Producer Series Mix #2: Rich Harrison

1. Missy Elliott - "Can't Stop"
2. Toni Braxton - "Take This Ring" (mp3)
3. Tha Rayne f/ Joe Budden - "Didn't You Know" Remix (mp3)
4. Kelly Rowland - "Can't Nobody" (mp3)
5. Destiny's Child f/ T.I. and Lil Wayne - "Soldier"
6. Beyonce f/ Jay-Z - "Crazy In Love"
7. Alicia Keys - "Dragon Days" (mp3)
8. Jennifer Lopez f/ Fabolous - "Get Right" Remix
9. Jennifer Lopez - "Whatever You Wanna Do"
10. The Pussycat Dolls - "I Don't Need A Man"
11. Amerie - "Why Don't We Fall In Love"
12. Amerie - "Why Don't We Fall In Love" Remix
13. Amerie - "1 Thing"
14. Amerie - "Talkin' About"
15. Amerie - "Talkin' To Me"
16. Amerie - "I Just Died" (mp3)
17. Amerie f/ Carl Thomas - "Can We Go"
18. Amerie - "Rolling Down My Face"
19. Amerie - "All I Need"
20. Amerie - "Come With Me"

By no means an obscure producer, but I wanted to put together a solid mix of his best stuff, half Amerie and half other artists. If you want a more complete discography, you can go here, but I went for a personal selection, starting off with a handful of my favorite kinda underrated tracks, so none of his boring Mary J. Blige tracks or that weird Duran Duran single. I think my favorite thing about RH, more than just the heavy Go-Go percussion or brassy samples, is the way he waits patiently to add textures and melodic embellishments, like the piano chords that drop in more than halfway into "Talkin' About," or all the layers that gradually accumulate throughout "Can't Nobody." I'll note that the "Get Right" remix is the one with the Fab verse and the original beat, not the weird synthy beat on the video version.

Previously in the Producer Series: Shondrae "Bangladesh" Crawford

Labels: hip hop, Jay-Z, music, music babble, Producer Series Mix, R and B

top ten:

1. Twista f/ Pitbull - "Hit The Floor"
2. Notorious B.I.G. f/ Twista and Bone Thugs N Harmony - "Spit Your Game"
3. Beyonce f/ Slim Thug - "Check On It"
4. Johnny Cash - "Boy Named Sue"
5. The Posies - "That Don't Fly"
6. Tim Trees - "We Don't Love 'Em" aka "Wayne Jones"
7. Jay-Z - "It's Hot (Some Like It Hot)"
8. Ebony Eyez - "Good Vibrations"
9. Styles P. f/ Akon - "Can U Believe It"
10. R. Kelly - "Trapped In The Closet (Chapter 8)"

Labels: Baltimore music, hip hop, Jay-Z, lists, R and B, R. Kelly, The Posies

VMAs play-by-play via ILM. Or the short version, my top 10 favorite moments of last night:

- R. Kelly's live premiere of a new chapter of "Trapped In The Closet"- "RUFUS SAYS CHUCK I'M SORRY/BUT I'M GOIN' BACK TO MY WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE"

- Diddy's Captain Eo-esque "journey of sight and sound"! Getting served by Omarion! Bringing out MC Hammer!

- Ludacris coming out with Rare Essence and performing the Go-Go version of "Pimpin' All Over The World" that I repped for a minute ago. "D.T.P.! D.C.! R.E.! LET'S GO!!!"

- Jay-Z on his office job: "I got chairs and pencils and pens"

- My Chemical Romance's surprise performance at Diddy's personal request

- Eric Roberts Eric Roberts Eric Roberts

- John Norris's bedazzled purple tanktop

- Usher explaining krumping to America

- Fat Joe's super classy and funny G-Unit diss (and 50's subsequent uncensored f-bomb tantrum)

- Tony Yayo's waving-his-hands-in-front-of-his-mouth gesture

Labels: ILM, Jay-Z, R. Kelly, TV

top ten:

1. DJ Rod Lee - "I Got Problems (Dance My Pain Away)"
2. R. Kelly - "Trapped In The Closet (Chapter 2 of 5)"
3. String Tribute to Sonic Youth - "Wish Fulfillment"
4. Amerie - "Come With Me"
5. Beanie Sigel f/ Freeway and Young Chris - "I Can't Go On This Way"
6. Third Eye Blind - "Graduate"
7. Brendan Benson - "Them And Me"
8. Tweet - "Turn Da Lights Off" (RJD2 remix)
9. Jay-Z - "Dear Summer"
10. David Banner - "Play"

Labels: Baltimore music, Brendan Benson, Jay-Z, lists, R and B, R. Kelly, Sonic Youth

About 2 years ago, I was hanging out with my brother, and he let me go through the mp3 folder on his computer and pick out a bunch of songs and burn myself a CD. It was fun, and I was pretty pleased with the result. I wish I could do that more often, just rummage through someone's hard drive for an afternoon and make a mix from it.

1. The Clipse - "Grindin'"
2. Elvis Presley - "In The Ghetto"
3. No Doubt - "Sunday Morning"
4. Bruce Springsteen - "Rosalita"
5. Coldplay - "Shiver"
6. The Clash - "Lost In The Supermarket"
7. The Notorious B.I.G. - "Juicy"
8. Memphis Bleek f/ Jay-Z, Twista and Missy Elliott - "Is That Your Chick?" (The Lost Verses)
9. The Dismemberment Plan - "Can We Be Mature?"
10. Justin Timberlake f/ The Clipse - "Like I Love You"
11. Elastica - "Stutter"
12. The Descendants - "I'm The One"
13. Josie and the Pussycats - "Three Small Words"
14. State Property - "Roc the Mic"
15. Jay-Z - "Streets Is Watching "
16. Memphis Bleek f/ Jay-Z - "Murda Murda"
17.The Dismemberment Plan - "Since You Died "
18. Usher f/ Ludacris - "U Don't Have To Call" (remix)
19. Queen and David Bowie - "Under Pressure"

Labels: Bruce Springsteen, Dismemberment Plan, hip hop, Jay-Z, mixtapes, R and B

I used to get pretty annoyed when Anthony would dismiss Kanye on the trivial basis of the weak, bloodless way he says "c'mon" on one of his singles. Then I realized the other day that I've dismissed Franz Ferdinand on the very same grounds. But then, of all the things that Kanye has been inaccurately praised or marketed as, "sexy dance party!" is not one of them. That song is like a real time progression of corny indie taste: Strokesy chug, then wait, it slows down to a sluggish bomp-bomp-bomp that I guess is somebody's idea of disco. Oh well, at least someone Kanye has already publically endorsed won something that could've gone to him so another outburst is unlikely. Ah, who am I kidding, does anyone who's up for a gazillion Grammys care about P&J?

Check out these numbers:

2004 Albums 10 Danger Mouse The Grey Album www.djdangermouse.com 904(82)

2003 Albums 13 Jay-Z The Black Album Roc-A-Fella 618(62)

Also, for good measure, and because I like "Faint/Jigga What" more than anything on The Grey Album:

2004 Albums 856 Jay-Z and Linkin Park  Collision Course Warner Bros. 13(1)

Not that I'm crying for Jay; he's made plenty better albums than BA that've gotten much less critical love. But maaan. I caught some flak on ILM for (somewhat jokingly) making a remark along the lines that I hate the internet for the role it played in the high placement of The Grey Album and M.I.A./Diplo. I mean, I guess I'm in favor of the power of the web and blogs and stuff to put mp3/bootleg phenomena on that kind of pedestal in theory, but I'm not a fan of it in practice if it means color-coded novelty 'mashups' and weak-voiced faux dancehall over played out Timbaland/Neptunes beats and obscure/exotic dance music from Brazil and, um, Baltimore. And can we dead all the "world music" chatter when we're talking about someone who's lived most of their life in London and is tight with fucking Elastica?

Something else of note was that even in a banner year for southern rap on national radio (well, '03 was the real breakthrough, but '04 was the saturation point), the dubious "crunk'n'b" offshoot showed it up both commercially and critically, with both "Yeah!" and "Goodies" in the top 40 singles with the otherwise highest southern hip hop being "Rubber Band Man" down at 47. And the rest of the top 40 rap singles entries were being held down by non-southerners (the obvious Kanye/Twista/Eminem/Snoop) and especially the NYC old guard of Jay/Nas/Fab/Fat Joe/Jada. Granted, my taste is still fairly NY-centric too as far as rap is concerned, but that's just me, I'm an east coast kid. The zeitgeist is another story.

Labels: ILM, Jay-Z, Kanye West, lists

my 200 favorite singles of the first half of this decade:

1. Twista f/ Kanye West and Jamie Foxx - "Slow Jamz"
2. Ludacris - "What's Your Fantasy?"
3. The Clipse f/ Pharrell - "Grindin'"
4. Lil Jon & the Eastside Boyz f/ Ying Yang Twins - "Get Low"
5. Ja Rule f/ Lil Mo and Vita - "Put It On Me"
6. Missy Elliott - "Get Ur Freak On"
7. R. Kelly - "Step In The Name Of Love" (Remix)
8. Nas - "One Mic"
9. Bone Crusher f/ Killer Mike and T.I. - "Never Scared"
10. Joe Budden - "Pump It Up"

11. Jay-Z f/ Pharrell - "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)"
12. Sisqo - "Thong Song"
13. System of a Down - "Chop Suey!"
14. Avril Lavigne - "Complicated"
15. Talib Kweli - "Get By"
16. R. Kelly - "Ignition"
17. Monica - "So Gone"
18. Dr. Dre f/ Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg - "The Next Episode"
19. Memphis Bleek f/ Jay-Z and Missy Elliott - "Is That Your Chick?"
20. Trick Daddy f/ Trina, Co and Duece Poppito - "Shut Up"

21. Juelz Santana f/ Cam'ron - "Dipset (Santana's Town)"
22. N Sync - "Girlfriend"
23. Baby f/ The Clipse - "What Happened To That Boy?"
24. Vanessa Carlton - "One Thousand Miles"
25. Jay-Z f/ Beanie Sigel and Memphis Bleek - "Change The Game"
26. Outkast - "B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)"
27. M.O.P. - "Ante Up"
28. Nivea f/ R. Kelly - "Laundromat"
29. Kylie Minogue - "Love At First Sight"
30. Britney Spears - "Toxic"

31. Linkin Park - "Faint"
32. Toby Keith - "I Love This Bar"
33. U2 - "Beautiful Day"
34. Christina Aguilera - "Beautiful"
35. Lil Jon & the Eastside Boyz f/ Mystikal and Krayzie Bone - "I Don't Give A Fuck"
36. Sugar Ray - "When It's Over"
37. Eminem - "Without Me"
38. Sum 41 - "Fat Lip"
39. Coldplay - "Clocks"
40. Usher - "U Don't Have To Call"

41. Jagged Edge f/ Nelly - "Where The Party At?"
42. Jadakiss f/ Styles P. - "We Gonna Make It"
43. Cam'ron f/ Juelz Santana - "Oh Boy"
44. Limp Bizkit - "My Way"
45. Pharrell f/ Jay-Z - "Frontin'"
46. Carl Thomas - "I Wish"
47. Lil Mo f/ Fabolous - "Superwoman" (Remix)
48. Sean Paul - "Like Glue"
49. Jay-Z - "99 Problems"
50. Freeway f/ Peedi Crakk - "Flipsides"

51. Da Band - "Bad Boy This, Bad Boy That"
52. Big & Rich - "Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy)"
53. T.I. - "Rubber Band Man"
54. Wayne Wonder - "No Letting Go"
55. Terror Squad - "Lean Back"
56. John Mayer - "Clarity"
57. Da Brat - "That's What I'm Looking For"
58. Lloyd Banks f/ 50 Cent - "On Fire"
59. Justin Timberlake - "Rock Your Body"
60. R. Kelly f/ Jay-Z - "Fiesta" (Remix)

61. Jimmy Eat World - "Sweetness"
62. Mya - "Case of the Ex"
63. Sunshine Anderson - "Heard It All Before"
64. Madonna - "Don't Tell Me"
65. J-Kwon - "Hood Hop"
66. Nas - "Made You Look"
67. Trina f/ Ludacris - "B R Right"
68. Bow Wow f/ Jagged Edge - "My Baby"
69. Bubba Sparxxx - "Ugly"
70. Young Gunz f/ Rell - "No Better Love"

71. Juvenile f/ Soulja Slim - "Slow Motion"
72. Wacko & Skip f/ Juvenile - "Nolia Clap" (Remix)
73. Fabolous f/ Nate Dogg - "Can't Deny It"
74. Faith Evans - "You Gets No Love"
74. Justin Timberlake f/ The Clipse - "Like I Love You"
75. Big Tymers - "Get Your Roll On"
76. R. Kelly - "Ignition" (Remix)
77. Busta Rhymes f/ Pharrell - "Light YOur Ass On Fire"
78. Jay-Z - "Hey Papi"
79. Twista - "Overnight Celebrity"
80. Aaliyah - "More Than A Woman"

81. Nelly f/ St. Lunatics - "Air Force Ones"
82. Red Hot Chili Peppers - "By The Way"
83. Anthony Hamilton - "Charlene"
84. Jadakiss f/ Anthony Hamilton - "Why"
85. Mannie Fresh - "Real Big"
86. P. Diddy - "Bad Boy 4 Life"
87. Kelly Clarkson - "Since U Been Gone"
88. Musiq - "Halfcrazy"
89. Mystikal - "Bouncin' Back (Bumpin' Me Against The Wall)"
90. Alicia Keys - "You Don't Know My Name"

91. Jennifer Lopez f/ Ja Rule - "Ain't It Funny" (Remix)
92. Lostprophets - "Last Train Home"
93. Ludacris f/ Mystikal and I-20 - "Move"
94. Mario - "Just A Friend 2002"
95. Nappy Roots f/ Jazze Pha - "Awnaw"
96. Christina Aguilera - "Fighter"
97. Foo Fighters - "Times Like These"
98. Amerie - "Why Don't We Fall In Love?"
99. Isley Brothers f/ R. Kelly and Chante Moore - "Contagious"
100. Phantom Planet - "California"

101. Memphis Bleek f/ Jay-Z - "Do My"
102. Youngbloodz f/ Lil Jon - "Damn!"
103. Beenie Man f/ Sean Paul and Lady Saw - "Bossman"
104. Brandy - "What About Us"
105. Janet Jackson - "Someone To Call My Lover"
106. Craig David - "Fill Me In"
107. Lil Mo f/ Fabolous - "4Ever"
108. Green Day - "Waiting"
109. Alien Ant Farm - "Movies"
110. Daniel Bedingfield - "If You're Not The One"

111. N.O.R.E. f/ Pharrell - "Grimey"
112. Wu Tang Clan - "Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off)"
113. Lil Wayne f/ Hot Boyz - "Shine"
114. Beyonce f/ Jay-Z - "Crazy In Love"
115. Petey Pablo - "Raise Up"
116. Joe f/ Mystikal - "Stutter" (Remix)
117. Aaliyah - "Come Over"
118. B Rich - "Woah Now"
119. LL Cool J - "Luv U Better"
120. No Doubt - "Bathwater"

121. Sarai - "Ladies"
122. Westside Connection f/ Nate Dogg - "Gangsta Nation"
123. Kelly Rowland - "Can't Nobody"
124. Liz Phair - "Why Can't I?"
125. Outkast f/ Killer Mike - "Land of a Million Drums"
126. TLC - "Girls Talk"
127. Ginuwine - "There It Is"
128. Tank - "Maybe I Deserve"
129. Kelly Clarkson - "Miss Independent"
130. Limp Bizkit - "Rollin'"

131. Ashlee Simpson - "La La"
132. Nelly - "Na-Nana-Na"
133. Ali f/ St. Lunatics - "Breathe In, Breathe Out"
134. Fat Joe f/ R. Kelly - "We Thuggin'"
135. Ray J f/ Lil Kim - "Wait A Minute"
136. Nelly - "Hot In Herre"
137. Scarface f/ Jay-Z and Beanie Sigel - "Guess Who's Back"
138. Cee-Lo f/ Timbaland - "I'll Be Around"
139. Tweet f/ Missy Elliott - "Oops (Oh My)"
140. D'Angelo - "Untitled (How Does It Feel)"

141. Cam'ron f/ Juelz Santana - "Hey Ma"
142. Big Tymers - "Still Fly"
143. John Mayer - "No Such Thing"
144. Eminem - "Lose Yourself"
145. N.E.R.D. - "Rock Star"
146. Jay-Z f/ UGK - "Big Pimpin'"
147. Missy Elliott f/ Ludacris - "Gossip Folks"
148. Good Charlotte - "The Young and the Hopeless"
149. Truth Hurts f/ Rakim - "Addictive"
150. Ying Yang Twins - "Naggin'"

151. Busta Rhymes - "Break Ya Neck"
152. R. Kelly - "I Wish"
153. Freeway f/ Jay-Z and Beanie Sigel - "What We Do"
154. Lloyd - "Hey Young Girl"
155. Michael Jackson - "Butterflies"
156. Jagged Edge - "Walked Outta Heaven"
157. Mya f/ Jay-Z - "Best of Me" (Remix)
158. Beenie Man f/ Mya - "Girls Dem Sugar"
159. Train - "Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)"
160. Evanescence - "Going Under"

161. Usher - "U Got It Bad"
162. N Sync - "Gone"
163. Sean Paul - "Get Busy"
164. Nick Cannon f/ B2K - "Feelin' Freaky"
165. R. Kelly - "Feelin' On Yo Booty"
166. Destiny's Child - "Bootylicious"
167. Ludacris, LL Cool J and Keith Murray - "Fatty Girl"
168. St. Lunatics - "Midwest Swing"
169. Da Brat f/ Tyrese - "What Do You Like"
170. Madonna - "Music"

171. Common f/ Bilal - "The Sixth Sense"
172. Justin Timberlake - "Cry Me A River"
173. Freeway and Beanie Sigel - "Roc the Mic"
174. Kanye West - "Through The Wire"
175. Big Punisher - "It's So Hard"
176. Good Charlotte - "Little Things"
177. Eve - "Who's That Girl?"
178. The Darkness - "I Believe In A Thing Called Love"
179. Maroon 5 - "Harder To Breathe"
180. Mario - "C'mon"

181. Faith Hill - "Cry"
182. Blink 182 - "Feeling This"
183. Jay-Z - "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)"
184. John Mayer - "Why Georgia"
185. Aaliyah f/ Timbaland - "We Need A Resolution"
186. P. Diddy - "Diddy"
187. Redman - "Let's Get Dirty"
188. DMX - "X Gon' Give It To Ya"
189. Nate Dogg f/ Fabolous, Kurupt and B.R.E.T.T. - "I Got Love" (Remix)
190. Nelly Furtado - "Turn Off The Light"

191. N Sync - "Pop"
192. N.E.R.D. f/ Lee Harvey and Vita - "Lapdance"
193. The Strokes - "Someday"
194. 112 - "Peaches and Cream"
195. Ludacris - "Saturday (Oooh! Oooh!)"
196. Ms. Jade - "Feel The Girl"
197. David Banner f/ Lil Flip - "Like A Pimp"
198. Hillary Duff - "So Yesterday"
199. Chingy f/ Ludacris and Snoop Dogg - "Holidae Inn"
200. Jay-Z - "Song Cry"

Labels: hip hop, Jay-Z, Kanye West, lists, Nas, R and B, R. Kelly, singles, T.I., Trick Daddy

my 50 favorite albums of the first half of this decade:

1. Jay-Z - The Blueprint
2. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - The Tyranny of Distance
3. Sonic Youth - Murray Street
4. Kanye West - The College Dropout
5. Ken Stringfellow - Touched
6. Cex - Being Ridden
7. Missy Elliott - Miss E...So Addictive
8. Spymob - Sitting Around Keeping Score
9. Justin Timberlake - Justified
10. The Dismemberment Plan - Change
11. Reflection Eternal - Train of Thought
12. Chris Lee - Chris Lee Plays & Sings Torch'd Songs, Charivari Hymns & Oriki Blue-Marches
13. Enon - Believo!
14. Lake Trout - Alone At Last
15. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Shake The Sheets
16. Trick Daddy - Thug Matrimony: Married To The Streets
17. Jay-Z - The Dynasty: Roc La Familia
18. Carla Bozulich - Red Headed Stranger
19. Brendan Benson - Lapalco
20. Nas - God's Son
21. Kenna - New Sacred Cow
22. Two Dollar Guitar - Weak Beats and Lame Ass Rhymes
23. Radiohead - Kid A
24. Bossman - Law & Order
25. Cex - Tall, Dark and Handcuffed
26. Grand Buffet - Pittsburgh Hearts EP
27. Sonic Youth - Sonic Nurse
28. The Mercury Program - All The Suits Began To Fall Off EP
29. Blink 182 - Blink 182
30. The Diplomats - Diplomatic Immunity
31. Faraquet - The View From This Tower
32. Destroy All Nels Cline - Destroy All Nels Cline
33. Jay-Z - The Black Album
34. No Doubt - Rock Steady
35. Trick Daddy - Book Of Thugs: Chapter AK Verse 47
36. Outkast - Stankonia
37. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Hearts of Oak
38. Firewater - Psychopharmacology
39. Freeway - Philadelphia Freeway
40. D'Angelo - Voodoo
41. Pulp - We Love Life
42. Scarface - The Fix
43. Travis Morrison - Travistan
44. Amon Tobin - Supermodified
45. Tim Trees - Dalton, Vol. 1
46. Rod Lee - The Pressure EP
47. Youngblood Brass Band - Unlearn
48. The Boredoms - Vision Creation Newsun
49. Grand Buffet - Cigarette Beach EP
50. Limp Bizkit - Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water

Labels: Baltimore music, Chris Lee, Dismemberment Plan, Enon, Jay-Z, Kanye West, lists, R and B, Sonic Youth, Spymob, Ted Leo, The Posies

1. Britney Spears - "Toxic"
I'm usually not that into spybeat or Britney hits in general, but this is just such pop perfection it just feels right at #1.

2. Jay-Z - "99 Problems"
I had no problem with Jay going after modern rock radio after "Hey Ya" already tapped that market, because unlike the Outkast and Eminem hits that have crossed over to rock radio, "99 Problems" actually sounds like the early Beastie Boys tracks that are staples on those stations. I don't know if anyone went more nuts for it than rap stations, though; I remember driving home from picking up The Black Album on the release date and hearing a DJ play it like 5 times in the space of an hour, howling with joy.

3. Big & Rich - "Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy"
I'm kind of over the whole Muzik Mafia is saving country thing, and I haven't liked any of the Gretchen Wilson singles, but this was just the jam.

4. T.I. - "Rubber Band Man"
The way the beat does a busy hi-hat pattern for 2 bars and then a relaxed ride cymbal pattern for 2 bars is just genius.

5. Terror Squad - "Lean Back"
Remy's verse really did kill it. And the way Joe going "HUH" filled in all sorts of spots within the beat.

6. John Mayer - "Clarity"
I just could not get enough of this song, which is unfortunate, since it didn't perform very well at all for a John Mayer single. But it really is beautiful, especially that intro: the 4-note piano figure, the tapping rhythm, the horn swell, the percussive guitar chords. Last week when my brother was visiting, he let me mess around on his iPod and I found Heavier Things and listened to this 2 or 3 times.

7. Lloyd Banks f/ 50 Cent - "On Fire"
I'm not generally a big fan of monolithic G-Unit singles, but I couldn't resist Kwame's bubbling liquid metal percussion and Lloyd's perfect punchlines. The greatness of this track is only reaffirmed by the fact that it's already being emulated on inferior songs like Joe Budden's "Roll Your Backyard" and 50's own "Disco Inferno".

8. J-Kwon - "Hood Hop"
Top 5 things I love about "Hood Hop":
1. the coughing, barking Trackboyz production
2. the line "and fuck your fuckin' '4 and your roof, clown/I got shit that'll turn your fuckin' coupe 'round", which the first few times I heard it I thought he was saying he was gonna turn your poop brown
3. the way him and Chingy make eating cereal look like some kind of really unsavory activity in the video
4. the fact that Jermaine Dupri's 2 most notable video cameos this year were (a) cuddling with Janet and (b) mouthing the words "fuck a bitch"
5. TIPSY IS SHIT, STOP SLEEPING ON THIS

9. Yellowcard - "Ocean Avenue"
At first when I started hearing on the radio I thought it was another whiny twee pop-punk tune, which I guess it still is, but I didn't get into it until I noticed the ridiculously powerful drumming, and that chorus is pretty huge, especially coming from the bridge.

10. Young Gunz f/ Rell - "No Better Love"
Hands down, best rap/R&B love jam of the year.

11. Juvenile f/ Soulja Slim - "Slow Motion"
As soon as I heard this I knew I'd be hearing it all summer, and that I'd never get sick of it.

12. Wacko, Skip and Juvenile - "Nolia Clap"
I think the best thing about this song is Skip's verse, because he's wearing glasses in the video and he's got a squeaky voice and he says silly things like "dog doo doo", but then he's all talking about how dudes who wear vests deserve to get their face slashed. Also, the "(look) look at my face (look!), this how death look (LOOK!), if ya deaf, look (look), I won't play witcha" part is pretty amazing, just for how many times he doubles up his voice to shoehorn the word "look" in there.

13. Twista - "Overnight Celebrity"
Twista and Kanye were unstoppable and inescapable this year, and this was their finest moment together.

14. Anthony Hamilton - "Charlene"
I don't really buy it when Matt Cibula tries to say that Anthony Hamilton is a country singer (or that T.I. is a singer/songwriter), but I see what he's getting at.

15. Jadakiss f/ Anthony Hamilton - "Why"
I love Jada's voice, and it sounded better than ever this year, and I love the way he says "beer" so it sounds like "bear". I want him to hold a WHY LIE I NEED A BEAR sign.

16. Lostprophets - "Last Train Home"
Dude looks like Zoolander trying to sound like Mike Patton, but this really was one of the best alt-rock hits of the year.

17. Mannie Fresh - "Real Big"
I didn't really feel a lot of Mannie's beats for Wayne or Juve lately, so I wasn't really expected him to come hard for the solo single, but he did it, with essentially a fast, fun Big Tymers jam without Baby around to slow him down.

18. Kelly Clarkson - "Since U Been Gone"
Girl singers who don't play an instrument can rock too, pt. 1: I have a soft spot for a few Pat Benatar jams, so I'm always happy when someone with a real strong voice tries on something that rocks this much, albeit in a pop-rock way.

19. Ashlee Simpson - "La La"
Girl singers who don't play an instrument can rock too, pt. 2: after a couple insufferable 'autobiographical' singles, shorty got down to business with some corporate rock stomp and nonsensical lyrics.

20. Nelly - "Na-Nana-Na"
In the past 6 months, Nelly has released 5 singles/videos, and after he flubbed the club anthem attempt with "Flap Your Wings", the Suit singles took off and it left Sweat eating its dust in sales. So outside the lower half of the 106 & Park countdown, this song, which is easily one of Nelly's best singles ever (and Nelly is nothing if not a singles artist) and my favorite Jazze Pha beat ever, is being pretty much ignored. But it's not too late! Blast this shit! Request it everywhere!

21. Lloyd - "Hey Young Girl"
I already pretty much summed up what I think is great about this song in a Gov't Names post.

22. Paula Campbell - "Take You Home"
OK, I might have actually liked "Tipsy" if there wasn't a local hit rocking Baltimore around the same time that had almost the exact same kind of booming "Grindin'"/"We Will Rock You" drum track, but with much better synth burps and a big R&B hook.

23. Comp - "Harder"
The Baltimore/Def Jam connection is just starting to warm up and will hopefully kick into full gear in '05, but for now, Comp's introspective vocal-sample-snatch jam was one of the best street heaters of '04.

24. Ghostface f/ Jadakiss and Comp - "Run"
Even though my boy Comp got robbed when they didn't put the version with him on the Ghostface album, this song is great, with or without him.

25. Norah Jones - "Sunrise"
Even though her album was once again huge this year, the single was really slept on and not nearly as omnipresent as "Don't Know Why" was. But it's really lovely, wordless "ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh" chorus and beautiful relaxed ambiance.

Labels: Baltimore music, hip hop, Jay-Z, lists