Hip Hop Week In Review: Joe Budden, Combat Jack & 2017 HipHopDX Year In Review

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HipHopDX – This week in Hip Hop, Joe Budden quit his job as co-host of Complex’s Everyday Struggle, revered member of the Hip Hop community Combat Jack passed away at 48 years old after a fierce battle with colon cancer and HipHopDX announced the 2017 Year End Awards.

Joe Budden Leaves Complex

The Slaughterhouse vet made it clear he’s done with Complex and Everyday Struggle, the show he helped build. While many were in disbelief and hoping that Joey was trolling, he wasn’t. He took to Twitter to explain that he and the company couldn’t come to an agreement when it came time to renew his contract.

The new father also went into further detail about his exit, citing the higher-ups didn’t recognize the importance DJ Akademiks, Nedeska and himself played in making Everyday Struggle a raging success on his podcast. He also says Complex damaged its relationship with Spotify. Both DJ Akademiks and Nedeska addressed Joe leaving on their social media.

With Budden out, who will replace him? HipHopDX compiled a list of possibilities.

Check out that list here.

Rest Easy Combat Jack

Reggie “Combat Jack” Ossé passed away on Wednesday (December 20) in Brooklyn after a fight with colon cancer. He was 48.

In October, he announced he was diagnosed with colon cancer, which prevented him from recording his popular podcast The Combat Jack Show. It was the first time he’d missed a show.

A pioneer and important figure in Hip Hop, many in the industry paid their respects to the Loud Speakers Network founder for everything he’d accomplished during the course of his storied career.

Read more about Combat Jack here.

2017 HipHopDX Year End Awards

Like every year, HipHopDX hands out Year End Awards to the best of the best. The ones who made 2017 memorable and impactful. From the top albums, songs, moments, production and artists.

Rapper of the Year went to Kendrick Lamar this go around, Cardi B snagged Come Up of the Year and Eminem earned Most Disappointing Album of the Year by DX staff.

We’re updating this list all through the New Year, so keep up with the latest here.

The Best Mixtapes & EPs Of 2017

Remembering Hip Hop Community Members We Lost In 2017

The Most Disappointing Rap Albums Of 2017

The Best Rap Videos Of 2017

The Best Of R&B 2017

DX Reviews

Various Artists — Bright: The Album

Cuban Doll — Aaliyah Keef

Brockhampton — Saturation III

DJ Mustard & RJMrLA — The Ghetto

Childish Major — Woo$ah

Shy Glizzy — Quiet Storm

#DXCLUSIVES: Tupac & Illa Da Producer

Final Justice For Tupac Shakur — Will The Police Step Up To The Plate?

Former Los Angeles Times reporter and Emmy Award-winning producer P. Frank Williams penned a piece for HipHopDX detailing what he experienced that fateful night Tupac Shakur was shot in Las Vegas following the Mike Tyson fight.

In it, he questions how the murder of Tupac has gone unsolved for so long and proclaims there’s been some breakthroughs in Pac’s case, which will be televised on A&E’s Who Shot Tupac?

“In our groundbreaking series on A&E, I joined a team of journalists who trekked across America from Las Vegas to New York to Los Angeles, interviewing and searching for clues to what actually happened that fateful September night in 1996,” he wrote. “Led by civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, attorney for Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, and Michael Brown, our team of investigators performed the most thorough investigation ever. And what did we discover? That the LAPD found the murder weapon and allegedly decided to never send it to Las Vegas.”

Meet The “Revival” Producer Who Brought Eminem Back To Bars On “Offended”

Miami-based beatmaker Illa Da Producer has worked with quite a few big names in Hip Hop including Lil Wayne and Pusha T. More recently, he worked with Eminem on his Revival album and he spoke with DX on how that connection came about.

“So Royce [da 5’9″] did a remix on [“Wait A Minute with PHresher] and Em loved his remix and was like, ‘Yo, what is that?’” Illa recalled. “He said, ‘it’s this nigga PHresher’s song.’ Em’s like, ‘Alright, cool.’ He found PHresher and found PHresher’s manager and was like, ‘Alright, now that I found PHresher, who did that beat?’ And PHresher’s manager; shoutout my man Jay Andino. He was like, ‘Oh I got you!’ Called me and then plugged me with Paul Rosenberg and Tracy [McNew] from Shady Records and then that’s how it went down.”

Source: Hip Hop DX