*Click here to go back to the beginning of the countdown*
*Click here to go back to #25*
*Click here to go back to #20*
*Click here to go back to #15*

I’m gonna just go ahead and say it: ¡Mayday! is the best hip-hop act to ever come out of Miami (although the only other ones I know of are Rick Ross, Trick Daddy, Trina, Pitbull and Flo Rida).  This band could even end up being as good as The Roots if they maintain their current level of consistency over the next 15-20 years.  Last year I had their Take Me To Your Leader album ranked at #2 on my 2012 countdown, and they came pretty close to matching that level with this one.  As I wrote in the honorable mentions in this year’s countdown, Wrekonize is a talented emcee on his own, but the synergy he has with this band takes him to a whole other level of musical greatness.  ¡Mayday! also benefits from having Bernz there to bring some vocal variety to keep things interesting, as Bernz and Wrek have some back-and-forth style rapping on this album (something I don’t think they did on the previous one).

With this album, ¡Mayday! has again found a good balance between rock and rap; it actually sounds more like a rock album that just happens to have rap verses between the hooks.  Wrekonize even pulls off some good singing to make full-on rock songs too, although he’s always been able to do that.  There is a consistent feel-good vibe to this album as most of the songs are upbeat, with a couple exceptions where the pace slows down and the subject matter gets a little more serious.  I don’t see myself playing these slower songs as much but I can see their purpose on the album.  Overall I’d say ¡Mayday! is 2 for 2 with their Strange Music albums, as we’ve gotten a different vibe with each of them but they’re both great.  While Take Me To Your Leader had more stand-out tracks, Believers is a more consistent-sounding album with a similar vibe all the way through.

My Joint:

My Grade (based on how well I connected with it, no disrespect if your experience was different): A-

Come back to my blog tomorrow to see which album or mixtape came in at #13 on the countdown!