Rap Winners of 2008

10 months ago 03rd Jan 11:00

Rihanna

As the world of Rap Music hangs up it’s bling and sweatpants for another year, we at FemaleFirst decided to take a look at the musicians who have made 2008 their year. Lets just hope they can continue their success into 2009.

She has appeared on almost every Woman’s magazine and almost every music magazine during the last year. Crowned the Princess of Style after bringing short hair to the forefront of fashion again just as Twiggy did in the sixties, Rihanna and her pop star boyfriend Chris Brown are undoubtedly the up and coming King and Queen of R&B.

She grabbed a Grammy for Umbrella that saw her collaborate with former label boss Jay Z and her third album Good Girl Gone bad continues to stay on the Top 100 Billboard Albums.

Dwayne Carter III might just be the most talked about rapper this year. He was rumored dead after an alleged shooting in New Orleans as was his daughter after an imaginary car crash proving that the haters were out in force attempting to threaten his position. But anything he does just seems to boosts him a little further out of the reach of his contemporaries, and haters.

He had the best first week sales in Urban music this year with his Carter III project selling 1.1 million copies in the US in its first week on shelves. He then went on to grab eight Grammy nominations as well as a multitude of awards won during the course of the year.

So much was his success appreciated by his label boss and ‘Daddy,’ Weezy was presented with a million dollars in cash by Baby Williams in a club when the rapper celebrated his 26th birthday.

Ensconced as the ‘in rapper of the year,’ Weezy still managed to play his own Daddy role throwing a celeb infused birthday party for his daughter Reginae and being on hand when his son was born in October this year.

A failed attempt at dodging paparazzi at LAX airport in September saw Kanye West troubled and annoyed with the media with whom he has always had a love hate relationship.

Like many A-Listers including Sean Combs and Russell Simmons, Mr. West took to blogging his thoughts on certain issues (involving him) and certain matters (concerning him) on his myspace page this year much to the delight of bloggers and fans.

Breaking the rules as always West released his fourth album 808s and Heartbreak in November that exposed an abundance of Auto-Tune enhanced vocals. Faced with a barrage of criticism and frowns after deciding to sing on the album as opposed to rap, Kanye literally had the last laugh with the album almost hitting Gold within the first week.

Again, another artist linked with Kanye West who was literally elbowed out of winning the Mercury Prize this year by rock band Elbow, Estelle has had some serious success this year.

Her Kanye assisted, will.i.am produced Summer smash, American Boy which was voted the Number One track of 08 by Amazon and was nominated for numerous awards throughout the year saw her emerge as a worldwide celebrity.

As 2009 dawns expect to see Estelle at the forefront of UK R&B/Hip-Hop and with a possible two Grammies heading her way, she is certainly getting her ‘shine’ on.

What can be said about the infamous pair that hasn’t already been said? Since marrying in April this year in a highly secret affair Jay Z and Beyonce have secured themselves as Music’s most profitable couple.

Their mantle piece at home has to resemble the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with all the awards that they have won between them and with endorsements and sponsorships allowing a lucrative fall back when they step back from the music business.

Although with a world tour planned for Mrs. Carter next year, looks like retirement might not be on the cards. Racking in combined earnings for 2008 of £109 million, Jigga and his Destiny’s child are Hollywood’s richest.

Melanie Cornish