NBA Playoffs...So Far + 5 Playoff X-Factors To Watch + My Top 15 Dunks of the Regular Season

Playoff Bullets

• The Knicks have suffocated the Celtics in the 2nd halves of both of their wins, when Jeff Green and Avery Bradley are not at the top of their games, the Celtic offense is anemic. Doubt they thought they'd be so reliant on those two.

• Keeping KG out of foul trouble has to be an imperative, for both himself and the Celtics.

• Anytime the Lakers get away from using both bigs on the low blocks, they are doomed.

• Gregg Popovich secretly loves that everyone keeps saying that Manu Ginobili is done. Manu is as competitive as anyone.

• The Clips have controlled the pace of play versus Memphis thus far. If the games make it to 100, big advantage to the Clips.

• The Bulls offense is a tough watch at times. #FreeDRose

• The Houston Rockets are a poor man's Oklahoma City Thunder.

• The NBA is unquestionably a superstars league. Certain guys get calls, while others never receive them. This works both ways, but almost always in the stars' favour. Example: Greg Smith got a taunting technical for merely flexing following an intense dunk in traffic, meanwhile Russell Westbrook screams aloud, flexes and scowls in the faces of opponents, teammates, ushers, cameramen and school children alike. 

• Klay Thompson and Steph Curry might well be the best shooting backcourt in the NBA. Ever? Too Soon.

• (Pats self on back.) I was right about J.R. Smith. He won the 6th man award, and has done nothing but hit high degree of difficulty jumpers since the playoffs tipped off.

• Joakim Noah's return in game 3 provided a spiritual lift for the Bulls in the first 3 quarters, in the 4th he physically carried the team with multiple hustle plays, defensive leadership and big hoops. The box score won't show what a difference maker he was in Game 2.

• Indiana was more ready for the playoffs than their skeptics and late season slide suggested.

• Hmmm the tandem of Al Horford and Josh Smith will yet again, not yield a NBA Championship to the Atlanta Hawks franchise this season, who knew. Really thought things would be different this year. Insanity.

• Patrick Beverley may have backed down from Russell Westbrook in game 1, he was a noticeably more aggressive player in game 2, he really got his nose in there. Frustrating Westbrook at times, which I think could be a good strategy.

•  The Heat shouldn't lose a game to Milwaukee, not as long as the games are 48 minutes.

• Paul George franchise player? Getting there.

• Haven't seen a lot of it, but we got a Chris Paul/ Tony Allen stand off with the game on the line Monday Night. Chris Paul 1 Tony Allen 0.

• Lakers and Spurs at opposite ends of the pool when it comes to depth. Even Joeseph has looked good at times off the Spurs bench.

• Milk Carton: T-Mac

• No 'surprises' so far and only a few of these first round match ups (DEN/GS Gm1, LAC/MEM Gm2, CHI/BKL Gm2, OKC/HOU Gm2) have provided much in the way of great entertainment. Enjoy the rest of Clippers v. Grizz, and Nuggets v. Warriors and then let's bring on a much juicier set of 2nd round match ups. 

The NBA couldn't have picked a shittier song, in my opinion, none the less, here is a 30 second clip of the NBA Playoff highlights so far, in a nutshell of unholy musical hell nutshells. 

5 Playoff X-Factors to Watch - Most of the 'key' players on each of the teams are well known, it goes without saying that Lebron James is important to the Heat, as is Kevin Durant for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Here are a couple of players who, while they may fly under the radar of the post game highlight package, will be relied upon to perform in a major way if their respective team's are going fulfill their championship ambitions.

Mike Conley - Conley has been the best player on the court for the Memphis Grizzlies through the first two games, apologies to Marc Gasol. While he is admittedly a big part of the Memphis offense, he is the starting point guard and he plays the lion share of minutes there, he hardly garners the same attention or praise as the point guards he'll be potentially matched up against throughout the playoffs if the Grizz are to advance - Chris Paul, Tony Parker, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry, and Ty Lawson. His ability to keep those match ups as close as possible, he's played Paul very close so far, give the Grizz a huge boost if they hope to advance to the finals.


Matt Barnes - Difficult to choose which member of the Los Angeles Clipper bench mob to choose, Bledsoe is undeniably dynamic but won't see enough floor time because of Paul, Crawford and inexcusably Billups,; Crawford is too easy an consistently good to be an option and Odom isn't fulfilling a large enough role yet. However, Matt Barnes is. So far Barnes has been his usual pesky self on the defensive end, and just active enough to make an impact on the offensive end. But if the Clippers are going to get through the Oklahoma City Thunder and eventually the Miami Heat they are going to lean heavily on Matt Barnes to defend the two best players on the planet . You can bet that if the Clippers draw the Thunder in their 2nd round match up that Barnes will see heavy minutes covering Durant, how he performs in this role will have a big say in how well the Clippers resist the high powered Thunder attack.

Jarrett Jack - Following the season ending injury that David Lee suffered in Game 1 of the series, Jarrett Jack entered the starting line up in Game 2 for the Golden State Warriors. He was a revelation for the Warriors, who were able to play 'small ball' - their 3 guard triad darting about, spotting up and knocking down shots from all over. Jack was the key playmaker, setting up Klay Thompson and Steph Curry. Jack's ability to create off the dribble and run the show relieves Curry of these duties, freeing him up to do what he does best, shoot. The absence of a healthy Kenneth Faried made it hard for the Nuggets to counter with any effective 'big' line ups and the 3 guard unit is something I expect to see a lot more of if the Warriors are going to have any success going forward in the post season.

Kenyon Martin - Kenyon Martin has been the quintessential 'reserve' unit for the aging, banged up Knicks. With Marcus Camby, Amare Stoudemire and Sheed all down for the proverbial count, the Knicks reached out to veteran big man Kenyon Martin for some serviceable play inside. Martin has meant everything and more for the Knicks since his arrival. Familiar to many of the former Nuggets on the Knicks squad, Martin gives the Knicks the added toughness on the inside they desperately needed up front. This is especially true when you consider that the consensus weakness of the Miami Heat is their lack of size, toughness and rebounding in the middle. Martin has been around the block and his familiarity, experience, and leadership will be relied upon in a major way if the Knicks should make it through the size of Indiana and meet the Heat in their challenge to take the East.

Chris "The Birdman" Anderson - Much like the Knicks sought out Martin to shore up their front line, the Heat also felt their front court lacked some depth and toughness. The Birdman has a bit of a history to say the least, despite experiencing a few bumps along the way his energy and defense have never been in question. With a solid group of veteran leaders in place, incorporating the formerly 'wild child' Anderson into the fold has been a smooth transition. Anderson has taken over the lead role of big man when the Heat occasionally go 'big' with Anderson at the 5, Bosh at the 4 and Lebron at the 3. His energy has been uber apparent thus far as he leads the postseason in player efficiency rating per 48 minutes thus far. He never needs a play called his way, yet he is continually involved in the action, especially on the defensive end and offensive glass. Anderson has to be considered a big part of the reason people feel the Heat are an even better squad this year, than they were last year. Consider, the Heat are 41-3 since Andersen joined the squad back in January. If Anderson continues to keep his motor running throughout the playoffs, expect a trip back to the Finals to be an easy ride.

My Top 15 Dunks of the 2012-12 Season

15. Griffin takes the contact from Roy Hibbert and still has the strength and power to push the ball through.

14. Durant shakes Michael Beasley with a shrug of his shoulders, before extending over Gortat with for the finish.

13. Barnes explodes over Ilyasova and the rest of the Milwaukee Bucks

12 .Josh Smith catches Brook Lopez in transition.

11. Kobe reminded us he still had it a few times this year, here was one on a noted shot blocker, Josh Smith.

10. Gerald Henderson pulls a trick out of Dwight Howard's dunk comp. bag and literally 'throws ' the ball through on this finish over D12.

09 .J.R. catches one of the most acrobatic alley oops of the season against the San Antonio Spurs.

08. Jeff Green climbs the ladder on Al Jefferson and the Utah Jazz.

07. Griffin throws down a tasty windmill to top of the Jamal Crawford between the legs platter delivery.

06. Kidd Gilchrist gives us the 'little over big', dunk of the year with this abuser over Piston's 7 footer, Greg Monroe.

05. Kobe Bryant dunks on both Gerald Wallace and Kris Humphries to put the Lakers up in crunch time.

 

04. DeMar Derozen delivers the highlight of my Toronto Raptor viewing with this embarrassment of Timofey Mosgov, putting the Russian big on yet another poster.

03. Harrison Barnes goes chest to chest with Nikola Pekovic and comes out on top in a major way.

02. Lebron James unofficially retires Jason Terry. "It looked like he jumped out of the mezzanine to dunk this ball." - Hubie Brown

 01. DeAndre Jordan posterizes Brandon Knight in the Slam Dunk of the Year with a full assault alley oop slam. 

NBA: Season in Review + Top 10 First Round Storylines + New Hip Hop 2.0

The Boston v. Indiana Game scheduled for Tuesday Night was cancelled in the wake of Monday's tragic events at the Boston marathon, my deepest sympathies to the families involved. I never understand violence perpetrated against the innocent, it seems so senseless as a political motive, beyond that I guess the world is just sick in some cases. Truly horrific scene of events, good on Boston for their poise and adversity in the face of desperate times. Switching lanes, we're 1,229 games since last seasons finals, we know that the Heat are the best team in the East, and the Thunder are the best team in the West. Sound familiar? Begs the question, was that all necessary? Absolutely! Here's what we learned... in bullets.

•  The Heat have transformed their legacy from a most hated franchise, to most revered in a little over 2 years, pretty incredible how talent usually wins people over in the end, and Lebron was a shitty villain. 

• Their incredible win streak single-handedly saved the regular season, especially in the East where it felt like we were just playing out nearly 2 months of basketball with the expectant results already decided. (We were, the playoff picture has hardly shifted) Miami's run made the dog days that followed the all-star break into must see TV.  I watched piously on my Samsung smartphone in a sportsbar in Charlottetown, PEI, apparently the San Jose Sharks are big there. One of the biggest sporting events of the year, can't get 1 screen? Shout out to the good people at 88.80.11.29/, that's where I catch my live sports. They have most games available, as well as as multiple ESPN feeds.  

• The Knicks laid out the future blue print for the NBA offense, an athletic scoring 4 (at times undersized) with a long active defensive 5, mixed with lots and lots of 3's (Broke NBA Record for 3's made). Hmmm kind of sounds like Dallas circa 2011. Either way, the results are irrefutable. 

• Basketball is going back to Seattle, it just is, has to.

• John Wall can really ball, when there's millions of dollars on the line. 20.7ppg, 7.8apg, 4.5rpg, 1.5stlpg following the all star break. More importantly, the Wizards were 24-25 with Wall and 5-28 without. Numbers and win value, he'll get max money.

• The Brooklyn Nets were undeniably better, but were still not elite. Only 2 of their last 15 wins were against playoff teams. I'm not convinced, I think as Deron Williams goes, they go.

• Chandler Parsons! Chandler Parsons! Chandler Parsons! - the amount we shit on former college standouts of the caucasian persuasion (think Laettner, Morrison, Ferry, Van Horne) - why not give a little love for one that has burst on the scene in semi unexpected fashion and excelled in Houston. 

• J.R. Smith can make the most difficult shots, and make em look easy. Only superseded by the great Kobe Bryant, in this regard, imo. I've learned to hold my tongue and praise the result on some of his looks.

• George Karl is the man.

• A long time ago the Bobcats had a 3 game streak to move to 4-3 on the season; hope. The Bobcats finished the season on a 3 game win streak, to move to 21-61, just one spot out of the #1 seed for the upcoming lottery. No hope.

• Basketball may not be played with the same physicality that it has been in the past, but the athleticism is undeniably at an all time high, across the board.

• The Sacramento Kings owners might not be douche bags, but they sure seem like it.

• The Lakers season long dramedy turned out to be a tragedy, as losing Kobe Bryant deprives any and all basketball fans of some quality playoff moments, and possibly much more going forward. Don't like Kobe, but I hope the idiot can get back in short order.

• Who's rushing to the Andrew Bynum sweepstakes this summer? I'm impressed Philly won as many games as they did. (34)

• Rudy Gay shoots 17 shots a game to get 18 points a game. I don't like it Toronto. How does Colangelo still have a job, I ask, again and again.

• Portland never returned from spring break. 13 losses to close the season.

• Despite the Heat, the Western Conference remains the class of the NBA with 10 teams .500 or better to the East's 7, all 8 playoff teams scored a positive point differential, and the West certainly has more scoring with the NBA's 4 highest scoring teams, Denver (106.1),       Houston (106.0), Oklahoma City (105.7), and San Antonio (103.0), all residing out West.

• Steph Curry can stay healthy for a whole season, and when he does, he's an elite shooting talent. (Set new record for most 3pointers made in a single season) In case you missed it, 54 in MSG. (The Season High)

• Derrick Rose is not the second coming of Adrian Peterson; the Chicago Bulls are more like the Washington Nationals than the Redskins.

• Carmelo just had his best season as a professional, can he make this his best playoffs, plenty of room for improvement. He and the Knicks are both due! 

• While every other Western 'contender' peaked at different times throughout the season, the Oklahoma City Thunder remained in the "who's the best" question consistently and were without valley, losing consecutive games only 3 times this season, unlike their adversaries. San Antonio (4), Los Angeles Clippers (6), Memphis Grizzlies (6), Denver Nuggets (7).

Hardware

MVP  - Lebron James - Unquestionably the MVP, Best Player, Best Team. Runner Up: Kevin Durant

ROY - Damian Lillard - Only a question of if it will be unanimous. Late slide will prevent that. Runner Up: Anthony Davis

DPOY - Marc Gasol - Best defensive player on one of the best defensive team, Noah wins if he'd played more games. Runner Up: Joakim Noah

6th Man - J.R. Smith - Knicks #2 scoring option comes off the bench but plays all the big minutes, takes a lot of the big shots. Runner Up: Jamal Crawford

Most Improved - Larry Sanders - Ensuring the Larry Sanders show is something we'll be tuned into for years to come. Runner Up: Omer Asik

COY - Eric Spoelstra will win, George Karl or Tom Thibodeau should win. Karl has the starless Nuggets at the top of the ultra difficult West, and Nate Robinson is like the anti-Derrick Rose, yet the Bulls survive in the East.


1st Team All NBA
G Chris Paul
G Kobe Bryant
F Lebron James
F Kevin Durant
C/F Tim Duncan 

2nd Team All NBA
G Russell Westbrook
G Dwayne Wade/ James Harden
F Carmelo Anthony
F Blake Griffin
C/F Marc Gasol


1st Team All Defensive
G Tony Allen
G Avery Bradley
F Lebron James
F Joakim Noah
F/C Marc Gasol

My Top 10 First Round Storylines to Watch this NBA Post Season

10. Whats Going on in Indiana? Indiana seemingly was the consensus number 2 in the East near the All Star break, since then the Knicks have taken off and the Pacers have nearly faded into obscurity, what gives? After playing much of the season without Danny Granger, the Pacers anxiously awaited his return only to have him get injured again nearly straight away. I think this damaged their psyche a little bit down the stretch, but I look to see them regain their footing in the playoffs as a sound defensive minded squad. Paul George needs to continue his ascension to alpha dog role and George Hill needs to win the point guard battle with Jeff Teague. On the inside, Hibbert's length should give Horford some trouble, George v. Smith; there's some nice match-ups here. I like the Pacers in 6.

9. Juicy Match Ups - Melo v. KG - Playoff Edition and Chris Paul v. Tony Allen - "You ever hear of an octagon" - Kobe Bryant. We all remember the 'honey nut cheerios' incident from earlier this year, in which Kevin Garnett was able to get inside of the head Carmelo Anthony and subsequently lead the Celtics over the Knicks. That was back in 2012 and those days were quite some time ago, the Celtics are a much different team without Rondo at the controls and Carmelo is coming off arguably the best 2 months of his career. Both Garnett and Melo are invaluable to their team's potential success in the playoffs. Chris Paul is undoubtedly the best on court general in the game at the moment, Tony Allen is one of the best on the ball defenders in the game today, immovable object meet unstoppable force. Allen will try and be physical with Paul but expect Paul to  give just as much as he takes and use an array of moves to get free himself  or create contact and get to the line. 

8. WWLD - What Would Lebron Do - If you can watch only one player this playoffs it has to be Lebron, without question Lebron is a player we will delight in telling future generations about, his greatness and the joys of watching him. Big, as they say.

7. First to 110 points wins! - Let's get ready for a track meet, in what could be a sleeper pick for the most exciting series of the first round. Two teams very similar in style, the Warriors play much like the Nuggets, only maybe not quite as well. Both the Warriors and Nuggets like to get out and run, scoring at over 100 points a game apiece. Both also gave up more than 100 points a game on the defensive end, so this really should be a shoot out. With Gallinari going down, and Kenneth Faried and Ty Lawson a little banged up, this 3 v 6 could prove itself very interesting. Nuggets in 7.

6. Old Giants: Lakers v. Spurs - Not an Epic Tale - The Lakers made good on Kobe's promise and got themselves into the playoffs, but to what end? I'm not buying this latest push of Lakers hype, suggesting a Dwight led Lakers squad will upset the number seed 2 San Antonio Spurs. No question the Spurs stumbled into the playoffs somewhat, Parker hasn't looked the same since he returned from injury and Manu hasn't been 100% healthy all season. Parker is still better than anything the Lakers have in the backcourt, included a banged up Steve Nash. Duncan is still arguably the best big man in the series and Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard are better perimeter players than anything the Lakers are going to trot out, including World Peace. Let's not even begin to discuss the coaching advantage Pop affords the Spurs. I'm just not buying this as a good series, Spurs in 5.

5. Will Derrick Rose Return? The Bulls take on the Nets in a series where the story is more about the players that aren't playing than those that are. The Bulls have been seriously undermanned all season long with Rose out from his torn ACL in last seasons playoffs, but they also begin the series without their defensive anchor Joakim Noah. Hard to say the Bulls haven't mailed in the 2013 season at this point, taking their time bringing Rose back, no moves at trade deadline, reluctance to pay Omar Asik or Kyle Korver in offseason but then it is the playoffs. If the Bulls turn it around and get some momentum, say take it to a game 7, is there any chance that Rose suits up? He's been practicing for a couple of weeks now, if the former MVP joins the defensively solid but offensively challenged Bulls, this easily becomes the story of the playoffs. Damn I miss watching this guy play. Bulls in 7.

4. The Miami Heat's Legacy - I honestly think that the Heat are now starting to realize the feeling of greatness, the 27 game streak being the great catalyst for this. During the streak their was numerous occasions in which the Heat rose to challenge to keep their streak alive. They began to play for something greater than just the game, there place in history. I think they realize that if you play at that elite level, long enough, you can be remembered with immortal distinction. With that said, I fully expect the Heat to sweep the Bucks as we begin to generate the potential talk of them sweeping the playoffs, a potentially more historical win streak. Professed history major.

3.*Western Conference Series To Watch - Grizzlies vs.Clippers - Grit v. Glamour, Labour v. Lob, Substance v. Style - This series is a rematch of last year's 7 game series slug-fest, which the Clippers came away from with the victory. Before dismissing the Grizzlies, remember that Zach Randolph was not healthy for last year's playoffs, so expect the Memphis half court offense to be a different beast this time around. Will the defensive minded Grizz be able to limit the free flowing, up tempo style of the Los Angeles Clippers to dominate play, preferring instead to slow it down, and grind it out in the half court grind. The pace of play will be one of the dominant factors, but I think the Clippers improved play in the half court and balanced perimeter shooting will be the difference. I like the Clippers in 7.

2.*Eastern Conference Series to Watch Celtics vs. Knicks - Is KG healthy enough to  rally the aging Celtics to victory one last time? I think this is certainly the most interesting series of the first round, the always tough, yet aging, Celtics square off with the Knicks in what has been a flip flop of fates for the Atlantic Division rivals in 2013. The Knicks are the favourite this time around, coming in as the division champs and number 2 seed, winners of 16 of their final 20 heading into the playoffs. The Celtics come in losing 12 of their last 20, but that's all irrelevant because it's the playoffs now and the regular season was just foreplay, and these two teams know each other well. KG has been out for much of the past month with a variety of ailments, maybe it was precautionary; he was just saving himself for the playoffs, or, maybe he is legitimately banged up. Until we know just how healthy Garnett is, it's hard to say how much of a chance the Celtics have, as he is the key to their effort on the defensive end. However, if Garnett's good to go, this becomes a real dogfight; Avery Bradley pesters J.R. Smith on the perimeter, Garnett, Green and Bass team up on Carmelo on the defensive end, crowding him and wearing on him physically and Pierce always plays big in MSG. Of course the C's need all of this to happen just to compete with the Knicks, so I like the Knicks chances, but this certainly isn't the cake walk a 2 v. 7 in the East usually is. Knicks in 7. 

1. James Harden's return to Oklahoma City - James Harden leads Houston's high octane offense into Oklahoma City to face his former team, the defending Western Conference champions. Harden has proven to be everything that Houston hoped he'd be and more as a franchise player, finishing in 5th scoring at over 25ppg and often serving as the trigger man for the high powered Houston offense. But if there is any team that knows Harden's limitations or imperfections, it's the Thunder. Not to mention that the Thunder score on par with the Rockets and defend much better on the other end. It will be fun to watch Harden navigate his way against his former teammates but the Thunder have far more defensive playmakers (Ibaka, Sefolosha, Westbrook), and an equally if not more high octane offense lead by Kevin Durant, only the 2nd best basketball player on planet Earth. I like the Thunder in 5.
 
Hip Hop 2.0 - The Top 20 Songs of the Past 2 Months (March-April)

PVR NR
N/A  20. No New Friends - Drake Feat. Rick Ross & Lil Wayne - Using the old "made a hot line, into a hot song" concept, Drake almost succeeds. It's alright, but nothing classic.

N/A  19. Congratulations - Common Feat. Concaine 80's - A very smooth spring feeling beat, Common borders on corny at times though.

N/A  18. Numbers On the Board - Pusha T - A bit of a polarizing beat, I think you either dig it or you don't.

N/A  17. A Day in the Life - Joey Bada$$ - Joey Basa$$ continues to impress, keeping the boom bap sound of New York alive for the younger generation..

N/A  16. Maine On Fire - J. Cole - Another typical boast off from J. Cole, typically, he's better than most.

N/A  15. Started From the Bottom - Mike Posner Feat Asher Roth, TMills, Chuck Inglish and King Chip - A remix of the very popular Drake tune that headlined the early 2013 hip hop scene, a very different take though.

N/A  14. Rusty - Tyler The Creator Feat. Domo Genesis and Earl Sweatshirt - Tyler the Creator at his most provocative, I think he's improving from shock to substance.

N/A  13. Sunday's Best, Monday's Worst - Black Milk - Plays like 2 songs in one, something differently and utterly enjoyable. For whatever reason, I couldn't embed the video but you can find it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72t2k-OQ_e8 and I highly recommend you check it out.

N/A  12. Girls Love Beyonce - Drake Feat. James Flauntleroy - Drake's, err, 'tribute' to Beyonce, with James Flauntleroy singing the 'Say My Name' chorus, Darke's undeniably catchy once again.

N/A  11. They Die By Dawn - The Bullitts Feat. Mos Def, Jay Electronica and Lucy Liu - Off the soundtrack for a spaghetti western of the same name, this is worth a listen just for the Jay Electronica verse, Mos Def holds his own as well.

N/A  10. Brothers - Kid Cudi Feat. ASAP Rocky & King Chip - ASAP Rocky lends his voice on another standout track from Cudi's, "Indicud".

04.    09. Cypher - Hit-Boy Feat. Kent M$ney, Audio Push, B Mac The Queen, Schoolboy Q, Casey Veggies, Xzibit, Rick Ross, Method Man, Redman, Raekwon -  Dynamite posse cut, a Hit-Boy creation that just keeps on coming hard without a chorus.

06.    08.  Jonylah Forever - Lupe Fiasco - Lupe penned this song in dedication to an infant who was fatally shot recently in Chicago. A creative and positive take on a tragic event.

N/A  07. Get Away- De La Soul Feat. Spirit of the Wu - De La Soul pay homage to their 90's contemporaries, The Wu Tang Killer Bees on this cut recorded over the 'Intro' track to the Wu's Wu-Tang Forever album. Classic.

N/A  06. We Up - 50 Cent Feat. Kendrick Lamar - 50 and Kendrick Lamar both go hard in this catchy banger, wherein 50 announces it's his turn to run the game, again.

N/A  05. Solo Dolo Pt. II - Kid Cudi Feat. Kendrick Lamar - Solo Dolo Pt.II  follows a similar sonic template to that of it's predecessor. What is new however, is that we see the lonely stoner share the stage, Part II features a verse and chorus from none other than Kendrick Lamar.

10.    04. Hottest MC - Danny Brown -The always unique and often absurd Danny Brown stakes his claim to Hip Hop's throne. This time over a uniquely haunting beat from Harry Fraud, sounds like a Velvet Underground sample to me.

 N/A  03. Open Letter - Jay Z Feat. Timbaland _- The Jigga Man bursts back on the scene with this banger from the boards of Swizz Beats with a feature from Timbaland, Jay Z has a bit of an old school flow on this joint.

08.    02. 5 AM in Toronto - Drake - Drake's latest in his continued dominance of the hip hop charts. The closest thing Hip Hop has to a money tree, at the moment.

07.    01. Immortal - Kid Cudi -  A standout track off of Cudi's recently released, "Indicud". Immortal is the first official single off of the album, and is a worthy choice.

 Enjoy the tunes, peace!