2000: #9 - "South Side"

There's not a whole lot to say about "South Side", the 2nd most awesome irritating song (or the 2nd most irritating awesome song?) of the decade (First prize!).

It's good. I bet you've heard it. I'm sure you've heard it. If you haven't, but like the idea of Gwen Stefani singing very loudly over a slightly annoying and bone-headed Brian Eno-ish song (think Zooropa, maybe?), then clicketh the embedded video forthwith.

If not, might I interest you in some post-punk? JK.

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(repost) 2000: #10 - "Shape Of My Heart"

** NOTE: Tomorrow, DOTY returns with new material ** Is it possible for something to sound so state of the art, yet extremely safe and almost instantly dated? Yes, Max Martin knocked another one out of the park with "Shape Of My Heart", the 'Boys workmanlike power ballad follow-up to "I Want It That Way?", because it does still get the job done melodically, sonically, and even emotionally. I won't begrudge the fact that the song is perfectly crafted and tugs the right strings. But how come, even days after it came out, it sounded like something that had been around for decades, and the 2-year-old "I Want It That Way" was the trendy, new torch-bearer of teen pop balladry? Was that a testament to "Shape Of My Heart"'s timelessness, or a foreshadowing that the juggernaut was running out of gas? We all know what happened to Martin and BSB around the time Black and Blue and this song, its first single, came out, but they still seemed to be firing on all cylinders here. You be the judge.

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2000: #10 - "Shape Of My Heart"

Is it possible for something to sound so state of the art, yet extremely safe and almost instantly dated? Yes, Max Martin knocked another one out of the park with "Shape Of My Heart", the 'Boys workmanlike power ballad follow-up to "I Want It That Way?", because it does still get the job done melodically, sonically, and even emotionally. I won't begrudge the fact that the song is perfectly crafted and tugs the right strings. But how come, even days after it came out, it sounded like something that had been around for decades, and the 2-year-old "I Want It That Way" was the trendy, new torch-bearer of teen pop balladry? Was that a testament to "Shape Of My Heart"'s timelessness, or a foreshadowing that the juggernaut was running out of gas? We all know what happened to Martin and BSB around the time Black and Blue and this song, its first single, came out, but they still seemed to be firing on all cylinders here. You be the judge.

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2000: 19-11

19. "The Next Episode" - Dr. Dre
18. "Simple Kind of Life" - No Doubt
17. "It Wasn't Me" - Shaggy
16. "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" - D'Angelo
15. "Oops!... I Did It Again" - Britney Spears
14. "Shake Ya Ass" - Mystikal
13. "Never Let You Go" - Third Eye Blind
12. "It's Gonna Be Me" - *NSYNC
11. "You Sang To Me" - Marc Anthony

Has a band this terrible ever produced a song this good? Has 25 seconds (check 3:25 or so) of such a great song ever been so heinously bad that it almost ruins the song? Would said song be in our top 10 (or 5??) if not for said heinous "spoken word" section?



Edit: Quick shout out to those hugely dumb drums in "Simple Kind of Life".

Edit II: Also, Y2K is the first year on our blog where the producer of the year is not Timbaland, Kanye West, or The Neptunes. You go, unnamed person!

Edit III: Anyone who names the dude wins a prize.

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2001: 19-1

19. "Fiesta" - R Kelly
18. "Break Ya Neck" - Busta Rhymes
17. "One Minute Man" - Missy Elliott
16. "Ante Up (Remix)" - M.O.P.
15. "7 Days" - Craid David
14. "Ghost Showers" - Ghostface Killah
13. "I'm A Slave 4 U" - Britney Spears
12. "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" - Jay-Z
11. "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" - Eve
10. "Hard to Explain" - The Strokes
9. "Is That Your Chick?" - Memphis Bleek
8. "Bouncin' Back (Bumpin' Me Against the Wall)" - Mystikal
7. "Rollout" - Ludacris
6. "Rock the Boat" - Aaliyah
5. "Get Ur Freak On" - Missy Elliott
4. "What's Your Fantasy?" - Ludacris
3. "Lick Shots" - Missy Elliott
2. "Ms. Jackson" - Outkast
1. "We Need A Resolution" - Aaliyah

Artist of the Year: Missy Elliott
Producer of the Year: Timbaland

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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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2001: 19-2

We'll finally get to the top track of 2001 tomorrow, but here's a quick recap and an opportunity to take a crack at the difficult task of guessing #1. The prize: every song we've talked about so far!

19. "Fiesta" - R Kelly
18. "Break Ya Neck" - Busta Rhymes
17. "One Minute Man" - Missy Elliott
16. "Ante Up (Remix)" - M.O.P.
15. "7 Days" - Craid David
14. "Ghost Showers" - Ghostface Killah
13. "I'm A Slave 4 U" - Britney Spears
12. "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" - Jay-Z
11. "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" - Eve
10. "Hard to Explain" - The Strokes
9. "Is That Your Chick?" - Memphis Bleek
8. "Bouncin' Back (Bumpin' Me Against the Wall)" - Mystikal
7. "Rollout" - Ludacris
6. "Rock the Boat" - Aaliyah
5. "Get Ur Freak On" - Missy Elliott
4. "What's Your Fantasy?" - Ludacris
3. "Lick Shots" - Missy Elliott
2. "Ms. Jackson" - Outkast

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2001: #2- "Ms. Jackson"

Ten times out of nine, a songsmith who chooses the heartfelt route will falter not necessarily by way of lyrical sentiment but in the arena of not-being-shitty. Who really wants to listen to a guy pouring his heart out apologizing for being misunderstood unless the beats and the rhymes are dope? With "Ms. Jackson", like a swirling pop-rap/funk combination of say, Prince and 2Pac, Outkast gets the tone totally right.

The layers of synths create drama but not melodrama, and the layers of imagery within the words evoke more than vague, simplistic angst - for the most part, we're listening in on the sincere, thoughtful, witty and painful musings of two grown men who just want to make good with their babies' mamas' mamas, using some of the more unique imagery in hip hop's history of course.

Favorite lines? We like the idea of apologizing "a trillion times", as if the quantity would help the futile situation; "I love your mom and everything, but..."; rhyming divided with invited with despite it; "puppy love" vs. "full grown" love; the house with the tire swing; the knee pads line; and of course the whole thing about the picnic.

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2001: #3 - "Lick Shots"

Maybe it pales in comparison, as far as creative genius goes, to some of the bigger and more well-known Missy/Timbaland singles of the past two decades, but very few rap songs were as tight and hard (seriously) as "Lick Shots". It starts off with a well-put half-boast, half-taunt, that the "haters... made us more creative", and goes off on a spiky, staccato old school funk-rock, post-punk vibe that to us recalled Gang of Four as much as it did Prince. If "Get Ur Freak On" made us say, "Hmmm...", this one had us saying, "Yeah!"

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2001: #4 - "What's Your Fantasy?"

Before he became a rap music stereotype, Ludacris could be counted on not only for silly, misogynistic party rap songs like "What's Your Fantasy?", but also for exquisitely stupid sex rhymes like "How about up in the library / On top of books". Seriously, I think this made it to #4 solely because of that line.

Well, to be completely fair, the beat is also pretty top notch. The percussion - skittering hi-hats and busy snares, a perfect complement to Luda's all-over-the-place hyperspeed vocalizing, especially effective as a lead-in to that one ruthless bass and kick drum blast which punctuates every measure - is note perfect, and the synths - a neverending and slightly overdone labryinth of dissonant yet catchy hooks of all flavors and textures - only add to the cartoonish fun.

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2001: #5 - "Get Ur Freak On"

As inescapable as it was in late 2001, and as inescapable it was in late 2009 on Songs of the Decade lists, "Get Ur Freak On", with only 700,000 YouTube views to date, seems to have been slightly forgotten over the years. Perhaps modern music fans have all forgotten, after she became a Top 40 princess for the first half of the 00's, then experienced a half-decade of obscurity, how bad-ass Missy could be on the mic as a legitimate rapper.

Or maybe music fans grew tired of the once innovative but now mildly grating hook, especially after the bhangra style had been used and abused so heavily in the early part of the decade. That's hard to believe though, because even in hindsight, even after all the imitators, it still sounds far, far from passe.

Looking back, it's hard to believe it was a hit at all, being that its main percussion is the tabla, and the only Western instrumentation are keys that sound like cartoon laser guns - not exactly the type of stuff that'll typically get car stereos thumping. It was all very unique stuff to be sure, even for Timbaland, but it's Missy who really keeps us coming back, even after nearly 9 years, after the crazy oddness of the beat had wormed its way into our brains forever, for better or worse.

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2001: #6 - "Rock the Boat"

The quintessential 00's slow jam, "Rock the Boat" enjoyed a somewhat inflated profile at the time of its release, due to Aaliyah's untimely death on a return trip from filming the song's video, and has since been relegated to the occasional spin on lite-soul radio.

Admittedly, after preparing to write about the 80's, where there were several standout electro-funk jams of this ilk every year, "Rock the Boat"'s status has been somewhat diminished in our minds as well.

But there was something about the incessant urgency of the vocal hook, literally repeated for four straight minutes, and the truly creamy, dream-like sound of the heavily phased guitars that made it feel more monumentally sexy than it deserved to be.

File under maximum make out music.

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2001: #7 - "Rollout"

Is this really the first Ludacris sighting on DOTY? Did he, after 2001, suddenly abandon everything that made him worth paying attention to as a pop-rap singles artist? Not exactly. Luda's wit - which on the beefy, quintessentially Timbaland "Rollout" veered precariously between clever, unfunny, and self-parody - became so tediously stereotypical and outright dumb over the years that we weren't sure that it wasn't all a parody, until he started doing those hilariously bad PSA-type, serious songs in addition. Sadly, we're not likely to hear another like this from him again - the beat is accessible and dancey but not totally cheesed out, and it's strong enough to outweigh any of the lyrical silliness.

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2001: #8 - "Bouncin' Back (Bumpin' Me Against The Wall)"

Mystikal's vocal style can be a little grating (a cross between Busta Rhymes and Tom Waits?), which kept "Bouncin' Back" out of the DOTY Top 5 but he's got loads of personality; when his rhymes fail him, you can be sure that some sort of grunt or growl will be there to pick him up. He also benefited early on from some ingenious production by The Neptunes. As far as we can tell, they managed to recreate a perfect sweaty 60's soul/rock vibe without the use of any James Brown samples (or any samples at all), so they get this really eccentric-sounding version of golden era hip hop, which of course relied heavily on James Brown-esque samples.

The squealing trumpets that fade in and out sound like something Public Enemy or DJ Premier would have used. The snycopated horn melody in the chorus sounds like something from Eric B. & Rakim. And we're not the types of dudes who think live drums are better than drum machines, far from it in fact, but the one real benefit of live instrumentation here is the cool, snare mini-fill that precedes each chorus, right when Mystikal barks, "You keep". It really sets up your anticipation for the chorus and helps stands out from the rest of the song.

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2001: #9 - "Is That Your Chick?"

Back when every rap hit sounded pretty much exactly like this, it was kind of easy to lose Memphis Bleek's masterwork "Is That Your Chick?" in the shuffle. Sadly, to our ears, this is one that should still be in rotation, as it's probably the most overstuffed, fast-paced version of a Timbaland/Missy collaboration you could ever imagine.

Maybe Timbaland was trying to outdo all the imitators and put this sound to rest. His beat stutters all over the place, with off-beat drums, cash registers, funky clav stabs, and a wide variety of bells, whistles and other synth squiggles.

Memphis Bleek brings his A-game, coming fast and furious with multi-layered rhymes like: "Damn Bleek, can't speak / Uh-huh, okay, what's up, SHUT UP / And close the door / Act like you been in the drop top / On the open road before / Fix your weave, then fix me / Ever gave head doing 160? / Ever seen a pair of kicks this crispy / How you love how the white wife beater fit me?"

Then it's Twista, who's not all that gifted lyrically but fine in small doses, who comes in and does his speedy thing.

Finally, on top of all that, Jay-Z and Missy show up to provide star power, with both icons doing their best to emulate Twista's style. Whew.

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2001: #10 - "Hard to Explain"

We've already ranted about the hyperbole thrown at The Strokes' debut album Is This It?, so we won't begrudge them that here (much). "Hard to Explain" wasn't the coolest song on the album (that honor goes to the verrrrry retro-sounding "The Modern Age"), nor was it the catchiest (the Petty-esque "Someday" takes that title), but overall we think it was the most unique. Not that it was innovative in any way; it simply blended all the forerunners to The Strokes' brief run as band du jour into the best compact distillation of what they were all about - jittery Feelies/Talking Heads-style New York faux-punk/new-wave, lock-step radio-friendly pop-punk drumming straight out of cash-grab-era Ramones albums, simple yet effective Television-cum-indie-rock guitar leads, and vocals and lyrics that emulate typical post-punk, college rock self-flagellation and loathing at one moment, and post-modern self-awareness the next.

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2001: 19-11

19. "Fiesta" - R Kelly
18. "Break Ya Neck" - Busta Rhymes
17. "One Minute Man" - Missy Elliott
16. "Ante Up (Remix)" - M.O.P.
15. "7 Days" - Craid David
14. "Ghost Showers" - Ghostface Killah
13. "I'm A Slave 4 U" - Britney Spears
12. "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" - Jay-Z
11. "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" - Eve

In a very strong year, it'd be hard not to mention everything great we heard - the laid-back, pre-party-funk of "Fiesta"; "Break Your Neck" and "Ante Up", two old school New York headbangers, both featuring Busta Rhymes; Missy's catchy and conventional (for her) "One Minute Man"; Craig David's cute Brit-dance-popper "7 Days" featuring the cheeky line "...We chilled on Sunday" (they'd made love Wednesday through Saturday, needed a break); the first of many appearances on DOTY thus far by any Wu-Tang Clan member (Ghostface's "Ghost Showers"); and the last by Kanye (he produced Jay's "Izzo").

We'll leave you to ponder 2001 with the important R&B/hip hop makeovers of two very disparate artists - Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani. Britney used The Neptunes' slinky late-80's Prince-lite beat to establish herself as a sexy, adult solo artist. Too bad a forthcoming single negated all that.



On the other hand, Gwen managed to ride Eve's coattails into some unexpected hip hop and R&B cred, becoming more of a Madonna-esque shape-shifter over the next half-dozen years than Britney ever was.



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2002: 20-1

Almost finished with the 00's!

18. "The Whole World" - Outkast
17. "Underneath It All" - No Doubt
16. "Dilemma" - Nelly
15. "Oh Boy" - Cam'ron
14. "No One Knows" - Queens of the Stone Age
13. "When the Last Time" - Clipse
12. "Girlfriend" - *NSYNC
11. "Hella Good" - No Doubt
10. "Nothin'" - Noreaga
9. "Provider" - N.E.R.D.
8. "Like I Love You" - Justin Timberlake
7. "Hate To Say I Told You So" - The Hives
6. "8 Mile" - Eminem
5. "Oops (Oh My)" - Tweet
4. "More Than A Woman" - Aaliyah
3. "Grindin'" - Clipse
2. "Work It" - Missy Elliott
1. "Lose Yourself" - Eminem

Artist of the Year: Eminem
Producer of the Year: The Neptunes

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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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2002: 20-2

Guess #1 and win the mix disc. If you were paying attention, you will win (we literally gave it away).

18. "The Whole World" - Outkast
17. "Underneath It All" - No Doubt
16. "Dilemma" - Nelly
15. "Oh Boy" - Cam'ron
14. "No One Knows" - Queens of the Stone Age
13. "When the Last Time" - Clipse
12. "Girlfriend" - *NSYNC
11. "Hella Good" - No Doubt
10. "Nothin'" - Noreaga
9. "Provider" - N.E.R.D.
8. "Like I Love You" - Justin Timberlake
7. "Hate To Say I Told You So" - The Hives
6. "8 Mile" - Eminem
5. "Oops (Oh My)" - Tweet
4. "More Than A Woman" - Aaliyah
3. "Grindin'" - Clipse
2. "Work It" - Missy Elliott

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