Nas
When Nas dialed up Power 105 and gave his now infamous tirade on the corruption of corporate radio, the lack of creativity of hip-hop artists - calling out Cam and Nore specifically, and blasting HOT 97's decision to shelve his rumored plan to hang a Jay-Z dummy on stage, he put some fire into a musically stagnant year. In an XXL interview he said that he thought about ending hip-hop, 'End Hip-hop.' That sounds crazy, but it was just those kind of remarks that kept his name on people's lips. He voiced what some feel to be the truth about the state of the music, but he had pulled back some sensitive skin. Would he repair the wounds or let the cards fall where they may? We give this to Nas for having the heart to speak up, keeping us entertained with the controversy, and shooting lame program directors and S dot in the face.. Hah! Made you look.

Missy Elliot
From jump, Missy has straddled the thin line between hip-hop and today's R&B; both genres have increasingly dabbled in the other. This year Missy decided to take her hip-hop thing all the way back to the days of Adidas and windmills. Some music fans have complained about the lack of respect and understanding of what this hip-hop thing is built from. You know the routine. Mixing Timbalands's futuristic bleeps and bloops with a new slimmed down frame draped in something from the past and custom wears from the present, the effect was miles ahead of any female hip-hop artist this year.
Where Nas got his award for speaking out, Missy gets hers for showing and proving that her hip-hop roots run deep. .. And I must mention her weight loss again; it contributed greatly to her new look. Maybe she'll release Missy's Work It Out DVD next.

Eminem The Eminem Show
Every nominee is deserving but this is the first time I had to exercise my veto power. There is no way that I could give Nas this award ahead of Eminem. In ten years, looking back on 2002, music history will document the way Eminem's career rocketed to superstardom propelled by this album and his subsequent trip down 8 Mile. Without getting into Benzino Theology 101, Eminem gets credit for continuing to step up his game on each album. Where his first was cartoon-like, he got more serious on the second; that album was a big success for him. Following the average artist's career track The Eminem Show was ripe for dive time. A dud. Instead he funneled his thoughts and got more lyrical, pumping out songs that will stand the test of time and make for his best album yet. No disrespect to God's Son  but Nas's best album is still his first.

Clipse "Grindin"
The most noticeable thing about this record is the lack of a bass line or melody; it's straight spaced out drums and sound effects. No surprise that it's a Neptunes production. Admittedly Pusha T and Malice barely register in the area where personality and memorable lyrics are concerned. The star attraction here is the combination of elements: their monotone drone up against the simultaneously bare and ultrasonic soundtrack with Pharell "the chorus king" accenting the hook "Grinnndinnnn!" It's an intoxicating brew that makes you forget that they're talking about working the block. For anyone uncomfortable with that you could imagine the grind to be your 9-5 taking it one day at a time just living, grindin jack. Yeah, this will be one of those tracks record collectors will pay dearly for in the year 2050.

Sean Paul "Gimme the Light"
One day I had a friend tell me that he was in the studio attempting to make a song that would make you spill your drink in the club. Loved that analogy. When your at the club and the hottest song of the moment comes on it's all about putting down your drink and heading to the dancefloor. Either that or your dancing in place, spilling ten dollars all on your footwear. .. Sean Paul is a reggae cat but this joint was spun in any hip-hop club that mattered this past year. "Pass the Courvoisier 2" and "Move Bitch" were both nominated floor fillers. However if your a DJ and want to get the chicks on the floor, get the fashionistas swaying on the wall, the freaks acting like they caught the holy ghost? Grab a copy of this record. Gimme the light.. pass the dro. Traci this picture is for you, he's almost looking right at ya.

Slum Village Trinity
Slum Village is a group that would have been huge in the early 90's. Like when De La, Pharcyde, and Tribe were at the top of their game. They aren't a new group, but "Tainted" was the first single to crack the armor of the MTV/BET empire. In 94' Guru said "it's mostly the voice" these days it's mostly the beat and "Tainted" had such an infectious groove it made you say whudat? Thinking it was on the Dirty District  album I picked that CD up. No taint, but I was put on to some good music.. some bad.. at the end of the day it was something to diversify the sounds emanating from the speakers. When Trinity was released I copped it as well and was treated to more of the same: three dudes on some MC ish minus the gangsta fairytales or swinging the righteous sword. Like dialing into a session in the basement. They rap. That's what they do.

50 Cent
Mr. Jackson put it down for real in 2002. After getting dumped by Sony/Columbia Records his career was birthed rather than ended. A story of hustle, perseverance and the will to call people out no matter how they took it became his claim to fame. Drug stories and gun talk sounds all good on record, but you never really believe that the action would pop off a CD. After taking nine to the body and talking like it was nothing, dissin Murder INC into Wanksta Land, and running around with a bulletproof vest screaming G Unit.. he captured everyone's attention. In interviews, radio spots and concerts he maintains his position.. G Unit! I'm still alive and Ja is a sweetie. .. The Em/Dre connect only furthered interest in him. You know Dre ain't releasing wack nothing and Eminem's reach means.. well look at whats in his hands.

The Neptunes
By all accounts the Neptunes should have fallen off already. Producers have it worse than artists. Sounds change at an incredible pace and when you deliver that first big hit and get the calls from everyone else in the field looking for the same thing.. that's where most hip-hop producers burn themselves out. Overextension equates to a saturated product and eventually a disc full of beats with no buyers.
The Neptunes have managed to defy the odds by tweaking the formula just enough to stay fresh. While they gave their clientele what they wanted, they experimented with new sounds on their own critically acclaimed CD. To this day, nearly every new release has at least one Neptune production on it. With Kelis signed to the Neptunes' label just waiting to breakthrough, you can expect that their hit rate will continue.

Usher
Usher is an Entertainment Baby, he's been doing his thing since he was Bow Wow's age. Lucky for him he wasn't named Lil Usher or Tevin Campbell.. remember him? Unlike Tevin Campbell, he didn't have any difficulty growing into his body. Some young singers and actors get to their twenties and lose their appeal.. in Tevin Campbell's case he had a sweetness about him that people hadn't noticed. (heh) Usher on the other hand is stripping off his shirt and dancing around the stage like a grown ass man. He likes to call himself Mr. Entertainment. Do you agree? .. While the name might be a little over the top, there is no other male singer (xcpt RK) that can give a show like Usher Raymond. He'd give Michael Jackson 2000 a hard time in a danceoff and lets not talk about JT. It's no contest. And  he can hold a tune, Usher come get the damn Whudat Award.

Ashanti
You know you can't give out awards if your not gonna hand one to little Miss "Shani Bani." Ashanti gets a thousand and one pies in the face and dragged through the mud for her sometimes, crappy vocal talents - I've heard her sing live one or two times.. and it wasn't that bad. It's when she goes acappella or the mike is turned up loud that things get scary. Haha! Yes, an award to Ashanti comes with laughs and giggles.. gotta remember though, early in her career Mary J Blige was criticized for her voice as well. We have to give Ashanti some time to grow as a woman.. she's a Princess in the making. Two million people or so believe she's a Princess today. She certainly has a star quality about her. Once Murder INC dodges 50's bullets we'll get a second dose of her talents. If it comes with any kind of Ja Rule collabos.. they can keep it.

Musiq Juslisen
This album was nominated for album of the year because Musiq sells records, gets a lot of exposure and is generally well known. That's not the only criteria for getting a nomination, I'll explain in a second. Here's the thing.. I like Musiq's voice and uhh.. music. But even though he's popular, I own none of his albums. Just the other day I saw Juslisen  sitting in a used cd spot for $8.99. Did I pick it up? Nope. He's always rubbed me the wrong way. There is something about him that makes me say.. "Whateva, man." But that's me.. you might like him. When the votes came in I was shocked at the disparity in the numbers. An overwhelming amount of people voted for this album. Recently I've been on a quest for good ish with minimal crap attached. So while Musiq cops this award, I'll head down to that same shop to see what I've been missing.

Erykah Badu feat. Common "Love of My Life"
Erykah Badu made two mistakes in her career: first, the low key feel of Mama's Gun  in the face of more upbeat material from Jill Scott and the second was revealing what was underneath that headwrap. Who would have guessed that she had fake dreds, and making matters worse, the went skin with it. A baldie is not a good look for her. Once you get past her hairstyle you find that the voice and soul expressed on her debut album is still there. Evidenced by this song which came totally out of left field. Not only does she ride the beat lovely, the lyrics of the song standout amongst today's typical R&B track. Bump. bump..bump is replaced with true affection, and look.. it can be done without sounding sappy. Not to mention the current love of her life adding just the right compliment to the proceedings. Now all we need is a new album.

Usher "You Don't Have to Call"
Yeah man.. this is the song that gets me thinking about sliding on some shoes and taking it to the club for a little two step. It's early in the night, the line outside the spot is crazy and people are still looking for parking spots. Once inside, the bar is buzzing with people getting their liquid diet on and stiffing the bartenders on the tip. People are already on the dancefloor. It's only the first quarter, not spill your drink time yet, but the vibe is good. .. Usher has maintained his position in the game by being consistent. Throughout his career he has dropped songs that get you moving your feet. He can go ballad on you, but he likes the high energy stuff. Witness the video for this record as he slides around the streets, singing on firecases and taking over the club with his boys. Once again.. the Whudat goes to..

Raphael Saadiq Instant Vintage
Raphael Saadiq's album beat out Amerie's by a thin strand of hair weave.. Amerie is definitely a new star and will have a second chance to crack the piggy bank, but you wanna talk about sleeping? Everytime I went into the record store last summer, there was Raphael Saadiq's Instant Vintage  looking me in the face, Mike Tyson tat and all. Never mind that he's come through with juicy joints since TOny TOni Tone, please that was back then. What have you done for me lately? My first thought was the Lucy Pearl album which was good, but I expected more. So Vintage  sat on that shelf. .. Finally one day I gave in and plunked down the cash and I'm glad I did. Songs like "Body Parts" I can play like it was released yesterday. That's one of the benefits of owning slept on music, you can roll around like Jay-Z said, "Playing some ol other ish."

Nas "One Mic"
This video was praised for it's thematic nature. It's not just a showcase for special effects, director Chris Robinson and Nas collaborate to give this song the visuals to match the exceptional lyrics. It's not a secret that Nas can write poetry.. and the video with shots in Africa, scenes with the police sirens approaching in slow motion and sitting in a room alone were unmatched in 2002. I could say that it was simply better than the typical model chick with shorty shorts joint.. but I won't. He did that on "Oochie Wally". .. This video was in context with the lyrics.. lyrics that you don't hear on the regular, so if he was gonna go deep, might as well have it make sense and kill two birds with one stone: a conceptually relevant video and the fulfillment of his Belly  "I'm going back to Africa" dream. Gotta love it:P

R. Kelly - For giving an underage girl a golden shower with a lil something extra.. And filming it. Oh yeah.. allegedly.

Whitney Houston - "Crack is Wack!" (Thanks for the heads up)

To all of our fallen musical brothers and sisters.. One love
Jam Master Jay
Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes
Aaliyah
Big Pun
Poetic (Gravediggas)
Big L
DJ Screw
Notorious B.I.G.
2Pac
Eazy-E
Cowboy (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5)