The Top 10 Most Popular Hip Hop Singles The Week Of 10/31/2011

by Kathy Iandoli

Drake continues the momentum this week, as Yelawolf checks in at the top, while Amy Winehouse and Nas make a special entry along with Bad Meets Evil for Halloween and some new Common plus T.I.

Halloween happened this week, but if you live on the East Coast, Halloween may be happening today. The snowstorm that lasted about 36 hours on the East, knocked out power for some and Halloween was ultimately "rescheduled" in some States. So what does that mean for music and this list? Well, it allowed for heads to sit at their computers and play some music (if they had power) instead of trick or treating or eating their candy. There aren't too many surprises on this week's list. Drake did his thing as usual, as did Wale, T.I. and other household names. However, some songs surfaced that we'd like to call "specialty tracks." Check those out along with the rest.

Amy Winehouse and Nas Collaborate, Bad Meets Evil Celebrates Halloween

It's no surprise that everyone misses Amy Winehouse. Here was an artist who had so much potential, but left this earth way too soon. One of her most noteworthy tracks was a song called "Me & Mr. Jones" where Amy talks about none other than Nas. "Nobody stands in between me and my man," she says on the track, "It's me and Mr. Jones." Amy was never quiet about her crush on Nas, and in 2008 a huge dream came true for Winehouse. She collaborated with Mr. Jones on a Salaam Remi-produced track called "Like Smoke."

The song (#3 this week) never surfaced until now, as Winehouse's posthumous release Lioness: Hidden Treasures is arriving on December 5th. With Amy gone, the soulfully Hip Hop track has a haunting quality to it. However, it only builds the anticipation for this new Amy project due out next month. Meanwhile at #4, the combination of Eminem and Royce Da 5'9 known as Bad Meets Evil delivering a horrifying special for Shade 45. It's no secret that Shade 45 is Eminem XM/Sirius station, so this week the pair jumped on Shade for a "Halloween Special."

It's good to know that even after the release of their album Hell: The Sequel, these two are still making rounds.

T.I. Makes Headlines For Music This Time, While Common Has a Sweet Side

Ever since Tip left the clink he's been working hard. A short while back he dropped a freestyle over Drake's Boi-1da produced track "Headlines."

This week a CDQ version of T.I.'s "Headlines Freestyle"

surfaced and sure enough, the song crept right onto the list at #8. T.I. makes a very strong point with his new music. In a world where rappers are forgotten almost immediately, T.I. understands the fickle listeners. He lost ten months of his career to prison, but came out with a fiction novel and a whole slew of new songs. Not everyone is going to like everything, but Tip keeps going. "Headlines" was a surefire win this week, as was the topper "Hard White"

Remix with Yelawolf and Slaughterhouse in at #1. With T.I.'s Trouble Man slated for a March 2012 release, hopefully the tracks coming off that will be equally as exciting. Add Common to the list of artists with new albums coming too. The Dreamer, The Believer should be out by year's end, plus the G.O.O.D. Music compilation album, and Nas.Com with Nas is on schedule for 2012. This week, Com sprung a leak at #6 with "Sweet."

Common reunites with No I.D. on the new cut, so it's bound to be "sweet." Just when we thought we lost Common to Hollywood, he comes back with a bang.