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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