Fritz le Chat's Sixth Annual Rap Awards
SHIT THAT RULED IN 2003
Paris came back to the game, dope 80s fashion, facial hair (men only), quitting your major-label A&R job to be a broke-ass writer/musician/actor/bartender, Ludacris, cocaine, the Southern invasion, Dirty out of jail, hot chicks propositioning me on Friendster, pink (not the singer, the color), rock & roll, rap music
SHIT THAT SUCKED IN 2003
Everybody sleepin' on Speakerboxxx, trucker hats everywhere, bad 80s fashion, open mics (stay at home), Dawson's Creek going off the air, Ja Rule, cocaine, everyone rockin' ugly-ass Nikes, Sean Paul, those stupidly long white T-shirts (what are you, five? do you sleep in that thing?), all these electronic/rock/rap groups with dope production and terrible MCs––it's such a shame y'all are wasting good beats like that.
SONG OF THE YEAR
Styles of Beyond "Be Your Dog" (Spytech) With the killer Stooges sample and katana-sharp rhymes, this song absolutely murdered everything else this year.
WORST SONG OF THE YEAR
Anything by Black Eyed Peas.
These dudes are so corny, take your little sister's copy of their shit and burn it and make her listen to some DJ Quik.
TOP NINE ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
Styles of Beyond Megadef (Spytech)
The D.O.C. Deuce (Silverback)
Viktor Vaughn Vaudeville Villain (Sound Ink)
Tes X2 (Mush)
Awol One & Daddy Kev Slanguage (Mush)
Aesop Rock Bazooka Tooth (Definitive Jux)
Oddities The Scenic Route (Battle Axe)
Buck 65 Talkin' Honky Blues (Warner)
Atmosphere Seven's Travels (Rhymesayers)
*bonus: DJ Frane Electric Garden of Delights (Tuff City Massive)
WORST ALBUM OF THE YEAR
I can't even pick one; I was forced to listen to a lot of bad shit. From overhyped major-label crap to indie-rap records that sound like every other indie-rap record, there were a lot of duds dropped this year.
LABEL OF THE YEAR
Nobody really dominated this year, but the odds were pretty good with these labels: Stones Throw, Definitive Jux, Mush, Lex, Sound Ink, Spytech, Low Pressure, Wide Hive, Embedded, Ninja Tune, Wordsound, Rhymesayers, Day by Day, Jazz Fudge.
SLEPT-ON SHIT OF THE YEAR
Beans Tomorrow Right Now (Warp)
Kenna New Sacred Cow (Columbia)
Go buy both of these records right now––that's an order.
BLOWIN' UP IN 2004
Fat Lip The Loneliest Punk (Delicious Vinyl)
Four years late, but it looks like the Pharcyde's strongest rapper's debut solo album is finally going to come out this year. From what I've heard so far, it's on some Devin the Dude levels of goodness. The release date for this record should see people lining up at record stores like they do for Star Wars movies. Also check for Ryan Styles & DJ Moves Green Bottles & Teen Models (Low Pressure) and Big Black Lincoln.
ABOUT TO FALL OFF
The music industry (duh)
WHERE THE HELL IS…
Tech N9ne? Governor Bolts? MC 900 Ft. Jesus? Izzy Ice? King Tee?
WIFEY OF THE YEAR
Paris Hilton. Nah, I'm playing. She won it last year, but I'm going with Rosario Dawson again this year, for more-than-obvious reasons.
VIDEOS OF THE YEAR
Snoop & Pharrell "Beautiful"
OutKast "Hey Ya!"
Fat Lip "Here Comes the Lip" (check it out at www.platesanimation.com)
DJS OF THE YEAR
DJ A.M. (this dude came to Toronto and absolutely destroyed a party, including like a 20-minute NWA medley, which had me breaking shit), DJ Z-Trip, Kid Koala, DJ Skratch Bastid
DEMOS OF THE YEAR
Jon Juan & Record Face
Transit & DJ Tonic
Montana Slim & Nevada Brown
NON-RAP SHIT I WAS FEELING
Sam Roberts, Hot Hot Heat, Billy Talent, the White Stripes, the Stills, Alexisonfire, Death From Above
FRITZ THA CAT
Send me stuff. New address. Email me for it: fritzthacat@viceland.com
Top Nine of 2003 (in no particular order):
1. Dirt McGirt 2. Montreal 3. Styles of Beyond 4. pink 5. Belmont Milds 6. smoking weed
7. Steam Whistle pilsner 8. Alexisonfire 9. quitting your job
