Albums:
1. Sonic Youth - Murray Street
2. Raphael Saadiq - Instant Vintage
3. DJ Quik - Under Tha Influence
4. Brendan Benson - Lapalco
5. Scarface - The Fix
6. Justin Timberlake - Justified
7. Nas - God's Son
8. Rod Lee - Vol. 2: Operation Not Done Yet
9. Sleater-Kinney - One Beat
10. Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz - Kings Of Crunk
11. Fat Joe - Loyalty
12. Elvis Costello - When I Was Cruel
13. Enon - High Society
14. Lake Trout – Another One Lost
15. B. Rich - 80 Dimes
16. Talib Kweli - Quality
17. Pastor Troy - Universal Soldier
18. Nels Cline Singers - Instrumentals
19. Cex – Tall, Dark & Handcuffed
20. Jay-Z - The Blueprint²: The Gift & The Curse
21. Missy Elliott - Under Construction
22. Pearl Jam - Riot Act
23. Trick Daddy - Thug Holiday
24. Oranges Band – On TV EP
25. N.O.R.E. - Grimey: God's Favorite

2002 is a year I look back on fondly. It's the year I started dating the woman I married, was probably the most fun year of college, the beginning of some important friendships. I wasn't buying a whole lot of albums, though, so I have more memories of great live shows than great albums, and about half of this list is stuff I ended up hearing much later when I got around to pickin gup all the CDs I'd wanted to hear at the time, or caught up on some stuff I didn't know about.

Singles:
1. Nas - "One Mic"
2. Usher - "U Don't Have To Call"
3. Aaliyah - "More Than A Woman"
4. Freeway f/ Jay-Z and Beanie Sigel - "What We Do"
5. Jimmy Eat World - "Sweetness"
6. Vanessa Carlton - "One Thousand Miles"
7. The Clipse f/ Pharrell - "Grindin'"
8. Kylie Minogue - "Love At First Sight"
9. Avril Lavigne - "Sk8er Boi"
10. N Sync - "Girlfriend"
11. Cam'ron f/ Juelz Santana - "Oh Boy"
12. Nas - "Made You Look"
13. Eminem - "Without Me"
14. Ludacris f/ Mystikal and I-20 - "Move"
15. Jennifer Lopez f/ Ja Rule - "Ain't It Funny" (Remix)
16. Amerie - "Why Don't We Fall In Love?"
17. Eminem - "Lose Yourself"
18. Scarface f/ Jay-Z and Beanie Sigel - "Guess Who's Back"
19. The Clipse - "When The Last Time"
20. Red Hot Chili Peppers - "By The Way"
21. Phantom Planet - "California"
22. LL Cool J - "Luv U Better"
23. Avril Lavigne - "Complicated"
24. Nelly f/ St. Lunatics - "Air Force Ones"
25. Tweet f/ Missy Elliott - "Oops (Oh My)"
26. B. Rich - "Whoa Now"
27. Nappy Roots f/ Jazze Pha - "Awnaw"
28. Jimmy Eat World - "A Praise Chorus"
29. Lil Jon & the Eastside Boyz f/ Mystikal and Krayzie Bone - "I Don't Give A Fuck"
30. Cam'ron f/ Juelz Santana - "Hey Ma"
31. The Strokes - "Someday"
32. Justin Timberlake f/ The Clipse - "Like I Love You"
33. Avril Lavigne - "I'm With You"
34. Alien Ant Farm - "Movies"
35. John Mayer - "No Such Thing"
36. Freeway and Beanie Sigel - "Roc the Mic"
37. Chad Kroeger f/ Josey Scott - "Hero"
38. Big Tymers - "Still Fly"
39. Jay-Z - "Song Cry"
40. Musiq - "Halfcrazy"
41. Alien Ant Farm - "Smooth Criminal"
42. Mario - "Just A Friend 2002"
43. Aaliyah - "I Care 4 U"
44. N.E.R.D. - "Rock Star"
45. Truth Hurts f/ Rakim - "Addictive"
46. Kylie Minogue - "Can't Get You Out Of My Head"
47. Andrew W.K. - "Party Hard"
48. Queens Of The Stone Age - "No One Knows"
49. Brandy - "What About Us"
50. Nelly - "Hot In Herre"

I also have a lot of memories tied up in listening to the radio in 2002, mostly because that's the first time that I both had a car and lived in Baltimore, so I was just glued to the radio dial so much more than at any point before in my life. I'm still not sure if 2002-2003 is the height of pop music this decade or it just feels that way because of that whole experience.

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