AL LINDSTROM’S 2013 ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Here We Go Again.

A year has passed since Al Linstrom rounded myself and the brain trust for our annual roundtable discussion. In the first of four clips, we debate on the 2013 Rookie Of The Year. And the winner is…

 

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  1. Rick DeHonney says:

    Lol @ french being a rookie. Chance wins and it’s not even close. Even troy ave was a better pick because at least his album was dope but he isn’t a “rookie” either. I could care less whether y’all heard a chance record or not because his music is dope, but he’s on a justin bieber feature obviously someone has

    1. Word says:

      I’d say Chance by default cuz everyone else either isn’t a rookie or was terrible.

    2. LuckyP757 says:

      fan get the fuck out of here. we’re not on that chance the rapper shit. we frequent this site and the niggas never graced a post

      1. RBS says:

        Yea you might wanna revisit Chance the Rapper & give Acid Rap a chance. Probably the best hip-hop project to come out this year.

  2. LuxuryRap says:

    where’s the video?

    1. Ricky Retardo says:

      thought it was just me

  3. Selorm Amuzu says:

    Soo im the only one screaming LMAO @Bdot thinking he’s Jay Z at the table lol

    1. basedgenie says:

      and EPICALLY failing…

    2. DatPrettyMF says:

      we want ebro to come and burn him

  4. LuxuryRap says:

    had to go to complex.com to view the video lol anyway, i completely agree with Chance being Rookie of the Year. His mixtape was perfect and I think those guys at the table that haven’t heard a song from him will think it’s dope af when they do…

  5. NA$$ER says:

    either Chance or Troy, either is fine..

  6. Hussle says:

    shitttt I dont listen to Troy nor Chance. imma give ’em a chance

    1. LuckyP757 says:

      man i bypassed so much of troys shit. but that album….CRAZY!!! made me go back and check everything i looked over and found a few gems there too.

  7. Word says:

    I hate B.Dot. Dude is mad corny. And French been active for years, how is he a rookie?

    That being said, this was a terrible year for rookies. Nobody really broke through in a meaningful way. Chance had a dope tape but it didnt make THAT much noise. Not like Warm Up or So Far Gone. RHQ only has one hit, and that dropped in August. How you rookie of the year off one song that came out towards the end of the year? Troy Ave had a great album, but who knows him? Did he make an impact? I can’t name a single quality rookie this year. Maybe ScHoolboy Q because Collard Greens picked up steam a little but, nothing else to go off of. Man, a lot of weak rookies this year.

    1. West West says:

      RHQ has 1 1/2 records because that YG My Nigga song is dope as fuck! And he has a major part in the success of it!

    2. BillyBobJohn says:

      Did you say Chance The Rapper. Acid Rap didn’t make any noise. go and google it and see what noise it made.

  8. West West says:

    Hate to say it but macklemore is the rookie and b.dot’s dickriding ass should’ve picked him! And I do get why a lot of people are saying Chance. But if you talk rocket start, big record and good album you gotta go with macklemore!!!

    1. Dashing28 says:

      Album came out over a year ago, as did Thrift Shop.

  9. LuckyP757 says:

    “so i don’t count?” – b. dot . NAAAH NIGGA you don’t count

  10. blupac1 says:

    WHO IN THE FUCK IS CHANCE THE RAPPER????? Im not even clowning or dissing but seriously who is this guy??? I know who he is but the hood doesn’t… The streets dont…. If bootleggers dont have ya shit den you aint hot…. if the mixtape dj’s dont have none of ya tracks on a tape then you aint hot…..

    1. Word says:

      Is this 2001? As long as the internet remains prominent, being in the streets don’t mean shit. Why do you need bootlegs from niggas on the street when all you need these days is a fucking phone and an app to get any song you want?

      1. LuckyP757 says:

        he’s saying the bootleggers only bootleg/sell whats hot. so if they’re not up on you’re shit, then you aint shit

        1. krow132 says:

          but the majority of people at least down here don’t fuck with bootleggers. Its a dead part of the game. Bootleggers will mostly have whats local to their scene in Miami and 90% of that shit you find on the net anyways, cmon guys lets stop lying to ourselves here

    2. p0is0nedkoola on Twitter says:

      So you admit that you need what the “streets” say cause it’s 2013, nearly 2014, & the “streets” are no longer a part of the equation. Truth be told, they haven’t for awhile cause if they were Dipset/DBlock & Game (which bootleggers always sell) would be running the radio and they never have and never will.

      Chance is ok, but he def offered something new in regards to sound image along with Danny Brown.

      Try to open up your mind & click on all the posts on this site (hiphopdx has more variety, go there. sorry YN) & make your own decision. Do you really need a fuckboy like B Dot to tell you what’s hot? This guy thinks he’s some great music critic when all he has ever been is a groupie to the popular rappers.

      I mean, Macklemore & MCHG are what this guy has been touting all year. nuff said

  11. The Shepherd says:

    The truest Rookie of the year is definitely Chance The Rapper. Acid Rap is dope and still in rotation, a complete album with a unique sound. He went LEFT while most of these rappers in the industry all sound the same and use the same formula. Touring, his live show is really dope by the way. Fuck a “RECORD”. Song’s like “Everybody’s Something”, “Pusha Man”, “Cocoa Butter Kisses”, and “Acid Rain” > anything all those rappers mentioned dropped. Niggas rapping about nothing, and that’s all cool to party to, but lets judge Rap on the quality of the content.

  12. Your Father says:

    I watched this hoping Ebro would show up out of nowhere to take B Dot off his cloud. Dude really thinks he knows everything.

  13. truelaurels says:

    How can you have people on the panel that haven’t surveyed the full landscape of rap in 2013? Charlamagne doesn’t know Chance…c’mon now.

  14. blupac1 says:

    It aint gotta be 2001 but the streets still matter…. and chance has little no street buzz… Sorry to inform the nerd rap lovers but street bangers still matter…. you guys scoff at rich homie quan but right now if you walk into 90% of the high schools in America and took a survey they would choose him over chance…why because of his one banger and his decent club heavy mixtape…..industry consigns and internet hype matters but the street buzz does too….drake got on versace because the streets of Atlanta said so… for real the migos should have gotten consideration. ..

    1. _R says:

      You mean the streets of the internet? What the fuck does Drake know about the streets of Atlanta

  15. Selorm Amuzu says:

    The Street matters and the internet matters aswell just cause someone’s between the computer screen rating a rapper don’t mean they aint supporting their favorite rapper outside the screen, Chance had this cos at the end of the day his only competition was Rich Homie and even ppl are skeptical cos they think he’s another future whereas French and maybe Troy Ave should have been out the Rookie section years ago

    1. krow132 says:

      but most people get their music from the net anyway. lol thats whats stupid, even those downloading the “street” or “club” joints they go to the net first to get it. its just a fake criticism against an artist when you have nothing else to say against him

  16. Selorm Amuzu says:

    I never expected C tha God to be on Chance the Rapper cos I don’t think he’s into alternative hip hop that much anyways but i still lol @Bdot cos he believes he is for the common ppl when he’s as much an internet guy as Complex lol

    1. Dashing28 says:

      Word. I expect that kind of foolishness out of Charlemagne, but B.Dot’s supposed to know better…Maybe they should have brought Zane Lowe in.

  17. Gold says:

    I think Ferg should’ve at least been nominated. He had two of the biggest records of the year, a real album, and now has his own tour. Plus, he is way more of a rookie than Troy or French. He didn’t have any real solo shit before this year. That’s an oversite

  18. $pruce Yee says:

    Ay Fatso the NBA & Rap game are two different thing’s… and B.Dot wffff man lol

    1. DatPrettyMF says:

      journalist? you mean blogger

      1. $pruce Yee says:

        oh yea, he aint dat high. i forgot, my fault!

  19. Dashing28 says:

    Back a year ago when no one was repping Chance, I said on THIS site saying that he should have been on the list for best mixtapes with his 10-day Mixtape instead of 360. (Check the archives: https://rapradar.com/2013/01/09/12-best-mixtapes-10-360-everywhere-back/#comments)

    I swear I’m trying so hard to respect B.Dot, but it’s getting harder by the day…

    Rich Homie Quan over Chance the Rapper? Cause he has 1 fuckin song? French Montana, who’s buzz died 6 months ago and who’s album flopped despite the biggest co-signs in the world from Drake, Diddy, Ross, Nicki, Wayne,etc.hat French Montana??

    These are the same guys that would have said Section 80 don’t mean anything cause it “didn’t have a radio hit.” If these guys can’t see how talented an artist like Chance the Rapper is then why are they the supposed tastemakers?

    You judge an artist by a narrow criteria “a record popping in the club and in these streets” and then fail to understand why someone connects with so many people despite not having that 1 record.

    You think anyone connects with Rich Homie Quan? You think we’ll be talking about him in 2 years? You think French would have a career without the co-signs? These niggas are interchangeable: That’s Rich Boy, J-Kwon, Unk, JT Money, a fuckin 2013 Peter Gunz, but at least Peter Gunz song still sounds good 15 years later.

    and then B. Dot has the nerve to complain about how radio DJs won’t play underground artists, meanwhile he raises his hand for French Montana and Rich Homie Quan over the clearly more talented Chance the Rapper, all while smoking a cigar with an undeserved sense of superiority.

    P.S: Stop trying to make 360 happen.

    1. DatPrettyMF says:

      yep you right

    2. kanye west says:

      well said my friend.

    3. That guy says:

      Chance the rapper sucks and so does hi mixtape.

      I don’t know what 360 has to do with the conversation but he has songs that play on radio in ny. Plus he bodied chance when they were on rap fix

      1. Dashing28 says:

        “Chance the rapper sucks and so does hi mixtape”

        Well, that’s just like your opinion man. And is contrary to the opinions of basically everyone (besides B.Dot and Charlemagne). Look up any list for the best mixtapes of the year. Acid Rap is on it, if not #1 on most lists. 360 is nowhere to be found. So you, sir, are in the minority.

        “I don’t know what 360 has to do with the conversation but he has songs that play on radio in ny. ”

        And Chance has songs on radio in Chicago…so?? At a minimum you should be popping in your hometown. By the way which 360 songs are you talking about? He was on Battle of the Beats once and won once but let’s be real. He’s not on regular rotation on NY radio.

        “Plus he bodied chance when they were on rap fix”

        Yeah and I’m sure Cory Gunz/Papoose/Fred da Godson have bodied people in freestyles too. It doesn’t make them good artists or mean that they’re ever going to put out a great album.

        Look, the only reason I bring up 360 is because B.Dot seems to have a personal preference for him, despite the fact that he’s not popping in the clubs/streets and doesn’t have a smash hit. That was the criteria that he, himself, came up with for rejecting Chance, who on his own has created a massive buzz that B.Dot chooses to ignore. Meanwhile, he goes out of his way to promote 360, an artist that just hasn’t put out a project that people have cared about.

        The point is…be a journalist. Document the culture. It’s hypocritical to discredit Chance the Rapper’s accomplishments (Complex cover, on every list for best album of the year, features on biggest pop star in the world(J. Bieber) and the biggest indie sensation (James Blake), being asked to open up for Macklemore, Kendrick Lamar, and Eminem, and near universal accolades) while simultaneously repping an artist that he’s been trying to make hot for well over a year now.

        No disrespect to 360, but there’s nothing new, interesting, unique, or exciting about his music. The exact opposite can be said of Chance.

        And I would hope/expect that a site like RR that aims to be THE essential rap blog would be able to recognize when a new artist emerges that garners that attention on his own. I’m not even saying to advocate for him (like B.Dot does 360). Just be objective and don’t shit on the kid because B.Dot “doesn’t like how his voice sounds.”

        1. DatPrettyMF says:

          yea but hes NOT a journalist, hes a hip hop blogger who has to come up off elliott wilsons name. and 360 is his family if you havent figured that out by now

      2. El Funk says:

        hard to say he sucks after all the critical acclaim he has received

  20. Da Business says:

    C’mon B.Dot, French??? I’d personally give it to Rich Homie Quan. I fux w/ Chance, dude is definitely a star. Quan tho, hit a home run w/ “some type of way”. U couldn’t deny the shit, definitely hood anthem of the yr, hands down.

  21. p0is0nedkoola on Twitter says:

    lol These are the morons that think they are the “gatekeepers” and “taste-makers” of hip hop.
    A fucking lame white boy who put Biber on the cover of his garbage magazine, a guy who’s a wanna be Howard Stern that loves Katy Perry & a goofball who hangs off YN’s balls while thinking he’s Jay Z w/a dirty cigar that he smokes to be like his hero?

    lol
    ok

  22. blupac1 says:

    The bootlegs only bootleg whats hot… They search the internet on all the music blogs getting whole cd’s and mixtapes… some bootleggers make there own mix……..get off the computer and go ask one for something……anything with chance on it…..YOU WONT FIND IT!!!!! Im not dissing yougin at all and since yall saying he’s nice now ima check him out…. See thats what this convo and panel just did….. it has me wanting to know why they chose him so now I’ll check it thus adding to the hype of chance the rapper. …ROLITICS!!!!!! RAP POLITICS

    1. krow132 says:

      sorry to burst your bubble, but as much as niggas try to act like they dont, A MAJORITY of rap fans get their music from the net. Niggas acting like the nigga got a big machine behind him or something, hes indy. He dropped a tape on the net and it caught fire. Its simple as that

  23. wow says:

    Let’s cut the bullshit…Chance the Rapper is signed to a major company. His mixtape is mixed and mastered as well as any top 10 album right now, he was on the dedication etc etc etc. I’m getting tired of these labels and this fake organic buzz shit they try to pull and these blogs cosigning it. It isn’t fair to give him the “Rookie of the year” nod based on accomplishments that were probably funded by a budget. With that said you got Troy Ave and RHQ which did it w/o the major, If your in New York and the surrounding areas you will say Troy Ave anywhere else in the country it may be Rich Homie Quan based on the reach of “Some type a way”. The the Rich Homie has the edge because of the record but does he have another some type a way in him….We shall see…

    1. Selorm Amuzu says:

      a few questions…. who is Chance the rapper signed to though ? where is label influence and how is it not far compared to the niggas who have been around for 10 years now lol

    2. _R says:

      If he was on a label favorite song would’ve been a top 10 hit on the other hand everybody else you mention is probably based on a fake organic buzz this chance kid has sold out shows around the world off one mixtape

    3. snapG says:

      chance the rapper is indy. Acid Rap is his 2nd solo release, because of AR he was able to open up for eminem & kendrick on their int’l joint tour & he’s now doing his own tour out of his own pocket. idrc about this shit but if anyone deserves rokkie of the year its chance. RHQ will be forgotten by next year & what noise is troy ave making outside of NY? dude can’t even put his own tour together yet

  24. kanye west says:

    b dot the blogger

  25. Coreigh Terry says:

    Cool discussion… I feel they should’ve worked out the details of what a “rookie” was before the cameras began to roll. That way it would have been less conversation of the guidelines and more exposition of their selections.

  26. HeyBuddy says:

    Yo this shit is bogus!!!!! Just as bogus as the MTV circle. There has to be real relevant people in the game making these choices not just some people who wanna feel like they have a hip hop opinion.

    So how you solve this problem? Biggest radio station heads. Simple. We the people know them. We hear them. They play the MUSIC. And they are always fucking with the streets/people/clubs.

    1. krow132 says:

      id rather people who write, cover, interview, and post all the music then people who just are given a list and play those records. Sorry, the radio is far from being the pulse of rap right now

  27. Macavelli says:

    Rich Homie Quan over Chance!? French Montana over Chance!? Fuck were they talking about? B.Dot I thought you knew your shit bruh.

    1. Da Business says:

      Chance is that deal, I feel u. He has the potential to be a star in the game no doubt. But Quan, even if he is eventually deemed as an 1 hit wonder, that 1 hit was a smash. For him to even be mention in the conversation off of 1 song speaks volume. Chance definitely has tape of the yr IMO tho.

  28. ant sheppard says:

    since when is it cool to be a part of the “business” and be okay to state that you’ve never heard a record or project from the artists who have made noise? You work a blog, interview people at radio, etc, etc., but don’t take the time to just give a listen to up and coming artists? Why should your opinion be valid at that point?

    1. DatPrettyMF says:

      another reason why his opinion ISNT valid, as this entire comment section proves

  29. John7532 says:

    Charlamagne is terrible… This the same shit he was saying about Kendrick and then a year later this fool rides his dick.. The same thing will happen with Chance.

  30. John7532 says:

    If you don’t know all the artist their is no way u can actually debate. Like if you don’t know a majority of the top rappers coming how can u have the list.

  31. dtc says:

    How are you a Hip-Hop journalist or critic if you haven’t heard a Chance The Rapper record this year? When someone says “I haven’t heard that” That’s on them, their fault, that’s their own ignorance. When you claim to be “documenting the culture” yet you completely try to ignore a talent that has been relentlessly making an impact all year, there is something wrong there. You can’t be hip-hop snobs and just be into what your into and not look up outside of it, you have to search the landscape and sit with multiple of artists body of work. No mention of several “rookies” such as Fat Tony, Boldy James, Childish Gambino, or Caskey? It’s a disservice to the service you’re supposedly trying to provide.

    It’s like when I hear Peter Rosenberg and Cipha Sounds have an hour long podcast with an artist such as Mac Miller but hadn’t bothered to take the time out to listen to the project he released and couldn’t give their opinion of the music, which is the whole reason he was sitting in front of them. It’s sad and these guys don’t even realize it but they are all a dying breed. Gotta keep up, there is new fresh talent releasing music everyday.

  32. Ron N says:

    You know what bugs me about B. Dot? The guy claims to be a hip-hop journalist, but hasn’t heard ANY chance the rapper songs. What kind of domain expert can you be if you aren’t even listening to the artists you post on your own website? lol gtfoh with that Jay-Z dick riding shit

  33. krow132 says:

    lol Charlamagne talking about he aint never heard of Chance the Rapper and they have no songs, but is going to list Troy Ave, a rapper no one outside of the Tri-State area knows. I live in Miami, a couple people I know are starting to get into Chance the Rapper, but no one I know has ever heard of Troy Ave

  34. krow132 says:

    lol like Chance made more noise this year based off a complete body of work then all these dudes mentioned. Rich Homie Quan has 1 hit and another hit he is featured on thats it. Troy Ave no one knows him outside of the Tri-State. French Montanna is not a rookie by any stretch, and even if he was, outside of a couple of hit songs nobody gave a shit about the album and it came and went. Another thing its 2013, Hits dont mean nearly as much as they use to if anything at all (Shouts to Cash Out) and someone who should know this, who runs a blog and who covers is saying some shit like, “What songs do he have, where is the hits” You help run a blog, yet you sound as outdated as the Record Labels. c’mon guys do better. Thank God for the 3 people on the panel who are actually paying attention to whats happening in hip hop

  35. Sajjad-Falah Akbar-Al Jabiri says:

    Chance was a good choice, Lorde would of been a another one since everybody and their moma raps now.

    A big shout out to the twerkin geriatrics too

  36. TroyBrownTV says:

    Bruh rookie of the year has to go to the interpreter at the Mandela Funeral. There has to be some sort of award we can give this nigga for sneaking up at the end of the year and becoming THAT nigga. he needs to drop a mix tape lmao

  37. tmo says:

    1 french isnt a rookie 2 how has char not heard a chance song dude been on all the big radio stations and songs are generating millions of views on youtube 3 gambino shouldve been nominated.

  38. El Funk says:

    B Dots mindset..”fake it til you make it” hahahahahaha

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