And when it wasn't feeling dancefloors across the world, it was used on every radio station and street corner by rappers flexing their freestyling skills. Scott Storch went from notable to beat-maker to the man who can now charge ,000 a beat, knowing people will pay it from this club-banger alone. Scott Storch - Lean Back performed by Fat Joe And amidst all this he dropped an album that had most people (including Kanye) questioning how The Source didn't give the album a 5-mic classic rating. When he wasn't busy carving out hits for Twista, Jadakiss and Usher, he had Maroon 5 banging on his door asking for a remix. The first producer to win this award 2 years in succession, but quite frankly, at the moment there might as well not be another record producer on the planet. From beginning to end, their debut album begged to be played at the highest volume, and boy did i do that!!

Rick Rock's flawless production on 'Hyphy' and 'Go Dum'b accompanied by the hardcore gangsta raps of Doonie Baby, Mr stres and Goldie Gold meant The Federation just culdn't be forgotten.

I only came across them because of their collaboration with Twista on 'If I Had A Gun', but that alone made me immediately crave their album. Out of absoloutely nowhere, but hitting like a shotgun to the rib-cage, this group just jumped upon me. A succession of singles including collaborations with Nas and Andre 3000 ensured Kelis' status was not found upon just a one-off single. But one annoyingly catchy dancefloor filler in the name of 'Milkshake' pushed Kelis to the top of the ladies charts. At one time Kelis had given up on America and only released her albums in Europe where she still had a relatively solid fan base. And with everyone from Mariah Carey to acid house group The Prodigy asking for guest appearances, fans of all genres now know this Chi-Town native's name.Ī quiet year for the ladies, with no notable female emcees dropping worthy albums, i had to turn to the world of R'n'B for a lady her had almost been forgotten. A total of 5 singles were released of the 'Kamikaze' album, ensuring Twista stayed with us right through the year. But in 2004, Twista didn't just break into the mainstream, he made himself a household name and went multi-platinum. If i'm brutally honest, despite Twista being my all-time favourite emcee, i never thought i could justify giving him this slot. The Neverending StoryĦ) Daz Dillinger - DPGC: U Know What I'm Throwin Up The records 2004 wouldn't have been complete without:Ĩ) Method Man w/ Busta Rhymes - What's Happeningħ) Psychodrama - Time vs Life. Cam'ron surpised everyone by dropping a very, very solid album, Eminem confused everyone by dropping a very, er, album, but the true story came again from Chicago as EC Illa hooked up with The Legendary Traxtser for the 'Whitefolks' album which is already being hailed as a classic. Jay-Z's 'The Black Album' was tampered with by everyone from England's very own Dangermouse to metal rappers Linkin Park. Outkast dominated the first part of the year as their 2003 released Speakerboxxx/The Love Below continued to knock out single after single, most of which never seemed to come out of rotation. Outside of Chicago, the Benzino and Ja Rule vs Eminem and 50 Cent beef continued to rage, but quite frankly everyone stopped listening (and reading). His soul-influenced beats were helped by the genius of violinist Miri Ben-Ari, but his rhymes really shone as Kanye talked about everything from education to God to the how the slave trade still exists and brought these messages to the mainstream. In 2004 however, a near fatal car crash lead Kanye to come from behind the boards and pic up a mic to devastating effect. This Chicago native broke through into the mainstream thanks to his top-nothced production on Jay-Z's classic 'The Blueprint'. 'Kamikaze' succeeded in going platinum thanks to the help of a bloke by the name of Kanye West, to whom 2004 really belonged. Some of you listened, but some of you slept, well everyone's finally woke up now! 'Kamikaze' was seen as a disappointment by most life-ling Twista fans as, with the exceptions of tracks such as 'Get Me' and 'Kill Us All', it was far removed from 1997's ground-breaking 'Adrenaline Rush.' 2004 was all about Chicago, and damn, wasn't it about time? I been telling folks for years about Twista, through word of mouth and by this site.

Twista kamikaze genius