2008: #7 - "The Boss"

Upon first listen, "The Boss", might sound like a very solid, but uneventful, pop-crunk rap hit, complete with an appearance from the once-ubiquitous T-Pain. And wouldn't you think that poppy production from J.R. Rotem (who had previously worked with Rihanna and Sean Kingston, and since, Jason Derulo) would further blunt the force of Rick Ross's in-your-face bass telling standard issue tales of bling and various misdeeds with women? You would, and you would be wrong.

Built on a drum loop of The Beastie Boys' skeletal "Paul Revere", and anchored by an almost horrifically eerie choir of pitch-shifted gospel singers that sounds like a 30's film soundtrack on helium, Rotem's track shifts the focus away from Ross entirely, which is a brilliant move here. Amongst the creepy production, Ross's actual voice is more important than the story he tells. And because his rhyming, timing and presence are great, while his lyrics are not, this is a positive thing.

The only misstep for us is the inclusion of T-Pain on the choruses; it seems tacked on, typical, and slightly crass. Without him, this glorious song and its Flaming Lips meets Gravediggaz meets The Wizard of Oz vibe (though not as cartoonishly bad as that sounds) could have been even higher on our list.