26. Birdman f/ Lil Wayne – “Always Strapped”
It speaks volumes about Wayne’s 2009 that one of the best and biggest hits he was on all year was originally released without much notice back in ‘06, when he was throwing songs this good out on mixtapes all the time. Still, it was nice to hear the clever, nonchalant Wayne on the radio again, as a break from the cackling animated AutoTuned Mr. Hyde that’s since taken his place.

27. Beyonce - "Halo"
After I Am...A Double Album With A Dodgy Alter Ego Concept’s opening salvo of three singles I couldn’t stand (“If I Were A Boy” and the lame sequels to “A Milli” and “Get Me Bodied”), Beyonce shocked me by releasing much more enjoyable songs for the rest of the album’s prolonged promo cycle, including this big wonderfully hammy adult contempo ballad.

28. Solange - "T.O.N.Y."
B’s lil sis always struck me as kind of cloying, especially with the whole faux-Motown thing, and while the song still has some of those trappings and try-hard stench, it’s also a pretty massive hook with a big gooey emotional center that I connected with in a major way.

29. Electrik Red - "So Good"
It saddens me that the great Electrik Red album only generated one radio hit to include on this list instead of several.

30. Jazmine Sullivan - "Lions, Tigers & Bears"
This was a standout on her album that I never thought would work as a single, and I was pleasantly surprised when it did.

31. Papa Roach - "Lifeline"
I'm pretty sure I would like this even if it was nothing but that weedly guitar lead over and over, but there's a pretty decent song in there too.

32. Young Jeezy - "Who Dat"
This may have technically just had a video and not been a single, like a half dozen other songs off The Recession, but I heard it on the radio a hell of a lot and loved it every time.

33. Usher - "Papers"
Throughout the decade, Ursher has tended to grab whatever ascendant super-producer is crossing over from hip hop to R&B at the moment and give them prime single real estate right when their presence is peaking, from the Neptunes in ‘01 to Lil Jon in ‘04 and Polow Da Don in ‘08. By comparison, Zaytoven isn’t nearly as established yet in ‘09, and his presence in hip hop is still so much on a mixtape and deep cut level that I don’t think anyone was expecting him to land a lead single from an R&B superstar just yet. But here it is and it’s better than anybody could’ve expected, rescuing a gorgeously bleepy melodic gem from the clutches of a Gorilla Zoe mixtape track.

34. Wale f/ Gucci Mane - “Pretty Girls”
One of the fun things about Gucci’s rise in mainstream popularity after a wave of mixtapes is that since his mixtapes were mainly full of original songs with production by Zaytoven and others (unlike, say, Wayne’s omnivorous eat-every-industry-beat method), there’s still a lot of chances to get a thrill out of hearing him on different kinds of beats that weren’t on any of his tapes. And hearing his slur over a swinging Go-Go beatjack was one of the best examples of that this year.

35. Taking Back Sunday - "Sink Into Me"
These guys come off as such douchebags that I didn't want to like anything by them, but this song is pretty catchy.

36. Jay-Z f/ Alicia Keys - "Empire State Of Mind"
After spending more than half a decade as one of the most consistent singles artists in rap history, Jay lost his ear for making hits (as opposed to merely appearing on hits) somewhere around “Change Clothes.” It’s kind of amazing what kind of momentum he’s been able to maintain with so many years without a solo single that people actually like (OK “Roc Boys” was was alright, but that wasn’t a hit, and fuck you if you like “Blue Magic” or “Lost Ones” or whatever). So I guess I shouldn't be surprised that when people finally rallied around a song and gave Jay his first #1, it was basically an Alicia Keys record with him mumbling and stumbling between giant towering choruses.

37. Alice In Chains - "Check My Brain”
I wrote this off pretty early on, perhaps because this wasn’t a reunion I wanted to see succeed. But months later, I gotta say the hook bored its way into my head and the new guy harmonizes with Cantrell pretty well, so respect where it’s due.

38. Demi Lovato - "Lala Land"
The single from the album she actually released this year, "Here We Go Again," was nice and all, but the tracks she kept spinning off of her 2008 debut this year were much much better.

39. Beyonce - “Sweet Dreams”
Yet another entry from the endless singles campaign for Beyonce’s third album, this one teaching me that Jim Jonsin is capable of a sound other than the bleepy bleepy shit on all his ‘08 hits.

40. Fall Out Boy - "America's Suitehearts"
A half dozen singles after “Sugar, We’re Going Down,” FOB finally got around to copying the sound and tempo of their big breakthrough single with their last ditch attempt to wring a hit from the brilliant but commercially doomed Folie a Deux, and fuck it, I like it better than “Sugar.”

41. Katy Perry - "Waking Up In Vegas"
Weirdly enough, it was the weird dance mix of this song that MTV Hits kept playing with the video for a while that made me realize this is a really sturdy song that neither relies on its chunky Kelly Clarkson-style guitar pop, nor is ruined by Katy Perry being one of the most horrifying vocalists to ever get a record deal.

42. Ciara f/ Young Jeezy - "Never Ever"
Ciara flopped probably harder this year than any other popular artist with a previously healthy career, and although this "Promise" retread probably didn't help her any, I did like it.

43. T-Pain f/ Chris Brown - "Freeze"
A really infectiously joyous song that had the unfortunate fate of sinking like a stone down the charts when its featured artist beat the shit out of his girlfriend.

44. Trey Songz f/ Fabolous - “Say Aah”
DON’T MOVE MY CAR, MAN!

45. Chevelle - “Jars”
My wife loves this band, and I’ve really started to warm to them myself.

46. The-Dream - "Sweat It Out"
Terius won a bit more of my respect when he dropped plans to release the piece of shit “Hit It On The Road” as his next single to push this instead, then lost it again when he pulled support from “Sweat It Out” and opted out of shooting a video. You think those shits with Mariah and Kanye were better than this?

47. 50 Cent f/ Ne-Yo - “Baby By Me”
I try not to play the “this popular song sounds like Baltimore club music” card, especially if I’m sure it’s not at all intentional, but really what I like about this is that the way it stars with the stuttering vocal sample and the funky kick drum is totally like a slightly slower tempo version of the Bmore club formula.

48. Rich Girl f/ Bun B - "24's"
What little love Rich Harrison’s flopped girl group got this year mainly went to the ambitious but ultimately strained and ungainly “He Ain’t With Me Now (Tho),” which is a shame because their other single, which charted higher yet didn’t get a video for some reason, set its sights lower and hit them right on target with much more enjoyable and straightforward production.

48. Keyshia Cole - "You Complete Me"
Keyshia continues to skew ever more adult contempo, with surprisingly listenable results.

49. Alicia Keys - “Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart”
Alicia stays adult contempo and surprisingly listenable, all day every day.

50. Beyonce - “Video Phone”
OK, one more Beyonce song. She is, as always, difficult to root for but impossible to every fully resist. I just mean the original, not the Gaga version.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 at 9:18 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.