Best New Artist (Unsigned/Independent) of 2009
Reader's Pick
K. Sparks
'09 was a big, big year for longtime reader favorite K. Sparks. Not only did the Queens native wrap up his unbelievably consistent, 52-week-long Manic Mondays series, but he kept his fanbase fed with numerous dope mixtape releases, most recently the DJBooth.net-sponsored Super Seniors and Pajozo collaboration Soul Food.
Staff Pick
XV
With a huge crop of new artists eager to prove they're more than capable of carrying hip-hop's torch into the future, 2009 was the year all the "hip-hop is dead' nonsense finally got put to rest, but none more so than XV. Simply put, everything the man blessed with his mic turned to gold, and if XV's not signed to a major deal by the end of 2010, maybe it will be time to start declaring a hip-hop state of emergency again.
Best DJ Booth Freestyle of 2009 |
Best New Artist (Signed) of 2009 |
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Member Reviews and Ratings
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DJ Booth Crew  Total Ratings: 7966 |
I guess K. Sparks did the best in our Freestyle entries...
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| Posted on Jan 06, 2010 |
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DJ Booth Crew  Total Ratings: 904 |
XV really impressed a lot of people this year. He's going places in 2010.
As I said earlier, he passes my girlfriend test of mainstream success. Meaning when I play XV my girlfriend asks who it is. I play a lot of music every day and very rarely does she bother to ask. Mirror's Edge made her a fan of XV.
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| Posted on Jan 06, 2010 |
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Tastemaker  Total Ratings: 613 |
Cosign with d mac... Two words: Mirrors Edge
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| Posted on Jan 06, 2010 |
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Tastemaker  Total Ratings: 4267 |
What is consistent?
Grab your dictionary, look up "Consistent" and then expect to see K.Sparks staring right back at you. At an unimaginable clip of roughly releasing one song per week throughout 2009, you'd expect at some point to see a noticeable drop in production value at the K.Sparks hip-hop factory. No, you are fcukin dead wrong. But even with all those records under his belt, K.Sparks remains inspired and fresh. Concepts, hooks, lexis, on-point delivery, real talk, braggadocio and story telling are all present and correct in the most refreshing way. And as for XV, I've no words that even come close to describe how much I LOVE his music. Vizzy is the Thesaurus' first option when you look up 'positive development'. Check out his early mixtapes. Dude had one of the nicer years in the biz, he needs his just due. [Resume playing "Undeniable"] |
| Posted on Jan 06, 2010 |
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DJ Booth Crew |
If neither one is signed by year's end, then the labels need to fire their entire A&R staff.
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| Posted on Jan 06, 2010 |
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Tastemaker  Total Ratings: 908 |
I also agree with the XV choice. That guy is meant to go places.
"My neighbours saw the movers and asked me where I planned to go/Then I pointed at the stars and said I haven't really chose." |
| Posted on Jan 07, 2010 |
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Tastemaker  Total Ratings: 1189 |
Ill be honest, im not a huge fan of either of these 2.
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| Posted on Jan 07, 2010 |
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DJ Booth Member  Total Ratings: 213 |
I agree with the staff pick. XV is absolutely great! I think you'd have to be deaf not to sign this guy to a label, seeing how much talent he has!
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| Posted on Jan 07, 2010 |
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Tastemaker  Total Ratings: 2905 |
DEFINETLY K. SPARKS!!! XV is just as awesome and I love both of them but K. Sparks worked his ass off so much this year and everything he has released has appealed to me, eazy choice
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| Posted on Jan 07, 2010 |
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DJ Booth Member  Total Ratings: 177 |
Bedstuy on the check in, K. Sparks is that dude. Glad to see K getting the recognition.
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| Posted on Jan 08, 2010 |
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DJ Booth Crew  Total Ratings: 267 |
Burmy, I can't agree with you more. I can't believe that no one is throwing duffle bags of money to get either of them to sign to a label.
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| Posted on Jan 08, 2010 |
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DJ Booth Member |
XV had a better freestyle i think and his mixtape is the flyest this year
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| Posted on Jan 10, 2010 |
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Tastemaker  Total Ratings: 424 |
I prefer XV way better than K. Sparks even though I do like both artists XV just never got boring or repetitive and always scored higher with his great innovative music to keep you listening.
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| Posted on Jan 11, 2010 |
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Tastemaker Total Ratings: 424 |
I am also guessing that K. Sparks by far has spent more time on the mic and his music does resemble the word 'consistency' but how much did he spend before hand improving his rapping I mean those beats were Banging, but I got the impression he prepared most of them before he even started spitting in the booth.
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| Posted on Jan 11, 2010 |
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Tastemaker  Total Ratings: 130 |
Glad to see K. Sparks won this! I voted based upon a few things, the main two things being consistency and quality music. People can talk anout K all they want, but the reality of it all is that there was no other Indie artist that put out as much quality music as K did. 52 songs for Manic Mondays, along with several Mixtapes. K is a star in the making. He has a fan for life in me (and my sister) : )
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| Posted on Jan 12, 2010 |
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DJ Booth Member  Total Ratings: 86 |
I prefer K. Sparks better than XV. I just couldn't get into XV's music. Super Senior is a classic. Props to K dot on the win.
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| Posted on Jan 12, 2010 |
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DJ Booth Member  Total Ratings: 161 |
K. Sparks hands down baby...
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| Posted on Jan 12, 2010 |
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