Favourite Album of 2011

Can anyone tell me: is anything mentioned on this thread not available thru iTunes? In other words, does anything get thru without their sayso? I know it's probably a boring thing to ask this but I'm curious. Serious question to the yoof and you eternal teenagers who dig all the new stuff.

In hip-hop, most definitely.

2011 has been one of the strongest on record for 'mixtapes' i.e. self-released albums put out by the artist with little, if any, commercial backing. Not sure if this floats your boat but here are five of the better mixtapes from the year (in my opinion):

Main Attrakionz - 808s and Dark Grapes 2
Main Attrakionz - Take 1 ft. ASAP Rocky (Prod. by Clams Casino) - YouTube

Blu - Jesus
Blu - Jesus - Jesus LP (Prod. by Madlib) - YouTube

Elzhi - Elmatic
Elzhi - Detroit State of Mind - Elmatic - YouTube

Danny Brown - XXX
Danny Brown - Die Like A Rockstar (Prod. by Skywlkr) - YouTube

Big K.R.I.T - Return of 4Eva
BIG K.R.I.T. - "Dreamin''" - YouTube