2001: #1 - "We Need A Resolution"

Few artists could pull off a song with the vague, unresolved tension of the unsettling, anti-hit "We Need A Resolution" without sounding, themselves, unsure or unsettled, but Aaliyah, armed as always with that confident swagger and unshakable ice-queen delivery, gets it done.

We spoke earlier about the triumvirate of this decade's female pop masterpieces ("Poker Face", "Say It Right", and this), and how each pinned down its place among the most mysterious, sexy, and most of all, melodic hits of our time; "We Need A Resolution" is far more about mystery and unanswered, open-ended angst than Nelly Furtado's gem, and clearly it's more sexy and less obvious than anything Lady Gaga could ever dream of. Thus, what it lacks in bombast and visceral appeal, it makes up for in terms of our more long-lasting, universal fascinations with doubt and confusion.

That a song titled "We Need A Resolution" could close with the following string of questions, amidst backward synths that unpredictably fade in and out of the mix, leave them unanswered, yet still feel totally complete, says a lot about Aaliyah and Timbaland's accomplishment.

Am I supposed to change?
Are you supposed to change?
Who should be hurt,
Who should be ashamed?(yeah-yee)

Am I supposed to change?
Are you supposed to change?
Who should be heard?
Will we remain?

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2002: #1 - "Lose Yourself"

Two other things Eminem did right in 2002 - very right, almost to the point of making them his own art form - were the use of unique meters in his rhymes, often syncopated with the beat; and in "Lose Yourself" what was perhaps the apex of "bending" the phonetic pronunciation of words in order to match many syllables in a rhyme scheme. It starts out: "His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy / There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti / He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready" and never lets up.

Rakim and Big Daddy Kane started it all with polysyllabic rhymes on tracks like "Follow the Leader" and "Ain't No Half Steppin", and Nas and AZ took it to the next level on "Life's A Bitch", but here, Em takes those influences and carries rhyming not only to its next logical step but almost to the breaking point of what hip hop and language are capable of.

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2003: #1 - "Ignition (Remix)"

Running through a list of things that might happen at a club with R Kelly probably would run well over the three minutes, but here, he distills the essence of an awesome night into the most perfect pop nugget of the decade - at 3:07, it almost guarantees that you have to hit replay to hear it all again. It's like someone's incessant Facebook updating that's actually worth reading.

And his soulful storytelling (or live-blogging?) is so smooth, likeable and real that you almost don't even realize that anything else is going on in the song. But there definitely are a few choice moments, like the snare hits on "F*** somebody", and also the song hits its stunning peak on the chorus. Because the whole song is one long hook, it's almost as if those drums in there exist to let us know, "Yeah, this is the chorus" in case we were still too caught up in the verses or bridges.

We were in our early 20's when the remix to "Ignition" came out, and though a good night out for us was probably nothing compared to the time R Kelly was having, at least we had this to aspire to, even when things seemed grim. Thanks, Kells.

2004: #1 - "Slow Jamz"

"Slow Jamz" takes the the most vital and exciting 12 seconds of a serious and rather lengthy Luther Vandross hit and turns it into a perfect pop song, as well as the funnest slow jam ever.

Twista's breathless delivery can be a little annoying, but here, it's breathtaking and fun, especially when you consider the song's title and inherent pace.

And Kanye's trick of allowing the sample to be part of the song, rather than just extraneous window dressing, was at its freshest and most vibrant here. It's just so fun to hear him and Twista use helium-voiced Luther's refrain to dictate what they say and how they say it.

Oh shit and how about those bongos that stutter in and out, right after the hi-hat does the same. Damn, the whole song is like the most exhilarating conversation we've ever had.

This should have been an obvious #1 pick for any of our vast readership, but sadly, no one guessed. Perhaps there is an issue with the commenting page - we will take it up with Blogger.

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.

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.

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.

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.

2009: #1 - "Poker Face"

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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.