The year 2009 came as quickly as it went and regardless of what year it may be, Hip-Hop, as a matter of fact music in general, has always been the focal point on everyone’s highlight list. 2009 would probably be on a lot of people’s minds for a while, as this year alone was a wild year with many events, some good and some bad. We were faced with the passing of a beloved musical icon, followed the news as a certain R&B artist almost destroyed his career, and witnessed yet another Hip-Hop feud amongst artists. Nevertheless, some events provided a positive turnaround, lest we forget; our first Black President was sworn into office marking 2009 into history. On another positive note, Slim Shady made his official return from his 4 year hiatus as well. Let’s review the year of 2009 in 24hourhiphop.com’s year end On the Clock Report.

My President is Black

When Jeezy coined that phrase to a world that wasn’t yet aware of what was about to happen, the Atlanta MC reassured the people that his prediction of a Black President would definitely come true, the track itself went on to become a Billboard hit. If you might recall, the song was leaked prior to the November elections in 2008 and at the time, we didn’t know what the final outcome would have been, but hope was in the air for a dramatic change. 2009 will always mark into the history the year we sworn our first Black President into office in front of millions making Barack Obama the 44th President of the United States of America.

Obama’s presidency shed a sigh of relief for many people as they prayed for change. The American people were tired of the 8 years that Bush was in office. We believed in Obama then and we believe in him now. Let’s not fault the man for trying to repair what Bush left in shambles. 24hourhiphop.com rarely dives into politics or even reported on it, 2009 was the year that Hip-Hop ironically intertwined with politics making it quite interesting.

The Chronicles of Chris Brown

The fans alongside the industry witnessed a side of Chris Brown that they never thought would ever come out of him. The once R&B phenom became a monster in the public’s eyes. His assault on R&B vixen Rihanna caused the both of them to miss the Grammy’s of that year, also landing him in jail. The bruises that Rihanna concurred exhibited a violent side of Brown that fans, even his artist peers, couldn’t believe was in him. After that, many skeletons emerged from out of the closet exposing Brown’s past. Media outlets reported that at a young age Brown witnessed his father beat on his mother. After that incident, many fans and artists took Rihanna’s side, one of those artists even included Hip-Hop mogul Jay-Z. If you remember, he was the sole reason she was even signed to Def Jam. Either way, a convicted Brown received the short end of the stick as he was fortunate enough not to receive any prison time. And even with all his apologies to the public and to Rihanna through the media, the people have yet to forgive him and probably won’t for a while. The aftermath effects continue to plague Brown as it is blatantly witnessed in his recent album release. Certain stores are refusing to sell his album ‘Graffiti.’

Chris Brown really put himself in a predicament that will take him some time to get out of. Nobody told him or even pushed him to take it to that level where he had to lay his hands on Rihanna. There would no way that the general public could ever forgive Brown or even look upon him in a different manner after what he put himself in. His constant apologies are apparently not fooling anyone, no matter how many times he does it. So is 2010 his year to save his fading career?

The Tragic Loss of the Legendary King of Pop

The tragic and sudden passing of the King of Pop was a devastating moment, not to mention those following weeks into his funeral were tragic and depressing for many people including all of us at 24hourhiphop.com. All of us here followed the chronicles of his death until the day they actually laid him to rest in his final resting spot. The music that he gave to world continued through three generations and covered many different genres; leave it to Michael to always transition into the music that hot at the moment. The world watched a young Michael alongside his brothers grow and blossom into his own solo career through three decades. He was an icon, a legend, the definite King of Pop, and of course, everyone’s favorite artist from childhood to adulthood. Many artists that we listen to now, can admit that he was quite possibly their main inspiration into the prosperous career they have now. The immaculate ‘Thriller’ album, until this day, sold the most copies in history than any other album from any other artist. The latest documentary ‘This Is It’ portrayed a touching and humble side of Michael that we all finally got to know. The documentary exhibited his talent, his will, and his love for the music that wrote and performed for years. His humanitarian ways won’t go unnoticed either, that I guarantee.

If you find some time, checkout my tribute to Michael entitled ‘Gone Too Soon’ in the Honest Truth section I wrote a while back, just days after his sudden death. That article will tell you exactly how the King of Pop was one of my favorite artists.

Triple Cs vs. G-Unit

Why does it never cease to amaze me when an artist calls out another artist, it marks the beginning of yet another Hip-Hop war? During the early stages of 2009, Ross and 50 began taking random shots at each other releasing diss track after diss track, anything to get each other’s attention. 50 has been known to take on opponents that are reluctant to respond or don’t have the lyrical ability to respond. It seemed as though in this case, Ross was the wrong opponent to continue on with lyrically. 50 realized that he wasn’t getting through on the music level, took it to a different level, a more personal level. With the assistance of his ThisIs50.com, he was able to air a video of a personal exclusive interview with Ross’ baby mama. Apparently 50 flew her and a friend out from Miami to come and disparage Ross on video. 50 even went as far as to stalk Khaled’s mother at her place of employment with a video posted on his site, which he later took down. Somewhere down the line, the rest of the Triple Cs camp eventually went head to head with the other two G-Unit henchmen making it an official Hip-Hop group war. This feud continued on through the rest of 2009, but say what you may, Ross came out the victor of this whole charade on a higher lyrical level, even the media seems to think so.

Throughout the years that 50 has been in the limelight, he has always bragged on destroying the careers of different artists. Interestingly enough, some of artists eventually faded away on their own reconnaissance, leaving 50 to claim victor to all those in question. Fif has never really backed down to any feud, but it was obvious that he met his match lyrically when it came down to the Boss. All in all, that was a wild period in 2009 for Hip-Hop music as the whole industry was focused on them at one point in time leading up to the release of their Triple Cs debut ‘Custom Cars & Cycles.’

The Return of Slim Shady

After 4 years of being hiatus, lying back watching as Hip-Hop took a turn for the worse, 2009 marked the return of the most diabolical lyricists to date literally step back into the limelight to reclaim his spot. Lyrically Shady has always been known to a monster on the mic. His lyrics contained punchlines and metaphors that always made you rewind the track a second time just to question what he actually said. Every album since the release of ‘The Slim Shady LP,’ he has always had the assistance of the Cali legend Dr. Dre by his side. Dre blessed him with phenomenal beats and gave him the ability to do music his own way. The last time we heard from Shady, his release of ‘Encore’ was received with mixed reviews. His die-hard fans enjoyed that album, but the critics were hard on him. Eminem eventually went into a personal hiatus in order to deal with his own demons. He came out once to release a compilation entitled ‘The Re-Up’ and then just as quickly as he came, quickly he went. 2009 marked the official return of Eminem as news of ‘Relapse’ and its forthcoming sequel hit the headlines and everyone went crazy. Em was then the topic of everyone’s discussion up to the release of ‘Relapse.’ Between the release of the first and the anticipation into the second, Em eventually emerged on featured tracks better and more diabolical then before all amid a mini-feud between Mariah Carey and her husband Nick Cannon, which eventually died down putting Em as the victor. Now as we move forward, ‘Relapse 2’ is still in the final stages of production awaiting that release, until then you can mark 2010 has the year that Wayne and Em made their first track together entitled ‘Drop the World.’ Be ready for more material from this lyrical monster in the months to come because apparently he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

I’ve been listening to Eminem since the first release of his ‘The Slim Shady LP,’ I must admit the first time I heard the track, ‘My Name is…’ I thought that track was eccentric, however, unique and original at the same time. Shady revolutionized Hip-Hop and proved to the masses that his skills and his lyrics were here to stay. Over a short period of time, Eminem’s name grew to overcome one of the top names in Hip-Hop alongside Jay-Z, Nas, Outkast, and the entire Wu-Tang Clan members. And throughout all his albums, he always continues to amaze me on different beats and different deliveries. Most notable track on ‘Relapse’ would have to be ‘Beautiful.’ That track in general deals with a lot of personal issues he might have been facing at the time, interestingly enough, a lot of people were able to relate.

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Checkout the Eminem – Beautiful Video