As a part of this year’s Best of 2011 survey, we asked voters to tell us what they thought made 2011 special when it comes to music. And as we expected, URB readers told us what’s up. Some of you were disappointed, but most stayed positive about the past 12 months and are enthusiastic about the year to come. As one of you so aptly put, “I want the music of 2011 in my head for at least the month of January 2012.”

With only a few hours left in the year, we decided to share some of the best comments with you. Thanks for an awesome 2011 and looking forward to 2012! Have fun tonight and stay safe.

GENRE WARS

- Hip-hop is slowly coming back, Indie is dying, and new innovative music is rising in its place. People are starting to get creative.

- 2011 the year electronic beats officially replaced rock n’ roll riffs as the common denominator. I hope there’s a meeting of the minds in 2012, where genuine pop hooks and intelligent lyrics are less of an afterthought.

- Dubstep has taken it’s place in the long line of popular trends in music, and will most likely become a household name like electro has within pop music/culture as it continues to be refined for mass markets.  Hip-hop and dance music have officially merged to form modern pop. Indie dance and it’s counterpart, Folk/Americana, have continued to stay solid and consistent as usual.  Still working on the next thing but am appreciating the soundscapes as we move into 2012.

- It has been refreshing to see “Bass” music branch out into more interesting sound arenas!  Would have never imagined someone like Sepalcure to emerge from the ranks of a pretty dreadfully dull menagerie.

- Too much brostep, but I’m glad that d&b is finally making its comeback.

- Electronic music seems to be getting bigger and better, with the glitchy sounds of garage and 2-Step seeping into all different styles of music, echoing old R&B classics along with good old hip-hop beats. I just can’t wait to hear what 2012 can bring us. No doubt, plenty of dancing.

- Though the “hip-hop is dead” argument continues and in the U.S., people are still hard-pressed to identify between trance, house, and techno (what’s in a genre anyway?) I think I saw an incredible amount of progress with music of all sorts enjoying center-stage attention at different times in the year.  It’s exciting to see so much diversity in music, and while I don’t know that the mainstream is quite where I wish it was, it definitely is a lot closer than ever before.

- There was def some great music out there that was, as usual,  ignored by the mainstream. Apathy and Talib Kweli had solid albums. As well as Lykke Li and Little Dragon.  I wish really good music got exposure nowadays.

- Music in 2011 was a combination of all genres, and that is what made it so special.