Sunday, February 28, 2010

2005-2009: Recap

We've compiled a list of the artists who've made the most appearances so far, from 2005-2009, with top 5 appearances in parentheses:

1. Kanye West, 7 (3)
2. Beyonce, 5 (2)
3. Nelly Furtado, 4 (2)
4. T.I., 5 (1)
5. Ciara, 3 (2)
6. Big Boi, 2 (2)
7. Justin Timberlake, 3 (1)
8. Timbaland, 3 (1)
9. Lil Wayne, 3 (1)
10. 50 Cent, 3 (1)

And our top 5 producers:

1. Kanye West, 11
2. Timbaland, 11
3. Swizz Beats, 4
4. J.R. Rotem, 3 (tie)
    Stargate, 3 (tie)

2005: 20-1

DOTY has now completed half a decade of hits, from 2005-2009. We'll do a little recap of the top artists and producers of that era a little later on, and then continue with 2004 after that.

Here is our 2005 list:

20. "Pon De Replay" - Rihanna
19. "Run It" - Chris Brown
18. "Little Sister" - Queens of the Stone Age
17. "I'm A Hustla" - Cassidy
16. "Luxurious" - Gwen Stefani
15. "Outta Control" - 50 Cent
14. "Caught Up" - Usher
13. "Don't Cha" - The Pussycat Dolls
12. "Touch It" - Busta Rhymes
11. "We Belong Together" - Mariah Carey
10. "Hollaback Girl" - Gwen Stefani
9. "Sugar We're Going Down" - Fall Out Boy
8. "Gold Digger" - Kanye West
7. "Hate It Or Love It" - The Game
6. "Disco Inferno" - 50 Cent
5. "Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Remix)" - Kanye West
4. "Ocean Breathes Salty" - Modest Mouse
3. "Oh" - Ciara
2. "Lose Control" - Missy Elliott
1. "Stay Fly" - Three Six Mafia

Saturday, February 27, 2010

2005: #1 - "Stay High"



From the ebullient soul-funk of the Willie Hutch sample that opens the track, to the chattering sixteenth note hi-hats that carry the track, to the wave of bongos that fade in and out between each quarter note, to the robo-tripping chopped-up vocal hook in the chorus, to the ego-tripping mic-passing in the verse, to the retro-tripping clavinet funkily punctuating each measure, every moment of "Stay High" is to be savored.

It is a certainty that this song will be in the top 5 of our DOTY Top 40 of the Decade.

Friday, February 26, 2010

2005: 20-2

We're through with 19 songs. #1 goes up tomorrow! Guess away!!!!!!

20. "Pon De Replay" - Rihanna
19. "Run It" - Chris Brown
18. "Little Sister" - Queens of the Stone Age
17. "I'm A Hustla" - Cassidy
16. "Luxurious" - Gwen Stefani
15. "Outta Control" - 50 Cent
14. "Caught Up" - Usher
13. "Don't Cha" - The Pussycat Dolls
12. "Touch It" - Busta Rhymes
11. "We Belong Together" - Mariah Carey
10. "Hollaback Girl" - Gwen Stefani
9. "Sugar We're Going Down" - Fall Out Boy
8. "Gold Digger" - Kanye West
7. "Hate It Or Love It" - The Game
6. "Disco Inferno" - 50 Cent
5. "Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Remix)" - Kanye West
4. "Ocean Breathes Salty" - Modest Mouse
3. "Oh" - Ciara
2. "Lose Control" - Missy Elliott

2005: #2 - "Lose Control"



Dominated by a memorable, eerily familiar sounding and somewhat nerve-wracking sample, and anchored by a starmaking guest appearance from the great Ciara, "Lose Control" was, sadly, the last in nearly a decade-long run from hip-hop/R&B hitmaker and electro-pop pioneer Missy Elliott. If not for an extraordinarily surprising #1, this would have been yet another Missy song that far surpassed anything else being done sonically, melodically and rhythmically in pop music.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

2005: #3 - "Oh"



We wanted so bad for Ciara to be the next Aaliyah, but after two middling albums in 2007 and 2009, it appears we'll have to make do with the faded hope and promise left by our love for her early nu-jack soft-crunk hits - "Promise" and this one, simply titled, "Oh".

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

2005: #4 - "Ocean Breathes Salty"



Not sure why a mid-tempo, annoyingly pseudo-intellectual alt-rock song from an aging major label "indie" rock band makes our list at #4? We were skeptical at first, too, but when we re-listened to this track after a few years, we couldn't help but be charmed by its hokey philosophical bent and its half-hearted seriousness. It was kind of like an over-earnest "Once In A Lifetime", but not as good.

Then again, it's not like we really care - does Lady Gaga have anything truly important to say? So what "Ocean Breathes Salty" boiled down to, for us, was a pretty catchy tune with an interesting rhythm and arrangement that just happened to be on modern rock stations and not the Top 40.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

2005: #5 - "Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Remix)"

Kanye has a flair for the dramatic, and the production on the "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" remix is no exception, but lyrically he shies away from preachiness and bombast to deliver some of the most intriguingly odd philosophical lines we can think of, in hip-hop or any other genre.

He doesn't fret much about the actual conflict in Africa that makes the titular diamonds controversial, but rather the moral dilemma that he faces as a rapper trying to stay true to his profession and people by accessorizing fabulously, as if to make up for what he and other African-Americans had been denied access to, while actual Africans are dying in diamond mines because of it.

His conclusion? He needs to wear bling, because it's in his soul to do so.

Oh yeah, and Jay-Z has a verse, too.

2005: #6 - "Disco Inferno"



We mainly just like that pitch-shifted trilly thing in the main hook a whole lot.

Monday, February 22, 2010

2005: #7 - "Hate It Or Love It"



On "Hate It or Love It", The Game declares himself "rap's MVP", but he might not even be the most valuable asset in the song. He handles himself admirably, but guest rapper 50 Cent steals the show within 40 seconds, perfectly executing a charismatic verse and booming refrain, and production team Cool & Dre rips one of the smoothest, stuttering soul beats this side of DJ Premier or Erick Sermon circa 1992. After Lloyd Banks shows up to deliver a really sick verse (first lines: "How many of them boys is with you? / When you had that little TV you had to hit on to get a picture"), it becomes clear that, like RZA used to do with The Wu-Tang, all parties involved came with their A-game and forced out the best in each other, the way the best teams often do.

2005: #8 - "Gold Digger"



As we've stated before, despite his lack of skill in rhyming and lyricism, Kanye West has this uncanny ability to interact with his productions, and the minimalist "Gold Digger" is no exception. Most people like this one for the Jamie-Foxx-as-Ray-Charles vocal loop, and that's cute enough, but our favorite part is when that old school synth starts gurgling out of the left channel and Kanye's verse continues in the foreground, one element of sound so sharply focused and precisely delivered, the other very clumsily evading form and technique, but both dancing perfectly with one another.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

2005: #9 - "Sugar, We're Going Down"



Much has been made of the indecipherable lyrics of Fall Out Boy's "Sugar, We're Going Down". And even those who can correctly transcribe them face the difficult task of actually understanding what they mean. In some cases, that can be a great thing, the sign of ambiguous surrealism, evocative imagery and overall strong songwriting.

Not here. In fact, we find this song to be a thousand times more enjoyable when we sing along to what we thought the lyrics might have been, rather than what they actually retardedly were.

P.S. - we know that misheard lyrics video isn't very funny, but, seriously, the lyrics the guy inserted are better than the ones actually written by idiot Pete Wentz.

2005: #10 - "Hollaback Girl"



Where songs like "Mickey" or Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" employ actual cheerleading sounds and melodies, while at the same time masquerading as legitimate songs with legitimate lyrics, and end up sounding half-catchy and half-juvenile in the process, "Hollaback Girl" just sounds 100% schizophrenic and delusional, the sound of a 40-year old woman screeching out non-sequiturs and pretending she is in high school, all while the hardest beats and handclaps you'll ever hear on Top 40 radio merge with beautiful, minimal and perfectly-placed synth melodies and harmonies. We don't have a clue what it intends to achieve, and therein lies its greatness.

Dubbed by some as the most annoying song of all-time, "Hollaback Girl", with its puzzling contrast of perfectly inane lyrics and insanely perfect melody and sonics, has antagonized our ironic bullshit detector for over 5 years. We could never decide if it was good, so-bad-it's-good, ironically bad, or flat out bad. Now, much older and somewhat wiser, we're able to conclude that not only is Gwen Stefani totally serious here, but that the song is utterly unclassifiable. It's not quite the best song of 2005, it can't possibly be the worst, but there is certainly no in-between ground.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

2005: 20-11

20. "Pon De Replay" - Rihanna
19. "Run It" - Chris Brown
18. "Little Sister" - Queens of the Stone Age
17. "I'm A Hustla" - Cassidy
16. "Luxurious" - Gwen Stefani
15. "Outta Control" - 50 Cent
14. "Caught Up" - Usher
13. "Don't Cha" - The Pussycat Dolls
12. "Touch It" - Busta Rhymes
11. "We Belong Together" - Mariah Carey



I can't think of many hip hop artists who have been less lauded for taking as many chances as Busta Rhymes has. While never truly great or even cutting edge, Mr. Busta has almost always tried to be at least a little different. His 2005 hit "Touch It" was one more example. Sandwiched between Mariah Carey and The Pussycat Dolls on my chart, it is also obviously not a bonafide classic or anything like that, but Busta can say he sampled Daft Punk before Kanye did, and something about the way his trademark rapid-fire rhymes stack up against the slowest hip hop beat in history is very intriguing.

Oh and look, Chris Brown and Rihanna, together again!

2006: 20-1

20. "I Know You See It" - Yung Joc
19. "So What" - Field Mob
18. "Why You Wanna" - T.I.
17. "Check On It" - Beyonce
16. "Spit Your Game" - Notorious B.I.G.
15. "That's That" - R Kelly
14. "Crash" - Gwen Stefani
13. "When You Were Young" - The Killers
12. "Me & U" - Cassie
11. "Temperature" - Sean Paul
10. "Gold Lion" - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
9. "You Only Live Once" - The Strokes
8. "Maneater" - Nelly Furtado
7. "So Sick" - Ne-Yo
6. "Crazy" - Gnarls Barkley
5. "SexyBack" - Justin Timberlake
4. "Promise" - Ciara
3. "Irreplaceable" - Beyonce
2. "My Love" - Justin Timberlake
1. "Promiscuous" - Nelly Furtado

Artist of the Year: Nelly Furtado, Justin Timberlake (tie)
Producer of the Year: Timbaland

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

2006: #1 - "Promiscuous"



When you can mine vintage Prince and Madonna as successfully as Timbaland and Nelly Furtado do here, throwing in some thoroughly modern bass beef and a perfectly pointless and weird guitar coda that you'll be humming forever, a cringe-worthy line like "Can you be M.V.P. like Steve Nash?" can be easily forgiven, and even explained away (they're both from Vancouver, duh!)

So despite some near awful lyrics, on par with Gwen Stefani at her best/worst (depending on how you look at it), "Promiscuous", with its stellar production and chill-inducing choruses, was the song of 2006, a return to chart dominance from the generation's greatest producer, and a confident proclamation of newfound sexiness from a budding superstar coming out of her shell.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

2006: 20-2

Another list, another recap...

20. "I Know You See It" - Yung Joc
19. "So What" - Field Mob
18. "Why You Wanna" - T.I.
17. "Check On It" - Beyonce
16. "Spit Your Game" - Notorious B.I.G.
15. "That's That" - R Kelly
14. "Crash" - Gwen Stefani
13. "When You Were Young" - The Killers
12. "Me & U" - Cassie
11. "Temperature" - Sean Paul
10. "Gold Lion" - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
9. "You Only Live Once" - The Strokes
8. "Maneater" - Nelly Furtado
7. "So Sick" - Ne-Yo
6. "Crazy" - Gnarls Barkley
5. "SexyBack" - Justin Timberlake
4. "Promise" - Ciara
3. "Irreplaceable" - Beyonce
2. "My Love" - Justin Timberlake

Guess #1 and receive a big prize. It's not that difficult this time if you have been paying attention.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

2006: #2 - "My Love"



You wouldn't think that a song with what sounds like a sped-up version of the crying baby from "Are You That Somebody?" as basically the main percussive backbeat would be sexy, shimmering and beautiful, but throw some stuttering, pitch-shifted Timbaland snyths and some multi-tracked J.T. falsetto all over it, and you've got all of that and more. It's one of the most futuristic yet romantic ballads of the era, and one of our favorite love songs ever.

Much has been made of the cornball lyrics - and we admit, it took us a while to fully accept Justin's lame come-ons - but when the track sounds this good, who cares?

2006: #3 - "Irreplaceable"



Deemed by some as "too pop" or "too much like contemporary R&B" (as opposed to the irritating, retro faux-soul of 1st single "Ring the Alarm"?), "Irreplaceable" always had more in common with new jack swing and "legit" R&B/soul than some of Beyonce's other recent efforts because it actually swings rather than bludgeons, and it hooks you with actual bright, melodies rather than pummels you with attitude and yelling. In some ways, it reminded me of a later Supremes song, and Diana Ross never needed anything more than a few guitar chords and some solid melodies to create soulful gold.

Friday, February 12, 2010

2006: #4 - "Promise"



Something about the synthesized guitar/keyboard hook preceding and during the chorus of this song reminded us so much of Prince. And we love Prince. So we loved this song. The beat is beastly, Ciara does another fantastic Aaliyah impersonation, and everything sounds so clear and perfectly spaced apart that you would think this is a Timbaland production (it's actually Polow Da Don, who produced Fergie's first decent single, "Glamorous"). Classic.

P.S. - Again, for some reason Ciara's people have decided to disabled embedding, so I apologize for the ridiculous mess of a video. It was the best I could find!

2006: #5 - "SexyBack"

What a year this was. Though songs 11 through 20 are kind of iffy, we just ran through a bunch from nos. 6 through 10 that would be legitimate Top 5 contenders in any other year this decade, and we still have five more to go.

This one may be a surprise to some, however. One of the more polarizing megahits of the decade, "SexyBack" actually turned some long-time fans totally off of J.T., while spawning a new legion of hipsters and hip-hoppers who finally, reluctantly, were forced to take notice.

Timberlake himself described this one as "David Byrne or David Bowie covering 'Sex Machine'", and while we'd be hard-pressed to find any of the grit or sex of the James Brown classic in here, there is a certain swagger to it, not to mention a fascinating mix of odd, mechanical electronic-dance-funk and Eno-esque sound effects we heard in late-70's music from the aforementioned hipster touchstones.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

2006: #6 - "Crazy"



Ignoring all the undeserved hyperbole critics heaped on it in the last 5 years, "Crazy" is actually a great song, and it did have the whole country singing in the summer of 2006.

We can remember a 6-year old boy nailing the falsetto as he roamed around a Subway, and the song wasn't even on in the store, and we remember a 60-year old Pathmark cashier humming it as she rung up our groceries.

Nothing earth-shattering - to name a few offhand, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Dr. Dre, The Backstreet Boys have all had similar, longer, and more widespread runs of cultural dominance - but pretty phenomenal in this very splintered, post-filesharing music world.

So it was big. And in a way, its mashup of Spaghetti Western film scores, 60's soul, 70's disco and 90's hip hop beats, was indicative of our fragmented music culture, and possibly the reason for its mass appeal. But what the song did not do is change the world. It's merely a near-perfect pop song - catchy, evocative and accessible for kids aged 6 to 60.

P.S. - Their ridiculous record label has disabled YouTube embedding of the actual video, so we posted the next best thing (Gnarls Barkley had covered their "Gone Daddy Gone"; perhaps this is a return favor).

2006: #7 - "So Sick"



In the meta-ballad "So Sick", the main character of the song (played by the always smooth Ne-Yo, in a particularly restrained but effective performance) sings another sad love song to lament all the other sad (and slow) love songs he hears on the radio, presumably because they remind him of an ex-girlfriend, but possibly also because they tend to be boring, unmelodic wastes of time that merely exist to give pop performers a chance to over-emote and whine through a song that shows their "serious" side.

"So Sick", produced by the once-hot Stargate ("Irreplaceable", "Tattoo", several other Top 10 hits not really worth mentioning), has two things most other modern ballads do not - honesty and melody. While the former is refreshing, truth is hardly a prerequisite for quality music, as fans of Ice-T, Johnny Cash, Judas Priest and "Party In the U.S.A." could attest to. So where this one mainly stands out is melody, and in a very unfussy, cool way, "So Sick" hits all the right notes, making it just bright enough to avoid sounding self-pitying, and just sad enough to work as it was intended to lyrically. Ne-Yo doesn't even have to show off to get the idea across - the song does it for him.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

2006: #8 - "Maneater"



When Timbaland joined forces with pop stars Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado, the results were as unexpected and memorable as any of the avant-R&B or experimental pop-rap he had done in his career (Think "Pony" and Aaliyah, or "Get Ur Freak On" and "Big Pimpin'").

In 2006, we heard some of the greatest Top 40 art-dance tracks ever on JT's FutureSex/LoveSounds and NF's Loose, whose lead single, "Maneater", was a classic example of Timbaland's ability to make something totally inaccessible-sounding into a mainstream hit.

The beats are all over the place, the melodies are slightly dissonant, and sometimes the music - a minimalist art-funk - even drops out entirely. For these reasons, we guess, you rarely hear this one on the radio anymore, so if you've forgotten it, go back and give it a quick listen.

Monday, February 8, 2010

2006: #9 - "You Only Live Once"



Though their 2001 debut album Is This It? has inexplicably appeared on and even topped numerous Best of the 00's album lists, the lilting "You Only Live Once" from the unfairly maligned First Impressions of Earth quite possibly bests any song from The Strokes' catalog, including much, if not all, of the supposed classic debut.

Apparently, the band realized there was more to music than 1970's New York, as "You Only Live Once" is more Southern Cal than Lower East Side. With a laid-back swing and crooned vocals, The Strokes abandoned the nervous VU-via-Ramones sound we had been accustomed to hearing and achieved something emotional and even mature-sounding (in a good way).

Even the always stunning guitarwork has shifted gears, slightly - the bright arpeggioed leads that appeared all 2nd album Room On Fire here sound sort of like mid-period Pavement (with a little more shine and a little less ugly) as opposed to VU or sloppy Television.

They seem to have disappeared for now, but if The Strokes can expand on what they did here, maybe they do have a real Album of the Decade in them.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

2006: #10 - "Gold Lion"



Before they became fake new-wavers, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs were fake noise-punkers, churning out would-be garage stompers that were betrayed by an eager sheen and saddled with the yowling sound effects/affects of frontwoman Karen O. What some viewed as cocky, confident, exciting and fearless, we saw as rehearsed, histrionic and unnecessary, the epitome of style over substance. Occasionally a melody would sneak through, and you'd have a quality indie rock tune. But those moments were few and far between.

Released during their transition phase from noise to pop, "Gold Lion" was one of those moments. Karen O. keeps the antics to a minimum, to great effect, with a lone wolf howl punctuating each chorus. Surprisingly, this was the coolest part of the song for me. Complementing the improved vocals, huge huge drums and acoustic (!) guitars prove to work really well here also, and though it all sounds sort of Pixies (also, Green Day), "Gold Lion" was unlike any of the major label "indie rock" being touted on the radio and in rock mags during the mid-00's.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

2006: 20-11

20. "I Know You See It" - Yung Joc
19. "So What" - Field Mob
18. "Why You Wanna" - T.I.
17. "Check On It" - Beyonce
16. "Spit Your Game" - Notorious B.I.G.
15. "That's That" - R Kelly
14. "Crash" - Gwen Stefani
13. "When You Were Young" - The Killers
12. "Me & U" - Cassie
11. "Temperature" - Sean Paul

In a year full of forgotten and overshadowed near-classics, it was tough to pick which one to highlight in memoriam - an amazing slice of jailbait electro-pop marred only by a lack of real Aaliyah-style sass from said jailbait, another faux-80's dance anthem (complete with dumb car metaphors) from a woman who pretty much exists to write dumb lyrics, an uber-catchy collaboration by two legends who've seen better days and basically sleepwalk through the track, a reworked posse track where Twista gets another chance to go apeshit, a dated-sounding though undeniably catchy Destiny's Child leftover from a superstar about to move on to even bigger and better things, or a laid-back old school throwback that was many people's first introduction to a future rap icon - so we wrote about them all.

2007: 20-1

Everything, 20 through 1:

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
10. "Makes Me Wonder" - Maroon 5
9. "Apologize" - Timbaland
8. "Give It To Me" - Timbaland
7. "LoveStoned" - Justin Timberlake
6. "Thnks Fr Th Mmrs" - Fall Out Boy
5. "The Way I Are" - Timbaland
4. "I Get Money" - 50 Cent
3. "Stronger" - Kanye West
2. "Last Night" - P Diddy
1. "Say It Right" - Nelly Furtado

Artist of the Year: Timbaland
Producer of the Year: Timbaland

Friday, February 5, 2010

2007: #1 - "Say It Right"



In the ambiguous, mysterious and irresistibly catchy "Say It Right", Nelly Furtado sneaks up on you, whispers into your ear, asks you to stay, then vanishes into the night without warning. When we first heard this, we were caught off guard and bowled over, but it still has the same hauntingly memorable quality to it, nearly three years later; perhaps only "Poker Face" and one other song this decade can boast its mix of superior melody and playful mystery.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

2007: 20-2

Recap time... Guess the #1 song and win a CD! Ayo!

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
10. "Makes Me Wonder" - Maroon 5
9. "Apologize" - Timbaland
8. "Give It To Me" - Timbaland
7. "LoveStoned" - Justin Timberlake
6. "Thnks Fr Th Mmrs" - Fall Out Boy
5. "The Way I Are" - Timbaland
4. "I Get Money" - 50 Cent
3. "Stronger" - Kanye West
2. "Last Night" - P Diddy

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

2007: #2 - "Last Night"



We have definitely gotten shit for liking this song as much as we do, but that won't stop us from putting at #2 for 2007.

Puffy, who hadn't produced anything really worth hearing since he was called Sean Combs well over a decade ago, reinvents himself as a stylishly retro, electronic-pop rapper/singer/brooder, nearly two years before Kanye or Kid Cudi made huge splashes doing so. And by combining eerie video game synths with a Prince sample that's not too obvious, he avoids the usual knock that he just raps (lamely) over old songs. He can't sing either, but Keyshia Cole can, and she nearly makes this song her own on her larger-than-life pre-choruses.

But the chorus, which Diddy ingeniously uses to kick off the song (a dumb trick, sure, but it's uncommon enough to stand out), also shines. He sings on it, in a multi-tracked vocal, and it could be argued, like with Kanye on 808s and Heartbreak, that the off-pitch singing mars the track, making the melodies non-existent. But we thought Puffy was able to use his poor singing to his advantage; he sounds wounded and real for the first time, and some of the awkwardness and pitchiness seems perfectly planned, as if a well-performed version of the song wouldn't be as melodically interesting.

We may be alone in this, but we love this song.

2007: #3 - "Stronger"

When we first heard "Stronger", the Daft Punk-sampling electro-pop single off Kanye West's excellent Graduation, we thought it was the exact opposite of catchy and memorable, and wondered if we'd ever want to hear it again, not to mention if it would last a week or two on radio playlists. But like some kind of festering infectious sore, it grew on us like possibly no other song in history.

Kanye's awkward rhymes and sub-Diddy flow were held up by the beat - spiky keyboard and drum machine, loud reverb and of course the modulated vocal hook - and those weak raps eventually transformed into the purest distillation of Kanye that we had heard on record to that point.

The bridge where, amidst the starkness of those minor chord keyboard stabs, he effortlessly interacts with the sample - a technique that it seems only he has embraced, but somehow, for us, seems like such an easy route to awesomeness - is pure bliss.

Monday, February 1, 2010

2007: #4 - "I Get Money"



Despite using a sample from a 20 year-old hip hop standard, and subsequently sounding decidedly (and purposefully) retro, 50 Cent had never sounded as relevant or inspired as he did on "I Get Money".

Where some songs are the sample - like Cassidy's "I'm A Hustla" (a fine song, but nothing next to this) - "I Get Money" works itself around the hook and makes its point on its own merits. It's hard to decide what's more menacing about it - the whirring, dizzying keyboard hum that appears after the first measure and doesn't let up; the massive bass drum that kicks in at the same time; or the relentless Fifty himself, who boasts:

"Yeah I smell like the vault
I used to sell dope
I did play the block
Now I play on boats
In the south of France
Baby, St. Tropez
Get a tan? I'm already black
Rich? I'm already that
Gangsta, get a gat
Hit a head in a hat
Call that a riddle rap
Shit, fuck the chitter-chat
I'm the baker, I bake the bread
The barber, I cut ya head
The marksman, I spray the lead
I blood clot, chop ya leg
Do not fuck with the kid"

He even has a new catchphrase to replace "It's your birthday", finally. ("I run New York!")

In a crowded field, he hits #4 for 2007, but in any other year this is easily a #1 or 2 song.