One cursory glance at this month’s hip-hop release schedule and you’ll wonder who’s crazier: Def Jam for treating Redman as if he’s past his expiration date (no buzz whatsoever on his new album??) or the Wu triumvirate of Rae, Meth, and Ghost for making a Wu-Tang album sans RZA.

You can take 2009 out of the calendar, but you can’t take the rich memories out of 2009. Animated films ethered live action movies. Mixtapes murdered albums. Raekwon and Mos Def turned in undeniably stellar performances and Eminem delivered one of the most polarizing albums hip-hop has ever witnessed (you either hated it or loved [...]

Many artists have recorded entire albums filled with quality material for their labels that never actually made it to a store for inexplicable reasons. Here’s hip-hop’s Top 10 victims of Industry Rule #4080.

Take a gander at Rizoh’s favorite everything of 2008 after the cut. [Artwork ©