexpected. I can’t think of anything more Hip Hop than that.

Omar’s List

Frank Ocean – “American Wedding”

King – “Hey”

Zo! f. Phonte – “Everything She Wants”

SBTRKT f. Little Dragon – “Wildfire”

Thundercat & Flying Lotus – “Is It Love?”

Steven Horowitz, News Editor

I’m a die-hard Hip Hop head, but I like to consider myself equally versed in other genres. This year, I found myself falling into the Euro-pop gap, particularly won over by British singers like Katy B, Emeli Sande and Jessie Ware. Equally so, I repped for the indie kids (Lana Del Rey, Little Dragon, Black Lips), as well as the pop-friendly chart-toppers (everyone needs a little Rihanna in their lives). Part of the fun of spreading myself across genre lines is the ability to understand how artists like Kid CuDi and Best Coast or Kanye West and Bon Iver can connect when they’re thrown into the studio with one another. That’s part of the fun of contemporary music: being able to enjoy a spread of artists without getting too caught up in boundaries.

Steven’s List

Lana Del Rey – “Video Games”

Katy B – “Broken Record”

The Dø – “Dust It Off”

Yuck – “The Wall”

Emeli Sande – “Heaven”

Michael Sheehan, Production Assistant

If I wasn’t so relentless this past year when it came to tracking down the most warped cross-section of music and movies, the chants of Waka and the screams of Khaled would haunt me forever. 2011 was a year when haunting atmosphere, tongue in cheek humor and not giving a shit – the three things I value most in a work of art – seemed to converge. Apparat’s “Goodbye” played before Gus got blown to bits in the season finale of Breaking Bad. Basment Jaxx’s “The Ends” closed out Attack The Block’s night of carnage. Russian Circles pummeled crowds while the sun set and the crows circled at the Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin. OFF! sounded like they formed the day after the Circle Jerks broke up rather than 30 years later. And Maynard just kept being Maynard. Hip Hop made me realize how important the rest of this stuff is. And the rest of this stuff let me keep enjoying Hip Hop.

Mike’s List

Russian Circles – “Mladek”

OFF! – “Blast”

Basement Jaxx – “The Ends”

Puscifer – “Conditions of My Parole”

Apparat – “Goodbye”

What are the things outside of Hip Hop that you’re jamming?