As 2008 come to a close, it’s time to do that agonizing year-end review of music. So without further adieu, Ta-Dah!

1. Erykah Badu
   New Amerykah, Part 1
   Motown

Not really the commercial comeback that Motown was hoping for, the album nevertheless solidified Erykah’s status as a risk-taker both in terms of sonic and thematic exploration. By recruiting underground heavyweights such as Madlib, Jay Electronica, Georgia Ann Muldrow and SA-RA Creative Partners and touching upon themes of artistic exploitation, consumerism and urban strife, Erykah delivered material on par with some of Curtis Mayfield’s early-’70s social-conscious masterpieces.

Key tracks: Telephone, The Hump, Master Teacher

2. José James
    The Dreamer
    Brownswood

Just when we thought that young black male jazz singers were a thing of the past, emerges José James, who deftly positioned himself as a bona fide jazz singer for the hip-hop generation, without resulting in didactic “Jazzmaatazz” platitudes. For the most part, he kept the vibes acoustic while underpinning the grooves with skittering hip-hop and electronica-flavored beats.

Key tracks: Nola, Love, Park Bench People, Spirits Up Above

3. Q-Tip
   The Renaissance
   Motown

Finally! A Q-Tip album that’s officially released, The Renaissance marked one of the biggest comebacks in hip-hop, after the veteran rapper spent much of this decade in recording purgatory. The album captures him in all of glory, recalling the buttery magic he concocted with A Tribe Called Quest up to the experimental singing he exploited on his landmark bootleg classic, Kamaal/The Abstract.

Key tracks: Manwomanboogie, Getting’ Up, Johnny Is Dead

4. Jazzanova
    Of All Things
    Verve

Let’s face it, when it comes to retooling vintage soul, this German collective has it down pat. Jazzanova’s knack for nailing lesser-known sounds like early-’80s SOLAR Records Mtume and Kashif makes them all the more impressive. On this lush, beautifully executed album, Jazzanova recruits José James, Paul Randolph, Phonte and the legendary Leon Ware on a handful of cuts.

Key tracks: Little Bird, Rockin’ You Eternally, Dial a Cliché

5.   I.G. Culture
       Zen Badizm
      Freedom School

In parts, this album can be viewed as post-broken beat as I.G. Culture explores more straight-ahead jazz, sonic-collage hip-hop and Afrobeat. Still that jagged, avant-garde yet feet-friendly pulse of West London is noticeable. Thematically, the album hits hard on social issues in the same manner as Erykah Badu’s New Amerykah.

Key tracks: Adjusted Perspectives, B Free, Separate, Girl U Need a Change of Mind

6. Moodymann
   Det.Riot ’67
  Mahogani Music

Hardly anyone brings the grit and grace of Detroit in electronica music as well as Moodymann. He can allude to the city’s Motown, jazz, blues and techno legacies in one swooping track. On this EP, he pays tribute to Detroit’s seedy pimp culture, unraveling randy verses that rival Prince’s Jamie Starr-phase.

Key tracks: Freeki MF, For 1 Night, Det.riot

7. The Foreign Exchange
    Leave It All Behind
    Nicolay Music

Nicolay and Phonte swap hip-hop for R&B on their sophomore album; and it plays to their advantage, especially as Phonte muses over the trials and tribulations of being in a relationship over Nicolay’s sensual soundscapes. At times, recalling the melancholy of Marvin Gaye’s Here, My Dear, but not nearly as vindictive, this is a newfound wounded-R&B classic.

Key tracks: Daykeeper, House of Cards, If She Breaks Your Heart

8. The Roots
   Rising Down
   Def Jam

Undoubtedly, the hardest-working band in hip-hop, The Roots delivers yet another brass-knuckled classic, loaded with sharp social commentary, edgy beats and passionate verses.

Key tracks: 75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction), The Show, I Will Not Apologize

9.  Roy Hargrove
     Earfood
    EmArcy Records

No longer a young lion, Roy Hargrove emerges as jazz mentor on this delightful, smart outing as he leads a new quintet, composed mostly of younger musicians. Hargrove’s trumpet playing is in stellar form as he sublimely reconciles his love for modern jazz with R&B.

Key tracks: Mr. Clean, Strasbourg/St. Denis, Starmaker

10. Al Green
      Lay It Down
     Blue Note

It took drummer and music geek, ?uestlove to help Al Green find his groove back, after two lukewarm reunions with Willie Mitchell. Lay it Down harkens back to the sexy Hi Records sound more convincingly than Green’s previous two discs, as it invites cherry-picked guest vocals from Anthony Hamilton, John Legend and Corrine Bailey Rae.

Key tracks: You Got the Love I Need, Take Your Time, Standing in the Rain

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