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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: Top 100 Songs of the 00s

  • The Top 100 Songs of the ’00s, #94: “Star”

    roots

    As a hip-hop head from way back in the day, I don’t see too many emcees these days who have the same passion for rhyming that the guys and girls from the “golden age” of hip-hop did. Where’s the love of wordplay? Does anyone these days give you the feeling that they could rhyme forever?

    That’s why I thank goodness that folks like Black Thought are not only still around, but still relevant. The Roots’ primary MC is a rhymer at heart, and “Star” is a perfect showcase for his skills. Of course, leave it to The Roots to even beat jack creatively. With Sly Stone and Larry Graham’s voices floating in and out of the mix, and a rock solid rhythm section carrying him, Black Thought touches on everything from his proficiency on the mic to urban blight to the image of black men in the music industry (“don’t wanna do the Ruben Studdard and come of less threatening…”).

    The Roots are right up there with Radiohead as one of the most consistent bands of the past ten years. Nothing they’ve put out this decade has been less than solid, with “Phrenology”, “The Tipping Point” (the album that contains “Star”) and “Game Theory” among the best trifectas that any artist in any genre has come up with. Although their commercial fortunes have dipped sharply, here’s hoping that their exposure as the house band of Jimmy Fallon’s talk show puts them back in the public consciousness…

    …After all, everybody is a star.

  • The Top 100 Songs of the ’00s, #95: “S.O.S.”

    rihanna

    It’s amazing what producers and songwriters can do to a blank slate. Rihanna’s debut single, “Pon de Replay”, might get my vote as one of the most annoying songs of this past decade. I remember sneering at the TV every time the video came on VH-1’s top 20. However, just one year later, the Barbadian beauty was well on her way to becoming arguably the best singles artist of the decade (she’s the #2 artist on this list, with three songs on the survey). The song thatsent her on her way was this propulsive, sexy jam. Goosed along by a very prominent sample of ’80s classic “Tainted Love” (by Soft Cell), Rihanna channeled her thin voice into an attitudinal, erotic moan that was good enough to make us forget that we were (at the time) listening to a teenager. The song’s flirty, fun vibe took it to the top of the charts, becoming the first of Rihanna’s five chart-toppers this decade, and established her as one of the preeminent female pop singers of her generation.

    So suck it, “Pon de Replay”. “S.O.S.” marked the beginning of pop superstar Rihanna as we now know her, and for that, we as pop music listenerds (that was a typo, but I left it in, it kinda fits) should be quite appreciative.

  • The Top 100 Songs of the ’00s, #97: “Promiscuous”

    nelly

    Remember pre-“Promiscuous” Nelly Furtado? All cutesy and quirky. A far cry from the sex goddess we now know her as.

    She and Timbaland (who, as much as I think he’s overrated, is responsible for 8 or 9 songs on this list) had worked together before (on Missy Elliott’s “Get Your Freak On” remix and a single for forgotten femme-cee Ms. Jade), but “Promiscuous” was the song that revitalized both their careers.

    Adding “sexy”, to “sassy” and “spunky”, Nelly and Timbo traded lines in a manner most flirtatious. Furtado proves herself a pretty capable rapper (at least these days), while Timbaland debuted his new Eighties-inspired production style. The result? A jam that lit up dance floors during the early summer of ’06.

    Great song and all, but I believe Nelly when she says that Timbaland didn’t know the meaning of the word “promiscuous” when he wrote the song. Who’s gonna go to a club and say “hey, girl who sleeps with everybody, I want YOU!” “OK, guy who sleeps with everybody…let’s get together!” Although, if you’re getting around that much, your game probably is MVP like Steve Nash.