Friday, December 04, 2009

Top 30 Rap Singles of the 00s: 30-21

Remember this ridiculous "feud" from 2007?


Yes, mainstream rap singles. It would take me months to compile my top 30 songs in the last 10 years of all genres, album cuts, etc, so I kept it simple. I'm lazy.

Also, these are not necessarily the best 30 songs, but my favorite 30 songs. So enjoy and be sure to leave comments.

I've basically got nothing else to add, so without further ado, here's songs 30-21.

30. Game featuring 50 Cent: How We Do (2004)

The first single from Game, and it did not disappoint. The duo followed this joint up with Hate It or Love It and eventually became bitter rivals. But they did some damn good work together before then.

29. Talib Kweli: Get By (2002)

Kanye West, fresh off becoming one of rap's hottest producers after his work with Jay-Z, was on a tear in the early 2000s working with all his favorite artists, many of whom were considered "underground".

28. Young Jeezy featuring Kanye West: Put On (2008)

The lead single from Jeezy's acclaimed third album, The Recession, was not only a smash hit with a hot instrumental by Drumma Boy, but also showed the continued growth in Jeezy as a lyricist. Oh, and Kanye killed it.

27. Damian Marley: Welcome to Jamrock (2005)

Jamrock helped propel Marley into the consciousness of average rap fans, and working with Nas on the album from which the single came has led to a collaboration album betweeen the two that should be released next year.

26. DJ Khaled featuring Akon, T.I., Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Birdman and Lil Wayne: We Takin Over (2007)

The mainstream posse cut was dormant for much of the decade until DJ Khaled came through and revived it, for better or worse. Every artist did their thing on this song, but Lil Wayne crushed everyone with what is probably the greatest guest verse of his career.

25. Lupe Fiasco: Kick, Push (2006)

I admit, I hadn't really caught on to Lupe until shortly before this joint dropped; completely missed the bulk of his mixtape buzz. Kick, Push took the nation by storm and helped pave the way for regular-ass dudes to be successful rapping again.

24. Shyne featuring Barrington Levy: Bad Boys (2000)

The official lead single from Bad Boy's new flagship artist (at the time) and this song put to rest any Biggie comparisons... confirming he was nowhere near that league. Regardless, the song was one of my top 30 of the decade and Barrington Levy definitely did his thing.

23. Jay-Z: Girls, Girls, Girls (2001)

The original Blueprint spawned a ton of commercial hits, but of the singles, this was defintely my favorite. After getting past the cringe-worthy (yet, hilarious) racial and ethnic stereotypes, you're left with a laid back masterpiece.

22. Outkast: Bombs Over Baghdad (2000)

It's impossible not move when this song comes on! 'Kast shows they can rip a beat of any type at any tempo and despite the song coming out at the beginning of the decade, it could have been released this week and still sound ahead of its time.

21. Kanye West: Flashing Lights (2008)

This is one of those songs that I remember my exact reaction when I first heard it. At the time, it seemed sonically better than any song I'd ever heard and probably replayed it 25-30 times. And to this day I can't recall ever not stopping to listen when it comes on.


Follow me on Twitter @aehorton to see the rest of the list as it's announced, before it hits the blog.

2 comments:

  1. Move Welcome to Jamrock to Top 10, Take that shyne shit off the list. Put We takin over at 30...

    ReplyDelete