2007: #5 - "The Way I Are"

On the hypnotic yet ultra-shiny pop-trance hit "The Way I Are", Timbaland extrapolates the synth part of mid-80s dance classic "Push It" (personally, I'm not a huge fan, but it's a cool hook), twists it around and creates one of the best Madonna-esque club-pop songs since Madonna stopped writing them in the mid-80s. It's a shame he couldn't have saved this one for her, since his actual collabs with her and J.T. were pretty putrid. In any case, we could hear (and have heard) this one a million times and it would still retain its long-lasting appeal. Breathy female vocals, ping-ponging synths and silly robo-funk that would make Prince blush may seem like elements of a major disaster, an embarrassing foray into glossed-up trance music from a hip-hop/pop maestro, but Timbaland pulls it all together here.

2007: #6 - "Thnks fr th Mmrs"

After saturating the R&B airwaves in the late 80's and early 90's with his lush soft-soul productions, and then overexposing himself (amidst many copycats) and his sound in the mid-90's, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds popped up on Top 40 radio again in an unlikely place - "Thnks fr the Mmrs" by Fll t By.

He infused their chunky hook-laden mall-punk with the same mature, overdone instrumentation of his past works, and the band actually ended up sounding better than they ever had. Too bad this new sound also got co-opted by a whole slew of awful artists, this time not by faux-soul singers, but by faux-emo pop bands like Panic! At the Disco and All American Rejects, and even Kelly Clarkson and The Jonas Brothers.

Because of that, the whole thing seemed dated and passe before it was even 6 months old, so it's lost some luster in the last couple of years. But while the others sound like 4th rate punk crassly injected with lame, superficial "pop" cliches, this is actually sort of well done, and we stand by this song as a good example of why Fall Out Boy is head and shoulders above their imitators. With its dense production, hyper-bombastic choruses and idiotically paranoid lyrics, "Thnks fr the Mmrs" is kind of like if George Michael had done "Living On A Prayer", which to me is not a bad thing at all.

2007: #7 - "LoveStoned"

People tend to rave about the shimmery interlude part (oooh look gtrz omg), and it's cool and all, but we love "LoveStoned" more for its dance-funk first half, where Justin out-sexies "Sexyback" and rocks "Rock Your Body" right to the ground.

And though "Rock Your Body" had far superior melodic hooks, it's on "LoveStoned" where Justin takes the funk groove of the earlier hit and outdoes himself on the Prince tip, going from flirty young dance goof to mysterious lothario with one falsetto swoop.

2007: #8 - "Give It To Me"

"Give It To Me", a cross between an early Madonna dance anthem and an easily digestible version of the stuff Timbaland used to do with Missy Elliott and Aaliyah, is the forgotten stepchild of Tim's most recent spate of #1 hits. While songs like "Apologize" and "The Way I Are" (and also any number of hits by guests Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake) continue to garner a fair amount of airplay on dance and Top 40 stations, this one seems to have been lost in the abyss of summer of '07 radio playlists.

That's a shame, as a massive yet snaky beat, and a stunning double tracked chorus laid down perfectly by the inimitable (for better or worse) Furtado, more than make up for some ludicrous rapping by the chart-topping trio. Though Timbaland has one good dis (the "I'm a producer and you just a piano man" line that almost started a producer feud between him and Scott Storch), the rhymes almost do it in; one can't help but think how much better this might have been with Missy Elliott, or even Jay-Z (think "Big Pimpin'" or "Dirt Off Your Shoulder"), singing over it.

2007: #9 - "Apologize"

The second time I heard this song, I got so excited that I did 70 in a 50 and got a $200 speeding ticket. Sure, it was a speed trap, but I won't deny being legitimately fired up. Not because it rocked hard or it was so interesting or anything like that. Obviously. The truth is, i'd spent the previous week or so listening to this "New Pop" new wave mix that had some "cool" post-punk stuff on it like Josef K, Orange Juice and Adam Ant, but also included songs by ABC, Scritti Politti, Human League, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet and Wham!, who, with their modernized glam-soul take on pop, helped define the movement known as New Romantic.

Now, it does have a more sober, precious post-90's faux-alternative Coldplay-style vibe to it, but with "Apologize", I think Timbaland and OneRepublic really captured that New Romantic ballad sound - and in their own way - better than anyone in recent memory. Whereas that someone like The Killers tends to shove the 80's influence down your throat, while simultaneously sounding nothing like an actual 80's synth-pop band, Timbaland totally gets it right.

2007: #10 - "Makes Me Wonder"

If their previous hit "This Love" was Maroon 5 attempting to, and failing miserably at, conjure up funky soul icons like James Brown and Stevie Wonder (seriously, that's what the band, and some critics, claimed) then "Makes Me Wonder", which fondly recalls Hall & Oates and Justin Timberlake, is the band successfully finding their true calling as white men imitating white men imitating black soul singers.

Regardless of what you think about this band, if you don't remember how good the hooks in this song are, go back and listen to it again. The main riff and the verse are a little sketchy, so it does take a little long to truly get going, but we count about 4 or 5 really catchy chorus and pre-chorus hooks that all rank near the top of the list for 2007.

It's not original in any way, and, yes, even the melodies we're raving about have a familiar feel to them, as if they stole them all from other places and just mashed them together. But that doesn't mean it isn't a good song.

2007: 20-11

20. "Ice Box" - Omarion
19. "Glamorous" - Fergie
18. "Like A Boy" - Ciara
17. "I'm A Flirt" - R Kelly
16. "I'm Like A Lawyer" - Fall Out Boy
15. "Do It" - Nelly Furtado
14. "Beautiful Girls" - Sean Kingston
13. "Tattoo" - Jordin Sparks
12. "Good Life" - Kanye West
11. "Umbrella" - Rihanna

"2007"

Glitchy and retro -
(90's style) - R&B
Meant for Aaliyah?

Near tolerable
Lite-rap from the annoying
Dutchess of Orchid

Ciara plumbs her
Lyrical depth, but the beats
Used to be better

Echoing Elton,
Kells states the obvious and
Warns ladies' fellas

We feel guilty for
Liking this band but this sounds
Like good power pop

Partying with her
Sounds like a good time at least
If you go by this

Suicide was a
Summery anthem's catch phrase
Via "Stand By Me"

Dumb lyrics cannot
Take away from the fact that
This is catchy shit

There's some "P.Y.T.",
grandmama in the bridge, and
T-Pain's best assist

You can stand under
My umb-er-ella ella
Ella ay ay ay

2008: Top 20

Here's the whole thing, for posterity.

20. "Get Like Me" - David Banner
19. "Sexual Eruption" - Snoop Dogg
18. "Take You There" - Sean Kingston
17. "Womanizer" - Britney Spears
16. "Just Dance" - Lady Gaga
15. "Whatever You Like" - T.I.
14. "Flashing Lights" - Kanye West
13. "Girls In Their Summer Clothes" - Bruce Springsteen
12. "Lollipop (Remix)" - Lil Wayne
11. "Swagger Like Us" - T.I.
10.  "A Milli" - Lil Wayne
9. "Love Lockdown" - Kanye West
8. "Paper Planes" - M.I.A.
7. "The Boss" - Rick Ross
6. "My President" - Young Jeezy
5. "Pork and Beans" - Weezer
4. "Single Ladies" - Beyonce
3. "Royal Flush" - Big Boi
2. "Mr. Carter" - Lil Wayne
1. "Live Your Life" - T.I.

Artist of the Year: Lil Wayne, T.I. (tie)
Producer of the Year: Kanye West

2008: #1 - "Live Your Life"

Its ridiculously catchy (and did we mention ridiculous?) interpolation of an annoying European dance hit should have pushed "Live Your Life" toward novelty territory, banishing it toward the bottom of our Top 20, if anything. There's nothing musically unique about it; the skittering machine gun drums sound cool and all, and work well in combo with both Rihanna's icy, robo-babe Auto-Tune vocals and T.I.'s super laid back - and out-of-place - sermonizing, but we've heard those drums before, and in much older and better sounding songs. Maybe the coolest part is those little Casio keyboard organs that come in during the 2nd half of the chorus. Sure, they're kind of out of the ordinary for a Southern rap tune, but then again, when was the last time T.I. could really be considered Southern rap - unless he gets bonus points for recruiting a Barbadian to help sell his records.

Though, when 2007 ended, we knew without a doubt that this was my number one song of the year. It hadn't been played out yet, and it just made me feel good. Then when we were making this list, nearly two years later, we'd pushed it down as far as #7 or so. We hadn't heard it in a while, and though we knew it was good, nothing was really jumping out about it, at least as far as our memory was concerned. Somehow, when we returned to it once more as we were officially finalizing the list, despite its silliness, despite the obvious Rihanna guest appearance, despite T.I.'s inability to really say anything deeper than the titular slogan (though his rhyme scheme and phonetic gymnastics in the 2nd verse are awesome), it still manages to be an extremely moving and uplifting song. We realize this is a very negative review for a dude's #1 song of the year, so we'll shut up now and, like we've done on a few other occasions, steer you to the video link above so you can hear it for yourself.

2008: 20-2

Another recap... We'll have #1 up early next week, so you have a couple of days to guess what it is. The offer from last time still stands!

20. "Get Like Me" - David Banner
19. "Sexual Eruption" - Snoop Dogg
18. "Take You There" - Sean Kingston
17. "Womanizer" - Britney Spears
16. "Just Dance" - Lady Gaga
15. "Whatever You Like" - T.I.
14. "Flashing Lights" - Kanye West
13. "Girls In Their Summer Clothes" - Bruce Springsteen
12. "Lollipop (Remix)" - Lil Wayne
11. "Swagger Like Us" - T.I.
10. "A Milli" - Lil Wayne
9. "Love Lockdown" - Kanye West
8. "Paper Planes" - M.I.A.
7. "The Boss" - Rick Ross
6. "My President" - Young Jeezy
5. "Pork and Beans" - Weezer
4. "Single Ladies" - Beyonce
3. "Royal Flush" - Outkast
2. "Mr. Carter" - Lil Wayne

2008: #2 - "Mr. Carter"

There were bigger hits ("Lollipop", "Get Money", "Mrs. Officer"), and a couple of songs that, on first listen, were instantly jaw-dropping ("A Milli", and the crown jewel of Lil Wayne's career thus far, "Let the Beat Build", which was not released as a single, and sadly did not qualify for this list).

But perhaps the defining and most memorable moment of Weezy's breakthrough album Tha Carter III (yes, "Tha" is in the actual title) was the extraordinarily quotable "Mr. Carter", featuring dueling verses by Wayne and another of hip hop's finest Mr. Carters - Jay-Z.

The production is fairly typical 00's stuff, almost like a leftover from the first Blueprint album, so the vocals are what make this track work. And it's not really the words they're saying that are so profound (the most noteworthy ones are grabbed from an old Jay-Z song and repeated by Wayne on the outro), but how they're saying them. The vocals actually become part of the track and lift it above its basic blueprint. That's how flawlessly the rhyming is executed, at least as far as we're concerned.

You almost have to listen for yourself to understand, because it looks pretty dumb on paper, but here's the best excerpt from Wayne's 2nd verse:

"Cause Wayne win and they lose
I call them April Babies cause they fools
And while they snooze

We up
Feet up like a paraplegia
Or paraplegic

Or parallel park
In that red and yellow thang old skool Atlanta Hawk
Like I'm from Colli Park

But I'm from Hollygrove
Now all my Bloods scream 'Su-Woo' and 'Da, Da Doe'
I know my role

And I play it well
And I weigh it well

On my Libra scale
I suck a pussy fuck a pussy leave it there
Long hair don't even care"

Trust us, it sounds sicker than it looks. And from Jay-Z's guest verse:

"Show no mercy in Murcielago's
I'm far from being the bastard that Marcy had fathered
Now my name's being mentioned with the martyrs
The Biggie's and the Pac's and the Marley's and the Marcuses

Garvey, got me a Molotov Cocktail flow
Even if you box well
Can't stop the blows
Kaboom, the Roc Boy in the room
The dope boy just came off the spoon
Also

I'm so fly 

I'm on auto
Pilot, while guys

Just stare at my wardrobe
I see Euros

That's right, plural
I took so much change from this rap game, it's your go"

Wow. Maybe none of it makes any sense to you, but it was music to our ears.

2008: #3 - "Royal Flush"

Big Boi, Raekwon and Andre 3000, together again. The last time these three teamed up - on 1999's "Skew It On the Bar-B" - we got snappy, hard, yet minimalist stuttering synth-funk, carried lyrically by such impressive, distinctively unique verses it was hard to pick a favorite. Right now, we'd go with Raekwon's, where he spends 45 seconds rhyming things with "hydro". But more on that at a later date.

Does "Royal Flush" live up to its predecessor? Of course it does; would it be #3 otherwise? Let's break down why. This time around the funk is even funkier, with a slower, harder beat and a more sinister synth-bass line that's actually as memorable as any Top 40 hook of the year. Big Boi shouts through a tight, angry verse (on President Bush: "Iraq, 'I that', now he gunnin' for Iran"), talks nuclear war and gives way to an Isley Brothers sample via Billy Ocean reference ("Billy Ocean/body floatin'/take a voyage to Atlantis"). After the "break", Raekwon is next, and he hands off almost as soon as the beat starts to build back up, as if to clear the way for Andre 3000.

Now, in the last decade, Andre has built up an image in the mainstream as a funky, silly, quirky, well-dressed, psychedelic, singing, dancing, acting, sensitive hippie rocker ladies-man - a cross between Jimi Hendrix, Elvis, Prince and George Clinton, but a very minor version, taking only the most superficial and annoying elements of each legend. Perhaps this public perception holds some weight, but it's far from the whole picture. Before he stepped into the limelight as a fashion icon/movie star, Andre was considered to be one of the very greatest lyricists in hip hop history. And in the late 90's, he was THE king. Here he sets out to reclaim that throne.

For nearly two whole minutes, he owns this song. When he comes in during the third verse, percussion elements that were in the song earlier are actually removed from the beat, perhaps to give the audience a completely empty stage with a spotlight shone directly on the man. The man comes through in the clutch with one of his top 5 verses ever. It's funny, clever, deep, full of great metaphors, references, twists and turns, and some of his trademark pauses and oddball rhyming schemes. Please listen, as descriptions do not do it justice.

2008: #4 - "Single Ladies"

When we first heard "Single Ladies" - before it set the standard for electro-pop-R&B, before the video became an internet phenomenon, before the Kanye incident (btw, he was right - Beyonce so should have won) - we were like, "Why?"

Why is it all herky-jerky, like it's speeding up and slowing down at the same time? Why doesn't it just pick a rhythm and stay on it? Why does that screeching noise keep coming in and out? Why does that one synth note there sound wrong? Why don't I hear any bass? Why is such an angry, sad song so damn upbeat? Why is she kind of screaming in this part here? And why is she quoting Toy Story?

Why does it all sound so... odd? (Well, because.)

But now we're like, "Who cares?"

Whoa-oh-oh, oh-oh oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh!

2008: #5 - "Pork and Beans"

Another guilty pleasure here, as we'd officially written Weezer off about 6 years earlier, "Pork and Beans" delivered some of the best pop-rock hooks this side of Fall Out Boy, making it one of the few "modern rock" (whatever that means) songs to make any of our lists this decade. It's annoying, effortlessly catchy, tossed-off, half-rapped trifle, but it totally works.

And although "Pork and Beans" was hailed by critics as a "return to form" - the form being the radio-ready post-Nirvana power pop of their debut - we found it to be more of a combination of three things: their cheesy but delicious 2001 self-titled album (aka The Green Album, another guilty pleasure of ours); "Buddy Holly", which was sort of atypical to everything else on The Blue Album anyway; and "El Scorcho", from Pinkerton, which was annoying and tossed-off, and kind of stunk.

But this mostly ruled.

2008: #6 - "My President"

From the unexpectedly ethereal to the unexpectedly poignant, our next most favoritest song of 2008 is "My President" by Young Jeezy.

We have to admit that we fell hard for this song during our post-Election Day hangover, and while our actual president has disappointed us tremendously (though for the exact opposite reasons you'll hear spewed on the news or in the paper), "My President" has stayed fresh, even as that historic November night becomes a hazy memory.

Jeezy hits all the right notes here - it's catchy, it's uplifting, it's epic-sounding, it's serious, it's fun, it's witty, it's angry. It's surprisingly strong lyrically, too, with pseduo-political lines like "Be all that you can be/ Don't that sound like some dumb shit?/ When you die over crude oil/ Black as my nigga Boo" delivered the only way Jeezy knows how (loud), and held together by a 3rd verse by Nas that blows through the gate ("Our history/Black history/No president ever did shit for me") and coasts until the final triumphant chorus.

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.

2008: #8 - "Paper Planes"

If "Boom Boom Pow" was the weirdest chart hit of 2009, then international star M.I.A.'s U.S. breakthrough single "Paper Planes" - with its impenetrable lyrics, genre-defying sound and hooky yet impossible-to-sing-along-to chorus - was the weirdest of 2008.

It took a couple of appearances in hit movies, another appearance on a chart-topping hip hop album, some playful borrowing from a new jack swing-era rap hit, and a perfectly executed Clash sample to make it all come together, but fortunately for us and the rest of the music-buying public, it did, and it was inescapable in the summer of 2008.

Only the most curmudgeonly serious Clash fan could object to the guitar sample - to us, it's not a rip-off of "Straight to Hell" in any way, just a whimsical and deftly modernized re-working. And M.I.A.'s repetitive, childlike and simplistic rapping fits in perfectly with the dreamlike quality of the beat, not to mention the disturbingly violent, surreal hook sung by a chorus of children. It all made it impossible to classify, and as such it got airplay on mainstream pop, dance, rap and modern rock stations alike. And it probably got stuck in everybody's head at least once.

2008: #9 - "Love Lockdown"

It just sounds cool.

2008: #10 - "A Milli"

Lil Wayne might be a little overexposed (OK, a lot) and kind of passe right now, but when we first heard this on the radio during an especially weak time for pop music, we thought we were hearing a transmission from another planet. With an absolutely insane sample that could stand toe-to-toe with any Golden Era rap track or peak-RZA material - and is essentially the entire musical backing for the whole song - "A Milli" is almost too much of a good thing. But it's a really good thing. And while further scrutiny has exposed a lot of Wayne's rhymes to be, well, stupid, rather than other-worldly, the track still floated high above most others in 2008.

(P.S. - R.I.P, Mr. Reatard)

2008: 20-11

20. "Get Like Me" - David Banner
19. "Sexual Eruption" - Snoop Dogg
18. "Take You There" - Sean Kingston
17. "Womanizer" - Britney Spears
16. "Just Dance" - Lady Gaga
15. "Whatever You Like" - T.I.
14. "Flashing Lights" - Kanye West
13. "Girls In Their Summer Clothes" - Bruce Springsteen
12. "Lollipop (Remix)" - Lil Wayne
11. "Swagger Like Us" - T.I.

While reviewing a tracklist for a forthcoming year, my wife asked me, "Would you like this song if it wasn't Bruce?" My answer: "No, probably not."

The song was the folk-cheeser "Secret Garden", an unreleased bonus track on Springsteen's 1995 Greatest Hits disc, made popular by Jerry Maguire a couple years after its release, and made even more popular by a super cheesy radio remix featuring dialogue from the film. And before you accuse me of some sort of bias, based on undying loyalty to the man who recorded several of my favorite albums of all-time, let me explain.

My moderate fondness for "Secret Garden" is not simply because of who wrote it. What I meant was, if Bruce had not written it, it wouldn't be any good at all. It just wouldn't have the right production elements, the right tone, the right sentiment, even the right type of lyrics. For example, if it had come from John Mayer, it'd be sappy, creepy, self-important and overproduced. Dave Matthews would have made it too busy and ugly, while also faltering lyrically and vocally with something silly and gratuitous. Same with Conor Oberst, but in his own way. Finally, Jason Mraz would have made it cutesy or thrown in some awful pseudo-clever "wordplay" or, worse still, scatting.

Which brings me to the point I want to make about "Girls In Their Summer Clothes". I feel like, had this not been Bruce, it might have been received better, and appreciated for what it is - a super catchy, uplifting, kinda retro "pop" song. "Pop" in the sense of AM radio, 60's bubblegum, Burt Bacharach, even 70's power pop. Maybe, without his all-too-recognizable vocals, lush production and over-earnest lyricism, it would have even been a better song, or at least more accessible to and/or appreciated the mainstream. Either way, it fared well on the charts compared to most of his post-80s efforts, and to me, it's nearly great, up there among his all-time best, for sure.

2009: Top 20

Next, we'll start looking at 2008, but for now, here's another recap of the entire top 20 of 2009.

20. "Hottest In the Hood" - Red Cafe
19. "LoveGame" - Lady Gaga
18. "Move (If You Wanna)" - Mims
17. "Pretty Wings" - Maxwell
16. "Make Her Say" - Kid Cudi
15. "Party In The U.S.A." - Miley Cyrus
14. "Halo" - Beyonce
13. "Respect My Conglomerate" - Busta Rhymes
12. "So Easy" - Red Cafe
11. "Brooklyn Go Hard" - Jay-Z
10. "Sweet Dreams" - Beyonce
9. "Blame It" - Jamie Foxx
8. "Boom Boom Pow" - Black Eyed Peas
7. "I'm Ill" - Red Cafe
6. "Dead and Gone" - T.I.
5. "Amazing" - Kanye West
4. "Bulletproof" - La Roux
3. "Day N' Nite" - Kid Cudi
2. "Shine Blockas" - Big Boi
1. "Poker Face" - Lady Gaga

Artist of the Year: Lady Gaga, Red Cafe (tie)
Producer of the Year: Kanye West

2009: #1 - "Poker Face"

P-p-p-poker face

P-p-poker face

P-p-p-poker face

P-p-poker face

Though it strangely nicks an old throwaway hit by an Eagle flying solo, the chorus to Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" helped it both define and transcend late-00's "electro-pop". Right up there in stature with "Single Ladies", "Womanizer" and "Umbrella" - but better than all three combined because of its stunning chorus, cheeky double entendres and the unforgettable titular robo-hook - "Poker Face" was infectious and bombastic with a sly, modern sheen, both a throwback to the fearless melodies of 80's dance anthems and a look forward to the future of radio pop.

With "Poker Face", Lady Gaga took her place among the decade's pop greats, equaling and maybe surpassing any single by Beyonce, Missy Elliott, Nelly Furtado, Ciara or Gwen Stefani. It even single-handedly made her more important than ex- and current "It Girls" Britney Spears and Rihanna, at least in our book. I don't know if she (or anyone) will ever recreate this kind of magic again, but it was trashy fun while it lasted.

2009: 20-2

Here's a recap of #'s 20 through 2. Tomorrow we'll post #1. First person who correctly guesses what it is will win a mix CD of the top 20 songs!

20. "Hottest In the Hood" - Red Cafe
19. "LoveGame" - Lady Gaga
18. "Move (If You Wanna)" - Mims
17. "Pretty Wings" - Maxwell
16. "Make Her Say" - Kid Cudi
15. "Party In The U.S.A." - Miley Cyrus
14. "Halo" - Beyonce
13. "Respect My Conglomerate" - Busta Rhymes
12. "So Easy" - Red Cafe
11. "Brooklyn Go Hard" - Jay-Z
10. "Sweet Dreams" - Beyonce
9. "Blame It" - Jamie Foxx
8. "Boom Boom Pow" - Black Eyed Peas
7. "I'm Ill" - Red Cafe
6. "Dead and Gone" - T.I.
5. "Amazing" - Kanye West
4. "Bulletproof" - La Roux
3. "Day N' Nite" - Kid Cudi
2. "Shine Blockas" - Big Boi

2009: #2 - "Shine Blockas"

Though the members of Outkast have been going for the jugular since the late 90's - they did weird, sprawling psych-funk on the epic album Aquemini, then tried big, noisy yet intricate pop on the equally sprawling but radio-ready epic Stankonia, then threw everything they could on the really really sprawling double album Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below - they can still be counted on for the effortless, laid back Southern rap anthems they used to do so well ("Southerplayalisticadillacmuzik", "ATLiens").

Case in point: Big Boi's latest single from Sir Luscious Left Foot, his first solo album, release date TDB (Seems any label in their right mind would want to put out an album containing this one, and last year's "Royal Flush", but we digress).

It can be difficult to describe why something that's so cool without being clever, so smooth without being obvious about it, and so well-orchestrated without being busy or trying too hard is so great. So, maybe we won't. Just click on the video (which looks like it cost about $700 to make) and listen to a quintessential 00's - lush, dense, and full of pitch-shifted samples - rap masterpiece.

2009: #3 - "Day N' Nite"

Someday I'll write a hip hop song, and it will sound something like Kid Cudi's "Day N' Nite". When this first came out, a couple friends (who I had constantly bugged about it until they listened and told me what they thought) commented that I probably liked it so much because it sounded like he made it at home in an hour. There's no samples or scratching, and he doesn't even really rap. To be honest, there's not much going on at all.

It works because it's atypical and weird but not inaccessible. At the same time, it's also very familiar sounding, without being retro and faux-"old school" like a lot of bad underground hip hop or neo-soul can be. Similar to something off Kanye's 808s and Heartbreak, it's a little spare sounding and minimal, but the drums are super crisp, all the synths are given the perfect breathing room, and the chorus rips, so it's definitely not underproduced.

I probably played this song more than any other except one in 2009. Before I figured out who sang it, I drove around, day and night, fiddling all over the radio dial just trying to hear it again somewhere, as my wife can attest to. I was obsessed.

2009: #4 - "Bulletproof"

Instinct would tell us that we'd hate this song, but for entirely different reasons than why we should hate, for example, "Party In The U.S.A.". We like the Miley song in spite of its cornball faux-earnestness and its obvious, empty chorus. On the other hand, we like "Bulletproof" in spite of its hipster retro attitude; its legitimate, yet still annoying, earnestness; and its overt and inferior copping of Yaz and Erasure (whom we love dearly, and also probably shouldn't, but that's a story for a later date).

What's good about it? The verses and instrumentation do rip Yaz, and not really in a good way, but the chorus is melodic enough to be considered a worthy successor to Erasure's godlike synth pop legacy. Maybe it won't stand the test of time like that band has, but La Roux certainly gave us something to sing along with, on repeat, in 2009.

2009: #5 - "Amazing"

"I'm a monster
I'm a killer
I know I'm wrong
I'm a problem
That'll never ever be solved"

Only Mr. Ego of the Decade of the Year could turn a barrage of self-pity around by using it as a way to boast about his own complexity. Kanye never ceases to amaze.

From virtually the start of the decade, Mr. West has owned our playlists, beginning with his production for Jay-Z, then really picking up steam in 2004 with the release of The College Dropout and never looking back. He got so good - not only in his own mind, but for real - that he felt he had conquered rap and released an album of Auto-Tuned electro-pop ballads. Amazing.

Believe it or not, 808s and Heartbreak was excellent, if a downer - in some ways it was the soundtrack to the winter of 2008/2009. Even relatively positive songs like "Amazing" are laced with self-doubt and defiance. The production itself defies standard rap fare, with perhaps its most distinct element being its tempo, a slow chug bolstered by minimal piano and the occasional grunt.

Grunts come courtesy of Young Jeezy and act as the instrumental trump card. We'll freely admit - we usually don't "get" Jeezy, but his appearance here really works, blowing through the track like a wheezing bullhorn of proud disaffection. When he bellows, "They like, 'Oh God, why you go so hard?'", you know he's only yelling because he's truly got something to prove.

2009: #6 - "Dead and Gone"

(Not the official video, sorry)

T.I. repents, mourns death and develops anger management skills, while (mostly) avoiding treacle and melodrama in this Justin Timbaland-produced smash.

Can a sentimental rap ballad produced by a former member of *NSYNC actually be any good? Actually, the fact that JT is not only guesting on, but producing, Southern hip hop hits shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. He's from Memphis after all. But this is, of course, no Three 6 Mafia song. The track is super radio-ready, and not surprisingly, very Timbaland-esque (think early-00's Ludacris or even Aaliyah, all heavy synths and syncopated beat boxing). As you will learn, we think Timbaland's sound is great, but JT manages to expand it a little in his own way, almost Max Martin-style. Like when the chorus slams in with full force after each verse, it kind of reminds us of something like "It's Gonna Be Me" or "Oops... I Did It Again".

But those songs, as great as they were, didn't feature the breathlessly nimble rhyming of a rap superstar at the top of his game, trying to bring pathos to a Southern hip hop style that desperately needs some. He's no Leonard Cohen, but in "Dead and Gone", T.I. adds some emotional depth to his great skill and Southern swagger. Combine that with the way it all builds into the near-epic chorus and middle-eight, and you have a powerful mainstream rap classic.

2009: #7 - "I'm Ill"

(Not an official video)

Call us suckers for 80's hip hop cliches, but we loved this Red Cafe track. Hard beat, sparse instrumentation, call and response hook? Check, check, check. It might have even sounded dated 20 years ago, but we don't care.

And it's built around a Jay-Z vocal sample (from a remix of Lil Wayne's "A Milli", which has it's own interesting history - see below). In the absence of anything from Jay in the top 10, this is the next best thing. It's everything we wished his "Jockin' Jay-Z" would have been. (FYI - that song sampled Run DMC, who probably would have thrown out the title "I'm Ill" for being too cliche, but oh well.)

The site Otherground Hip Hop actually has a much cooler, historically-angled write-up of this song. Despite the misspelling of "its" in the post title, it's an interesting read.

2009: #8 - "Boom Boom Pow"

Describing this song seriously almost made me quit doing this blog. It's barely a song. And it's BAD. Yet I love it so.

Why? Well, hardly anything about it, on its own, is good on any level, so talking about "Boom Boom Pow"'s merits, like I've done with every song so far, is impossible.

All the bad parts - nausea-inducing whirring sound, Casio-keyboard beat, batshit crazily shouted non-chorus, Auto-Tune where it's not at all necessary, that part where it's like "Hittin' on y'all with the BOOM BOOM!/Hittin on y'all with the [kick drum] [kick drum]!", those effects at the end that sound like they're feeding back on each other, and that infamous and inexplicably beloved threat, "I'm so 3008/You're so two-thousand-and-late!" - just pile up and up on top of one other until you have this perfect shitstorm of aural diarrhea coming out of your car stereo.

Did anything else in 2009 sound like that?

2009: #9 - "Blame It On The Alcohol"

Despite the supposed "death of Auto-Tune" in 2009 - see the mediocre performance of T-Pain's solo album Thr33 Ringz and its accompanying singles, Jay-Z's very mediocre anti-pitch correction single "D.O.A." where he proclaims its death - the most infectious single of early 2009 was one of the most glorious Auto-Tuned messes known to man. Even the synths were pitch-shifted - and it was awesome.

"Blame It On The Alcohol" sounded like a novelty at first, Jamie Foxx's shameless attempt at a hip-hop megahit, a smart move since no one was really buying into his limp attempts at soul and R&B. He even had a guest verse from T-Pain, once a guarantee for chart success, now a clear indication of desperation.

In spite of everything working against it, the stuttering, effect-laden vocal hooks ("Blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol/Blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol") made it extremely catchy. And the song's outright silliness couldn't even drag it into forgettable novelty territory, simply because Jamie Foxx takes himself way too seriously. You weren't sure if this song was a joke or not, and that's what made it intriguing.

But the video is awful.

2009: #10 - "Sweet Dreams"

When we first heard this song, we thought it sounded too much like Rihanna. It still kind of does, but only Beyonce can get away with ripping off the sound of a (slightly) lesser, younger pop star and making it better. And based on her latest album, it's safe to say Rihanna won't top this any time soon either.

Like last year's "Single Ladies", this is spare and minimalist-sounding electro-pop that somehow also manages to blow you away with huge chorus hooks and beefy beats. But instead of all those crazy keyboard stabs that screech all over the stuttering, stomping "Single Ladies", you get this thick, slick early 80's bassline that propels "Sweet Dreams" into more icy, menacing and, dare we say, dreamlike territory.

2009: 20-11

20. "Hottest In the Hood" - Red Cafe
19. "LoveGame" - Lady Gaga
18. "Move (If You Wanna)" - Mims
17. "Pretty Wings" - Maxwell
16. "Make Her Say" - Kid Cudi
15. "Party In The U.S.A." - Miley Cyrus
14. "Halo" - Beyonce
13. "Respect My Conglomerate" - Busta Rhymes
12. "So Easy" - Red Cafe
11. "Brooklyn We Go Hard" - Jay-Z

As unexpected as it was for this year's chart to have an appearance from annoying, would-be one-hit wonder Mims; moderately successful comebacks from some second tier 90's stars (Maxwell, Busta Rhymes); some actual promising new rap artists not named Kanye West or T.I. (Red Cafe, Kid Cudi); and NO SONGS from Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 ("Brooklyn We Go Hard" came off the Notorious soundtrack), perhaps the most surprising thing on our list is the #15 showing of Miley Cyrus, whose singles output up until now has been absolutely terrible.

And while her voice still sounds excruciatingly like Auto-tuned fingernails on a chalkboard, "Party In The U.S.A." was cute, sort of fun and even catchy at times. Without those adorable keyboard squirts in the chorus, it might not have made this list, but fortunately for all of us, they're there. Sure it's corny, but it beats "The Climb". Let's keep up the good work next decade, okay Miss Montana?