Chance’s “Acid Rap” Is The Hip-Hop Album of the Year (2013 RefinedHype Awards) Posted by Nathan S. on 12/18/13 | Filed under Top Stories, Opinion, Debates, RefinedHype Awards

It's that time of the year when everyone does their "Best of the Year" lists, but how many of those can you really read? So around these parts we do things a little different. Ladies and gentlemen and intelligent animals with the ability to read things on the interwebs, welcome to the 2013 RefinedHype Awards!  Here are the rules. First, this isn't a democracy, it's more like a benevolent dictatorship. I chose the nominees after careful consideration drinking. But instead of whining that your favorite rapper/song/whatever didn't make it in, I'm allowing write in votes. Whoever gets the most votes wins that category, even if y'all override my nominations with a write-in vote. Period. I'll announce all the winners on Wednesday, December 18. And I'll be explaining the criteria and nominees for each category every time. Got it? Good.  

After nine other categories, we've finally come to the end of the road (word to Boyz II Men). That's right, it's time to dig into the Album of the Year. First and foremost, in RefinedHype fashion we're not delineating between "album" and "mixtape", indie or major label here. Was it a collection of music you could listen to with your ear holes? Then it qualifies. Second, as always we're looking for a combination of impact and inherent dopeness. And last but not least, in this case we're really looking at a complete album: all killer, no filler. 

Leggooo....

UPDATE: Voting is now closed. Scroll to the bottom for the winner. 

Chance the Rapper "Acid Rap"

As we laid out in Rapper of the Year, Chance had easily the biggest year in hip-hop if you consider where he was just 365 days ago. Some people won't like his nasally style or his off-center lyrics, but it's exactly those qualities that have made him as unanimous of a "that dude's dope" selection as you can get in the age of online arguing. And it really all started from "Acid Rap", an album that's as engaging, creative, complete and re-listenable as anything that dropped this year. On a more personal note, I listened to this more times than any other project this year, and I know I'm not alone. 

Stream & Download "Acid Rap" 

Drake "Nothing Was the Same"

I know some of you think I'm trolling you with these Drake nomimations, but I'm just not. This is the year that I finally made my peace with Drake and learned to appreciate him for what he is, and "Nothing Was the Same" was a big reason why. I've probably made more "Drake is soft" jokes on the internet this year than anyone (almost anyone), and I meant them all. But while he may not be re-inventing the art of emcee-ing, it's also a lot harder than people give him credit for to make music that's so widely popular and still has some musical integrity. Huge impact, some legit inherent dopeness, you might not like it, but this has to be in the Best Album discussion. 

Run the Jewels "Run the Jewels" 

Pretty much everything I just wrote about "NWTS", except the exact opposite. Make no mistake, "Run the Jewels" wasn't some ultra slept-on underground project, it got a lot of coverage for what it was, but of course it didn't have that huge crossover impact. Still, it was as cohesive as any project this year and managed to both go incredibly hard and offer up some real depth, something only a small handful of artists are capable of. This is another one that I've turned to time and time again this year. Salute to Killer Mike and El-P, fuck boys know the combination ain't healthy. 

Stream & Download "Run the Jewels" 

Black Milk "No Poison No Paradise" 

Here's where we throw some of the criteria out the window and just put in an album we loved because we loved it. Of course Black Milk's album this year had less impact and plays than any of the other nominations, but it was really dope. I mean really, really fucking dope. Like "holy shit, I can't stop listening to it, this is everything I love about hip-hop" fucking dope. So dope that I'm putting it here because if it inspired even two more people to listen to it, hip-hop will be better for it. I'll argue this was the most inherently dope project I heard this year to the death of me. Bring it on. 

Stream "No Poison No Paradise"

A$AP Rocky "Long Live A$AP" 

Ah, sweet baby jesus, the dreaded last spot. Here's where if you're putting together these nominations you start having a panic attack. 2013 was an incredible year for hip-hop, how can you narrow it down to just one more? Literally every choice leaves out 50 more deserving nominees. Still, RefinedHype ain't no punk, we're going to make a pick, and we're going with A$AP Rocky's "Long Live A$AP". It dropped in January and consequently has dropped out of people's memories and end of the year lists, but January of December, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that this is the album that fully established Rocky as a force to be reckoned with, both on the mic and on the charts. We're talking huge radio hits like 'Fucking Problems" and straight up cypher joints like "1 Train", all with a cohesive and unique sound. Long live A$AP indeed. 

Also: I feel conflicted about leaving off "Born Sinner", "Old", "She Got Game", "Blue Chips 2", "King Remembered in Time", "Continue", "12 Reasons to Die" and too many more to name. I don't feel at all conflicted about leaving off Wale. 

And The Winner Is...Chance the Rapper's "Acid Rap"

With almost 40% of the votes, Chance The Rapper takes home another Rosa Acosta statue and finishes his breakout campaign on a high note. The line between album and mixtape is certainly blurred and there is no better example than "Acid Rap". This project is one of the more fun, refreshing, dense, and original project to hit the biz in sometime and puts Chance in the conversation with some of the greats of the game like J. Cole, whose "Born Sinner" received the most write-in votes and Drake's "Nothing Was The Same" finished second. I still have this album in heavy rotation, and I will for years to come. 

Other Categories:

Booty of the Year
Non Hip-Hop Song of the Year
General Awesomeness of the Year
Producer Of The Year
Crew of the Year
Banger of the Year
Song of the Year
Rapper of the Year
Album of the Year

*Word to Krispy Kreme/Froggy Fresh on the art work for this year's RefinedHype Awards. Why is James cryin?