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Song: Man Of The Year feat. Lil Wayne

Drake

No matter if you’re his biggest fan or find him annoying and bland, there is no possible way you can deny Drake’s impact this year. After dropping So Far Gone, a mixtape that some respected sites and critics went so far as to deem “classic”, Drake had the momentum to go further off a mixtape than anyone has in recent history. One might look at the amount of credibility he’s garnered in hip-hop, especially since he was a child actor from a good neighbourhood in Toronto. One might look at the fact that Drake had a sold-out tour and received Grammy nominations for songs he gave away for free. After eliminating those major points of conversation, what we are left with is one core argument: Drake is actually a very talented musician. By sticking to his own tribulations and observations for the content behind his lyrics, Drake has become one of the realest rappers in the game right now. His wordplay keeps him sharp, and even when he isn’t spitting a 16 full of metaphors and double entendres, he is still enthralling. Drake’s singing fits so well with his style and content that it’s hard to hate on him for switching it up so much on So Far Gone. It’s been a hell of a year for Aubrey Graham; let’s see if he can keep up this pace in 2010.

Check the full list of honorable mentions after the jump.

Honorable Mentions

Kid Cudi

Cudi’s introspective lyrics fueled his debut album, Man On The Moon: The End Of Day. With a bit of time for him to develop his craft more, Kid Cudi will have the potential to strike a chord with general music audiences.

Wale

Although Attention Deficit didn’t have the right push to sell lots of units, Wale still found success this year in the form of well-earned respect from the hip-hop community for his hunger and his consistency.

Jay-Z

Old as he is, Jay is still schooling every other rapper by dominating the minds of general music critics and general music fans. Blueprint 3 might not have impressed many hip-hop heads, but the masses seemed to love it.

Raekwon

Raekwon was a key artist in hip-hop this year because of the balance he provided against the likes of Cudi and Drake. I think we all reached that point this year when we were tired of listening to guys singing/rapping about their feelings, which is why songs like “House Of Flying Daggers” and “New Wu” became staples in many of our playlists.

Slaughterhouse

Joell Ortiz, Joe Budden, Crooked I, and Royce Da 5′9″ were names you couldn’t go a day without reading on some hip-hop site this year. Although their debut album proved that not even a hardcore internet fanbase is enough to compensate for a lack of real-world publicity, Slaughterhouse’s agressive and dominating lyricism made for some solid bangers this year.

Eminem

Although Relapse was met with mixed feelings, the sheer frenzy Shady caused when he announced his comeback was enough to land him on this list. Em is as sharp as he’s always been and his content throughout the year got progressively better.

There’s only one more installment of The Recap to go, and that is the post for best song. Check back tomorrow for that post.