2009 was a great year for hip hop and R&B with many artists and groups taking the challenge of stepping it up when it came to creativity and their message. Although there is still some garbage being played on the radio and most artists that deserve radio play do not get it, hip hop answered the call of artists stepping it up. Lead by a team of “Freshman” including Wale, Drake, Asher Roth, Charles Hamilton, Kid Cudi, and veterans that still maintain their greatness in Jay-Z, Mos Def, Raekwon, Lil Wayne, Ghostface Killah, Fabolous, we saw music dive into different genres and make a more impact on the music community. We even saw some R&B & pop players take the mixtape route with R.Kelly, Trey Songz, Mike Posner, Chester French and Raheem Devaughn giving out free music during the summer months. 2009 was a great mixtape year and was unlike any other. Here, in no particular order are WIMH’S Top 10 Mixtapes and our honorable mentions…

Wiz Khalifa – Flight School - Wiz was grinding all year dropping 3 mixtapes, 1 of those was the How Fly mixtape with Curren$y but started the year right with Flight School as he further established himself and is putting Pittsburgh on the map. Wiz came later with another mixtape with B.A.R. – Burn After Rolling and dropped his first album through Rostrum Records in Deal or No Deal. He has had a very successful year and will be named one of XXL’s freshman for 2010 but has already dropped 8 mixtapes. Go forth Wiz.

J.Cole – The Warm Up – Many did not know about J.Cole at the beginning of this year but mid Spring, early summer he made a big push with the mixtape that proceeded this in The Come Up and suddenly everyone wanted to know about the first artist Jay-Z signed to his Roc Nation label. Since then he was featured on Jay-Z’s BP3 tour which spanned across American college towns and Canada. Because of all of this he is drawing comparisons to Drake as one of the best of 2009 but he has been able to distinguish himself with his hard lyrics and punchlines, creating his own lane. He hasn’t dropped anything lately, but look forward to more coming in 2010.

Wale – Back to The Feature - The hip hop king of Twitter was delayed in dropping this summer mixtape with 9th Wonder as he was touring the world most of the year promoting this mixtape and his album Attention Deficit. During a dry spell in hip hop this mixtape came at a great time and was the talk of the town for awhile as it had many features and was a great preview to what was to come in Attention Deficit. Unfortunately, like Slaughterhouse, Wale did not have the success that he thought he was even though he had alot of television time and a big push from his label and management. Don’t get me wrong Attention Deficit was great (it got 4 Headphones) so let’s see what he has in store for 2010…

XV – Everybody’s Nobody – An artist that I truly slept all even weeks after this mixtape dropped – XV is out to let everyone know that there is someone from Wichita, Kansas that can make it happen in hip hop. Everybody’s Nobody was a major move and since then XV has got mad notoriety on the blogs and across the country. I’m looking forward to seeing if he’ll be touring soon. XV will also join Wiz Khalifa in XXL’s 2010 Freshmen class. Undeniable from this mixtape is one the most inspirational tracks I’ve heard this year…

Drake – So Far Gone - This mixtape will probably be the best mixtape on most charts and it truly is. So Far Gone may even be one of the best mixtapes ever. With a blend of hip hop and R&B, Drake reached the masses this year and the hottest artist of 2009 because of this mixtape. With hundreds of thousands of downloads and then a Grammy Nomination, Drake was on top of hip hop for awhile. Think about it – A Grammy nomination with no album? That’s unheard of. With so much hype surrounding Drake and this mixtape he was able to go on a nationwide tour and create a huge buzz throughout the year. He had some negative times – a mediocre video for Best I Ever Had and a slip and fall incident which sidelined him for most of the fall/winter. With all of the buzz that he gathered, on his own, I wondered why would sign to Lil Wayne’s Young Money label? With the buzz he created on his own he could have easily stayed independent and made more money than he will with a big record label. With Thank Me Later, his first album with no release date 2010 still looks big for Drizzy…

The Cool Kids – Gone Fishing - This Chicago/Detroit Duo joined forces with one of the most popular DJs in the game in Don Cannon to make one of hip hop’s rawest in form mixtapes this year. Their old school production and lyrical swag has carried them to even more nationwide notariety going on tour with the Clipse this year. With so much going good for Chuck Inglish and Mikey Rocks, 2010 looks to be the year where they will finally drop an album for the world to buy and relish…

Lil Wayne – No Ceilings - Lil Wayne did the hip hop community a favor this year in dropping this No Ceilings mixtape, which was one of his best yet. You know when you get a Lil Wayne mixtape that he is pretty much going to kill the most popular tracks out right now whether be a Gucci Mane, The Dream, or even a Black Eyed Peas song – Dwayne Carter’s bars are going to murder the track. But unfortunately most of 2010 for Lil Wayne will be spent behind bars as he will be going to jail on a gun charge. With Wayne out of the way, does this means Drake takes the reigns as hip hop’s gatekeeper?

Mike Posner – One Foot Out The Door - A definite surprise with this mixtape from the senior at Duke University and Jive Records label singer/producer. Mike Posner is defnitely making his own lane in a variety of different genres with the ability to create his own sound and collaborate with hip hop stars ranging from Big Sean, Wale, and Kid Cudi. With such a strong college student following, Posner was able to tour the nation, spreading his music all while trying to graduate from Duke University. As he continues to gain more fans to his base, Mike is definitely set up for success in 2010…watch out for him…

Pac Div – Chuch League Champions - This new group from the left coast definitely made claim that hip hop groups can still exist! Pac Div made a pretty dope mixtape this summer with Church League Champions that got quite a bit of notariety while they toured with Kid Cudi and other artists during the year. They even made two music videos for tracks Mayor and Whiplash/Young Black Male, gaining a lot of TV on MTV. As they prepare for the release of their first album Grown Kid Syndrome which will feature production from the Neptunes – Like, Mibbs, and BeYoung will be trying to show that they are the next group that will be a mainstay in hip hop…

Idle Warship – Party Robots – This trio of Talib Kweli, Res, and Graph Nobel was imcomparable as they dropped this mixtape this past fall. It was a great combination of hip hop, R&B, and soul which created a real sound that was missing from music for a while. With the success of this mixtape, this group is actually dropping a full album coming soon…

Check out the Honorable Mentions after the Jump…

This is WHAT’S IN MY HEADPHONES…