To be honest, 2011 wasn’t that controversial of a year in the music world. I mean, sure we lost a few great bands (The White Stripes, LCD Soundsystem, etc.) and saw Katy Perry tie with Michael Jackson for their number of chart-topping songs but this year was relatively quiet compared to the past few years.

January 2001 through December 2010 covers quite a bit of ground. The 2000s. An interesting decade indeed. One of the most important developments of the 2000s was the resurgence of music as a whole. Many thought rock died along with Kurt Cobain, and many thought Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G.’s deaths signified the end of hip-hop as well. Wrong on both counts. Looking back on it now, it was almost obvious that there would be a downward spiral for the entire industry.

And so the year comes to a close. The week between Christmas and leading up to New Years is often one of reflection. What I keep thinking about is what an all-around good year it was for all entertainment. Video games, film and art in general all had strong years. Music was no different, as this year a great many albums came out that were not only significant, but also just some great new tunes for our iPods.

2010 has been a decent year for hip hop with some genuinely special projects and a lot of mediocre ones. We Got This Covered is here to narrow down the best hip hop albums of the year.

I realize we’re nearing the end of 2010 and we’re beating a dead horse with this topic at this point but I feel that with the shutting down of popular file sharing program, Limewire, a couple of weeks ago and an even more recent case of a single mother being forced to pay punitive damages of $1.5 million, it warrants another in depth look at the morality and legality of pirated music.

2010 has given us a wide variety of music thus far. From Kings of Leon to Eminem, artists from all spectrums of the musical world have been dropping new albums this year, and their sounds are taking us into the next decade of music.

2010 has been an interesting year thus far for music. By no means has it been the one of the greatest, but we have had a few good ones. I haven’t heard every single album out there, so if I missed anything, feel free to discuss in our forum. With a whole barrage of albums still left to come out in November and December, 2010 could turn out to be a game changer as we shift into decade 2 of the 2000s and the music continues to evolve.

Chiddy Bang, maybe you’ve heard of them, maybe you haven’t. People who follow hip-hop and rap closely will undoubtedly be familiar with the name but for the more mainstream audience the name still may be foreign.