As 2009 comes to a wrap, we at Okayplayer want to reign in the New Year with joy – but not without a quick glance back at all that made ’09 what it was. We ushered in our first Black President at the top of the year to great optimism (although, unfortunately, as we close out ’09 we have reason to be much more restrained in our Obam-enthusiasm). The Roots switched the game up, and scaled back on a 20 year career of non-stop touring to rock out on NBC each night as the house band on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. We bid farewell to many notables, who made the ultimate transition into the great unknown, including our beloved Michael Jackson, Ted Kennedy, DJ AM, Baatin, Mr. Magic, Bea Arthur, Brittany Murphy, Dom Deluise, Ed McMahon, Rashied Ali, Farrah Fawcett, Patrick Swayze, John Hughes, John Updike, Roc Raida, Koko Taylor, Natasha Richardson, Ron Asheton, Eddie Bo, Billy Powell, DJ Josh Link, Oscar Mayer, John Hughes, Sam “Bluzman” Taylor, Eunice Shriver, Walter Cronkite, Les Paul, Randy Cain, Chris Henry, and many more. [Read the rest of our NYE post after the jump].

This was also a year of new birth, and not just in terms of children. Many a hip-hop artist gave birth to a new creation, producing new albums from the likes of Jay-Z, Eminem, Wale, Kid Cudi, J Dilla, Q-Tip, Brother Ali, Asher Roth, Rakim, Clipse, DOOM, UGK, Exile, Blu, Finale, Curren$y, Jesse Boykins III, and more. Although it may go down in history as the year of the Gaga, OKP was loving these new offerings more than the Ga, espcially Fashawn‘s Boy Meets World, The Foreign Exchange‘s Leave It All Behind, Slaughterhouse‘s self-titled debut, K’naan‘s Troubadour, Raekwon‘s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. II, Bajah + The Dry Eye Crew‘s mixtape Kings of Salone, and Mos Def‘s The Ecstatic. A few other albums, not necessarily under the “hip-hop” umbrella, have been getting played on repeat here at OKP too: Mayer Hawthrone‘s A Strange Arrangement, The Very Best‘s Warm Heart of Africa, The Noisette‘s Wild Young Hearts, Fela: The Best of The Black President, (and the Broadway show FELA! deserves a serious mention too – with ?uesto and Jay-Z on board as producers), Hudson Mohawke‘s Butter, The Dirty Projector‘s Bitte Orca, and Little Dragon‘s Machine Dreams.

2010 promises many more exciting releases, including new music from The Roots with How I Got Over, which we absolutely can’t wait for (duh). Erykah Badu‘s New Amerykah Part II: The Return Of The Ankh also has us itching with anticipation. Jay Electronica keeps stringing us along with banging new singles (see “Exhibit C“), and we have serious hopes for an album in ’10.

As always, each year is a year-in-progress with Okayplayer. We’ve seen many a hip-hop website community come and go, and we are quite proud to still be standing here, 10 years later (*sings Happy Anniversary to US!). There were many things we hoped to accomplish in ’09 that may not have come to fruition, but we have high hopes for 2010! Finally, we want to give shout outs to all of those that helped us through this year and made our ’09 possible, starting with ?uestlove and The Roots (and Jimmy Fallon too!). Also huge thanks to Richard Nichols, 2dopeboyz, Louis and Lindy at Banzai, Shawn Gee, Kim and Munir and the whole team at S.E.F.G., Decon, Karmaloop, The Taste Crew, Revive Da Live, Wax Poetics, Rocksmith, Frank151, Alex and Jon at MOG, Jon Levy, Def Jam, Stones Throw, Duck Down, Motown, SonyBMG, Rachel Goldstein, Ariel at Sutra, Jill Newman and the entire Highline Ballroom staff, !K7, and everyone else we worked with this year. See you in the future… 2010!

- gingerlynn, OKPdan, and shamz