Fuck It

So I wasn't originally planning on posting up my own list of the top singles of the first half of 2006, but, fuck it.

Here it goes, in no particular order:

Traxamillion feat. Too $hort and Mistah FAB - Sideshow
A instant Bay slap classic. Trax did justice to his homage to Richie Rich's homage to sideshows, with the help of Short Dogg and the self proclaimed Tony Hawk of the ghetto.

Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
Haters want to constantly argue the un-hip hopness of this track... fuck em. The biggest crossover track of the year doesnt always have to suck.

TI - Why U Wanna
The ultimate summer jam of 2006. King, overhyped? Maybe, but the album still came with it on bringing the heat with singles. And as much as I'm a fan of "What You Know", this one got much more rotations by me due to the throwback laid back feel. Peep the remix with Q-Tip.

The DB'z feat. E-40 - Stewie
As they say in the Bay, this song go. Droop-E blessed us the DB'z with a heater, and he even did us all a favor and didn't rap on the track, but let his dad do the thang.

DJ Unk - Walk It Out
I first caught wind of this song when I heard a remix of it playing in the background of this clip of these 2 dudes doing various snap dances. Apparently there's more to snap dancing than leaning with it and rocking with it, and snap songs could also be more layered and complex than "Laffy Taffy." Snap dancers, make sure to submit your applications to be in the video.

Ghostface Killah - Back Like That feat. Ne-Yo
Ghostdini brought us the first great hip hop album of the year. And while I wasn't originally a fan of Ne-Yo due to his overly cheese filled "So Sick", dude does have talent. There are a couple other tracks on the album that could have been put on this list instead of this, but this track just shows how gully Ghost can come off on r&b/hip-hop tracks.

Ray Cash - Bumpin My Music
If I made a song about artists that I played in my car, it would probably sound something like this, but shitty.

Lupe Fiasco - Close Your Mind
Social commentary often comes off rather dry and preachy. But this ethnic studies lesson from Lupe from the leaked version of F&L, was the stand out track for me. Hopefully this song remains intact and Lupe doesn't do anything to fuck it up for the finalized release like getting Mike Shinoda for a cameo.

Baby Cham - Ghetto Story
Controversy propels songs to great heights. I guess the descriptions of the gritty and stark realities in Jamaica scare the elite, especially since we know that singing songs of reality aren't really what they want people to hear. Peep the remix with Alicia Keyes.

Method Man feat. Lauryn Hill - Things They Say
Apparently even with all the crazy shit that Ms. Hill has been doing, she still has it in her to make a really good collaboration track with Method Man. This song finds itself really showing a reflective and more mature Meth, as oppossed to being a spokesperson for deodorant.

Honorable Mentions:
Ghostface Killah - The Champ
Champ Bailey - U C It
Nelly Furtado - Promiscuous
Busta Rhymes feat. Q-Tip and Chauncey Black - Can't Hold a Torch
The Coup - We Are the Ones

Some tracks to peep (both courtesy of Discobelle):

Nump feat. MIA - Grapes (remix)

Cassie - Me & U (Silk remix)