10 reasons why 2010 was the best year ever in hip-hop: #1 YMCMB…could it be anything else?

Has there ever been 1 hip-hop label more dominant in a year than Young Money/Cash Money?  It depends on how you define “dominant.”  If you’re talking purely about record sales, Death Row and maybe even Bad Boy had more dominant years in the 90s.  But this is a different era and record sales no longer tell the whole story.  It’s about ubiquity, and no artists were more ubiquitous (sales, YouTube, radio, Twitter and Facebook chatter) than Lil Wayne, Drake and Nicki Minaj.  Know how many Top 20 R&B singles Drake alone appeared on in 2010?  10.  Many artists aren’t on 10 Top 20 singles in their entire career.  He did it in a year.  We’ve talked a lot about Nicki, so no need to spend a lot of time on her but she had the 2nd most anticipated debut of the year (only behind Drake) and may just be poised to pass him in 2011.  Despite being in prison for most of 2010, Lil Wayne continued to stay on the charts and in the (social) media spotlight and also managed to get on 3 Top 10 hits.  Cash Money veteran Birdman also brought that Fire Flame.  Even Young Money newcomers like Tyga got in on the action as his mixtape with Chris Brown yielded one of the biggest singles of the year and the biggest single of Chris Brown’s career, with Deuces.  Anyway you slice it, YMCMB dominated 2010 all around.  20 years in the game and still going strong…But don’t take my word for it, let the music speak for itself:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fo9akQvsNI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WL-J0uo7_Y









http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV_YdALjpmw


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAnr9afMn5Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVNEupNZ28k