26. Beanie Sigel f/ Peedi Crakk and Twista - "Gotta Have It"Following
a series of blazing guest spots, this was set to be the first single from Peedi's solo album, but after that got pushed back to '05, they threw Beans and Twista on the song and made it the single off The B-Coming, but it's still clearly Peedi's song, with his singsong flow running circles around everyone else. And Chad Hamilton is quickly living up to my prediction, based on his work on the Young Gunz album, that he would be the next Roc producer to look out for.
27. Korn - "Word Up"
After a brief flirtation with the concept of fun at the peak of their popularity (like that song with the "get your boogie on" bit and the McG video), Korn quickly left the funk/hip hop posturing to Fieldy's solo album and their pals in the Bizkit and went back to making absolutely dreary, grinding, groaning psychotherapy rock (even the tongue-in-cheek "Y'all Want A Single", which was great in concept, sounded like all the other shit they do). So it was kind of a shock when they decided to kick out a Cameo cover for a greatest-hits package, and even moreso when it turned out to be perfectly executed and almost deliriously fun. Especially when he does that "do your dance, do your dance" part.
28. My Chemical Romance - "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)"
I already wrote a post that summed most of what I like about this, but I really have to comment on how well this song is constructed. All the tension and breakdowns, the tempo change for the solo, the cliche'd moment where the music drops out for a second, it's all executed perfectly.
29. Lil Whyte - "I Sho Will"
Ethan went on a rant on Gel & Weave recently about people overrating Lil Whyte (I don't really know since I haven't heard much besides this song), but the part where he said that he sounds like Michael Rapaport just makes me want to like him more.
30. Fabolous - "Breathe"
It's kind of crazy how slept on Fab was before this song. Shit, he had tighter lyrics on "Can't Let You Go", but still, he deserves some credit for finally putting out a song this hard as a single and collecting on some overdue respect.
31. Alicia Keys - "If I Ain't Got You"
There's something I find distasteful about songwriters like Alicia Keys who seem to be intentionally writing new standards by virtue of being so boringly reverent of tradition and history and being popular enough to be compared to the greats they themselves look up to. But I'm willing to look past my hangups when she makes something that I can hear on the radio day after day for months and not get sick of like this.
32. Prince - "Call My Name"
Sometimes Prince gets tired of being one of the weirdest, funniest, most creative people ever, and just wants to wear a suit and sing nu-soul. But even his earth tone-y ballads are about the best there is.
33. Houston f/ Chingy, I-20 and Nate Dogg - "I Like That"
Those wonderfully lush and bouncy Trak Starz beats were the best thing about those Chingy singles, and this one has the best yet, with an agreeably smaller slice of Chingy and a big wonderful Nate Dogg hook to boot.
34. T.I. "Bring Em Out"
Nu-Swizz turned out to be kind of a divisive issue this year, with some heads loving his manic new production style, and others defending his stiff, monochromatic late 90's hits. Plus people hating on the 'king of the south' for selling out to NY standards by having Swizz Beatz and a Jay-Z sample on his lead single. But fuck it, this song is so good it made me jump on my bed the first few times I heard it.
35. D12 - "My Band"
I'm no big fan of Em's lead single clowning general, and a few months after this dropped it was played out as hell and the horror that is "Just Lose It" came to pass. But I got some serious belly laughs the first time I heard it. "Lose Yourself video? I was in the back. Superman video? I was in the back!" It's kind of sad how true this song is, though. I saw them perform this song (WITHOUT Eminem) on Conan, and it was the most pathetic thing I've ever seen. I feel bad for those guys. They'd be stupid not to take advantage of their situation and make a living off of it, but the fact that they have to make money going on tour without their famous friend and playing for their friend's fans, who are all disappointed that their friend isn't there, is just depressing on so many levels.
36. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Maps"
Horrible shots of a motionlessly jaded hipster audience watching them aside, this is really a great performance video. I don't really know much about what they sound like besides this song, but this is pretty undeniable.
37. Good Charlotte - "Predictable"
Even the blogosphere's #1 GC cheerleader Anthony Miccio didn't seem to think much of this song, and it registered as a disappointment at first after I enjoyed 3 of the 5 singles off their last album ("Lifestyles" and "Hold On" didn't do anything for me), but I eventually got really into this one, mainly for the jangly guitar in the chorus, and the weird screaming at the end.
38. Busta Rhymes f/ Chingy, Fat Joe and Nick Cannon - "Shorty (Put It On The Floor)"
Just Blaze had a pretty amazing run of ghetto house-inspired beats last year, with Joe Budden's "Fire (Yes Yes Y'all)" and Rah Digga's "Party & Bullshit 2003", culminating in this amazing slept on gem from the soundtrack from the Cannon/Milian vehicle Love Don't Cost A Thing. JB seems to have retreated from this direction since then, but it was a good fun.
39. Method Man f/ Busta Rhymes - "What's Happenin'"
Meth has always tried to take his crossover success for granted and have it both ways, and this year he didn't have it either way, with his sitcom getting cancelled and his album flopping. And even if it is his fault, it's kind of a shame that people were too busy writing him off as a Right Guard pitchman to notice the fact that his lead single was grimy as hell.
40. Sleepy Brown f/ Outkast - "I Can't Wait"
There's this weird thing that my head does with certain songs, where they're in a perfectly normal 4/4 rhythm, but something about the nature of the beat disorients me and makes me feel like the 1 is on the 4 and that it's completely weird. I heard this about a dozen times before I realized how I was supposed to hear it, and i think I liked it more when I was confused.
41. Ashanti - "Only You"
Even aside from the fact that 7 Aurelius had stopped working with Murder Inc. a couple years ago, I was surprised that the man responsible for the Inc.'s fluffiest hits was capable of something this heavy. That riff, which I guess is a guitar but sounds like it could be a distorted cello, is just bananas.
42. Blink 182 - "Down"
"Always" probably would've been a much bigger hit if it was released as a direct follow-up to "I Miss You" instead of this, but I fucking love this song.
43. DJ Kay Slay f/ Three 6 Mafia - "Who Gives A Fuck Where U From"
TV show theme songs are kind of standard source material for hip hop hits these days, but noone seemed to notice that one of the most evil beats to come out of the south this year was a Transformers sample.
44. Elephant Man f/ Twista, Youngbloodz and Kiprich - "Jook Gal (Head Gawn remix)"
I really think people were giving props to the wrong crossover Coolie Dance hits this year. The boring Nina Sky one and the annoying Mr. Vegas and Pitbull ones don't hold a candle to the one with the crazy Twista verse and the huge Ele chorus.
45. Black Eyed Peas - "Hey Mama"
This was more enjoyable fake dancehall than a lot of the real dancehall i heard this year.
46. John Mayer - "Daughters"
I love this song for the same reason that my favorite lyric on The College Dropout is "so I promise to Mr. Rainey that I'm gonna marry your daughter/and you know I gotta thank you for the way that she was brought up". I'm a sap and I honestly do wish there were more songs that appreciated the simple, corny truth that good people are a product of good parents.
47. Kelly Clarkson - "Breakaway"
I noted in a post on here the similiarity to "I'm With You" before I even knew that Avril actually co-wrote the song (they both have the same gorgeous way of winding down from the choruses; "and breeeeak aaaaaway" = "I'm with you-ooo"). The icky Dave Meyers video almost ruins it but I'm a sap for this one too.
48. Nickelback - "Figured You Out"
Lyrics that force me to imagine that guy with the two-tone hair/beard in any sexual situation is unforgivable, but this does kinda rock, especially the drums on that bridge bit that goes "now I did, you wonder why".
49. Destiny's Child f/ T.I. and Lil Wayne - "Soldier"
Coming from Rich Harrison, a man with both a background in Go-Go and "Crazy In Love" on his resume, this is disappointingly stiff, but there is something I like about the vox (especially Michelle's verse), and the dirty south pandering is a good look, even if it happens to feature the 2 MC's who get compared to Beyonce's boyfriend more than anyone else in the south. The part where Wayne goes "call him Weezy F. Baby, please say the baby" sounds so wonderfully sleazy, but there's a whole added element of creepiness to it considering that the guy he has weird daddy issues with is called Baby.
50. Nas f/ Olu Dara - "Bridging The Gap"
I wonder if Shawnna is kicking herself for not thinking of this first.
Labels: hip hop, lists, Prince
