2015 was a year that was really all over the place. From the trap raps to the protests to rap ballads and singing raps, Hip-Hop was gettin’ it in at all times, in every way possible. Whatever your mind-state in life there was a song for you daily. Check out some of the songs and artists below that we felt were deserving of our Best of 2015 list.
Yea Drake and Future and the trap seemed to dominate, but voices like Kendrick and J Cole were heard and there are a few sleepers in each category to mix things up. At the end of the day we have 101 songs for you from albums to remember from 2015 and host of artists that blessed us with some pretty dope music.
Note: We also included a poll in the last two categories for our readers to vote on Best Lyricist and Best Producer. Please participate and comment below if you think we missed something or someone!
Dopest Track By A Female: Ladies first fellas –females def held it down in 2015. Nicki grossed unprecedented sales on her Pink Print album, Dej Loaf turned heads and Erykah taught us how to use social media – even though we “caint” use her phone.
Erykah Badu – “Hello” ft Andre 3000Dej Loaf – “Try Me”Nicki Minajft Drake & Lil Wayne – “Truffle Butter” Missy Elliott – “W.T.F” (Where They From)M.I.A. – “Borders”Tink – “Million”Rihanna – “B#### Better Have My Money”Syd tha Kyd (The Internet) – “Girl”
Best Singles Between The Sheets: You gotta have those songs to set the mood. These tracks set it off in the bedroom in 2015 .Pimp C ft Lil Wayne – “3 Way Freak”Jeremih ft J Cole – “Planes”JR Castro ft Kid Ink & Migos – “Get Home”Bryson Tiller – “Don’t”Future – “Rich Sex”The Weeknd “Earned It”Meek Mill – “All Eyes On You” ft Chris Brown & Nicki Minaj
Best Hook Game – Ever since Nate Dogg passed away, its been tough at times without the OG. But, these guys below found a way to pick up where Nate Dogg’s left off and they seem to be keeping up pretty nicely so far.Drake Ty Dolla $ignChris Brown Future Fetty Wap Post Malone
Shadiest Songs For Late Night Creepin’ and Cheatin’ – You know you need a soundtrack for all your late night creepin, let these songs help with that shade.
Ty Dolla $ign ft Fetty Wap – “When I See Ya”Jeremih – “Don’t Tell Em” ft YGKid Ink ft Chris Brown – “Hotel”The Weeknd – “The Hills”Drake – “Hotline Bling”Future – “Thought It Was A Drought”
Most Emotional In Your Feelings Tracks – All caught up in your feelings thinking about that special someone? Maybe you can find solace in these songs.PnB Rock – “No Time”Chris Brown – “Kae”Bryson Tiller – “Exchange”Fetty Wap – “Again”Rick Ross ft Chris Brown – “Sorry”Marc E Bassy – “Lock It Up” ft Kehlani
Best “Momma I Made It” Songs – Its always good to call Momma and let her know that you’re doing ok. These songs make us want to call our Momma and let her know we’re doing well because of her blessings.Fashawn – “Mother”Jeezy – “Sweet Life”Boosie Badazz – “I’m Sorry”Kendrick Lamar – “Momma”Rick Ross – “Smile Mama, Smile”Drake – “You & The 6”
Most Righteous Song For The Man Upstairs: As a rapper, your job is to inspire and to move the people, so it doesn’t hurt when you evoke the man upstairs or Biblical stories to rile up the people. These rappers here are some of the most notably devoted rappers in 2015 using quotes or mentioning the Lord’s stories in their raps.Rick Ross – “Free Enterprise”Jeezy – “God”Slim Thug – “Oh Lord”Lupe Fiasco – “Mural”Kendrick Lamar – “i”Logic ft Big Lenbo – “Young Jesus”Big Sean ft Drake – “Blessings”Vince Staples – “Señorita”
Best Missing You/#RIP Song – We all have that person that’s not around anymore, so let these songs be the ones to get you through those tough moments of missing that special someone.Wiz Khalifa ft Charlie Puth– “See You Again”Game – ft Scarface & Stacy Barthe – “Last Time You Seen”Fetty Wap – “Again”Post Malone – “Too Young”MGKft Leroy Sanchez – “Gone”Boosie Badazz ft Keyshia Cole, J Cole – “Black Heaven”
Best “OG” Triple-OG Songs – When OG’s talk you gotta listen, these are the songs that made us soak up game from the OG’s.2 Chainz – “Everything I Know”Pimp C ft Bun B, Juicy J, A$AP Rocky – “Wavybone”Jeezy – “Church In These Streets”Wiz Khalifa – “King of Everything”Rick Ross – “Crocodile Python”Game ft Drake – “100”Pusha T ft Kanye West, A$AP Rocky, The Dream – “M.P.A.”Diddy ft Future, King Los – “MMM”
“My Outfit On Fleek” Songs – When you just left the mall and you got a nice fit, these songs will play nicely as you bask in your new gear.Migos – “Pipe It Up”Future – “Blow A Bag”Jidenna – “Classic Man”Rich Homie Quan – “Flex” (Ooh Ooh Ooh)Drake & Future – “Jumpman”Drake – “Know Yourself”Chedda da Connect – “Flicka Da Wrist”Rick Ross ft Future – “D.O.P.E”
Biggest F*ck You To The Game – The rap game has its ups and downs, so when rappers made these songs, we understood and listened to how the industry has done them wrong be it beef, contracts or haters.Rick Ross – “Ghostwriter”Drake – “Energy”Drake – “Back to Back” (Meek Mill Diss)Lupe Fiasco – “Dots & Lines”Tory Lanez – “B.L.O.W.”
Best Song For The Ratchets: Ratchets have been going strong since 2014, but these songs made their way into 2015 and were perfect for that ratchet chick you met last week.Omarion ft Chris Brown, Jhene Aiko – “Post To Be”Big Sean – “I Don’t F With You”Rae Sremmurd – “Come Get Her”DJ Mustard ft Lil Wayne, Boosie, YG, Big Sean -“Face Down”Ty Dolla $ign ft E-40– “Saved”
Best “Its Lit” Songs –It’s LIT like 2015 so play these songs on your way to the club or a party.Major Lazer ft DJ Snake, MØ – “Lean On”Nicki Minajft Drake, Lil Wayne – “Truffle Butter”Ty Dolla $ign ft Rae Sremmurd – “Blasé”Travis Scott ft Future, 2 Chainz – “3500”Travis Scott – “Antidote”Future ft Drake – “Where Ya At”Rae Sremmurd – “No Flex Zone”
Boom Bap Real Raps: In this era of trap and turn up it was hard at times for “real hip-hop” to fit in. But we love real raps and there were a host of really dope songs that came out. Peep these below and go check out these artists albums:
Fashawn – “Confess” Dave East ft. Nas – “Forbes List” MED, Blu, Madlib ft. MF Doom – Knock Knock” Earl Sweatshirt ft. Vince Staples – “Wool” Oddisee – “That’s Love” Vince Staples – “Norf Norf” Talib Kweli & 9th Wonder ft Rapsody– “Every Ghetto”
Doin’ Numbers, Gettin’ Money: Need some motivation for stackin them dollars? Look no further, these songs had us after them commas and numbers!
Future – “F*ck Up Some Commas”Rick Ross – “Color Money”Drake – “10 Bands”Jadakiss ft Lil Wayne – “Kill”Joey Bada$$ – “Paper Trails”Wiz Khalifa ft K Camp & Juicy J – “Respect”Tyga – “Glitta”Big Sean ft Drake – “Blessings”Trae The Truth ft Future & Boosie Badazz – “Tricken Every Car I Get”
Inspiring Songs For Protest: 2015 was the year of Black Lives Matter and protest, check out how we got inspired to fight police brutality in 2015.Kendrick Lamar – “The Blacker The Berry”Kendrick Lamar – “Alright”J. Cole ft Omen – “Caged Bird”The Game ft Ab-Soul – “Dollar & A Dream”Jay Rock – “The Message”Big Sean – “One Man Can Change The World”Jadakiss ft Akon – “Y.O (Youthful Offenders)”
Video That Made Us Trip: Visuals are vital to an artist’s vision for a song, check out some of the most eye popping videos we saw this year!Migos – “One Time” The Weeknd – “In The Night” Tyler, The Creator – F*cking Young Young Thug – “Everyday” Big Sean – “Play No Games” ft Chris Brown & Ty Dolla $ign
Best Songs for the Strip Club: While dollars were finding their way into g-strings and ass cracks across the globe, these songs were playing frequently…Rae Sremmurd ft Nicki Minaj & Young Thug – “Throw Some Mo'”Future – “Freak Hoe”Fetty Wap – “Trap Queen”Meek Mill – ft Nicki Minaj & Chris Brown – “All Eyes On You”2 Chainz – “Lapdance In The Trap House”
Best Lyricist: Hip-Hop used to be all about the bars, but now the production has got to be on point for it to be hit. Vote in the poll below and let us know what you think!Best Producer: What the rapper without the beat? This year there were a few guys that laid the soundtrack for our lives. Give it up to these beat makers here and vote in the poll below and let us know what you think!
