And so it begins...our list of the Top 150 Tracks of the last 15 years.
#150 Jay Electronica "Exhibit C" - An unusually epic track from one of the most buzzed about newcomers in recent rap history. Hasn't been followed by an album.
#149 Animal Collective "My Girls" - Best song on one of the better albums in the last couple years. Simple, yet large in scale. One of the most poignant tracks on the list.
#148 Janelle Monae "Cold War" - As an artist without a box, it speaks about individuality and fighting for it - explains Janelle, as much as a song can.
#147 Pavement "Stereo" - It's the bassline that does it for me, plus the breakdown in the middle of the song. Also great lyrics - a strength for Pavement throughout their releases.
#146 T.I. "Why You Wanna" - Rappers making sex/romance tracks was a very common theme. It's not something rappers did a lot of previously, and NOT be questioned.
#145 Puff Daddy "All About the Benjamins" - HAD to be in this list. The track for the (luckily) short lived jiggy (or jigaboo…) era.
#144 Sleigh Bells "Infinity Guitars" - One of the best indie pop songs to come out in the last 15 years, and more. The last :38 KILLS, after the set-up. Also introduced trunk bass into indie-stream.
#143 Klaxons "Golden Skans" - Seemed to indicate a future of Brit dominance, but that didn't quite happen. Either way, an amazingly fun record.
#142 Ghostface Killah "Daytona 500" - In the top ten beats RZA ever made. All three MCs kill it. Even the anime video destroys.
#141 Jeff Buckley "Everybody Here Wants You" - I can't tell if he's describing someone he has, or someone he wants. I like not really knowing.
#140 Curren$y feat. Stalley "Address" - "…..yeeeeaaahhh, SKI BEATS!"
#139 Drake "Successful" - The proper introduction to the new vanguard of mainstream hip hop - it's become a mission statement.
#138 D'Angelo "How Does It Feel (Untitled)" - Just a notch below the choice cuts on Marvin Gaye's I Want You album…..like a fingernail's length.
#137 Washed Out "Feel It All Around" - Chillwave done at it's best. Smoothed out samples, lazy lyrics - lazy in a positive sense. Where's my beach chair and Corona with the lime?
#136 Nelly Furtado feat. Timbaland "Promiscous" - Yet another reinvented career path/change, courtesy of Timbaland's golden touch.
#135 Shawn Colvin "Sunny Came Home" -It's funny that most people remember this song because of Ol' Dirty Bastard.
#134 Feist "My Moon My Man" - One of the songs on the list you knew would be good in the first 15 seconds. Immediately awesome.
#133 Common feat. The Last Poets "The Corner" - A dirty Kanye beat + Last Poets + Common. You don't need a lot.
#132 TV On The Radio "Ambulance" - A sparse, incredibly (desperately) romantic, doo wop song. Probably their most played song.
#131 Editors "Munich" - Editors aren't going to write the best lyrics ever. But I think it's the straightfowardness of what they are trying to accomplish is the accomplishment.
#130 Jay-Z feat. Pharrell Williams "Excuse Me Miss" -Probably the beginning of the "grown and sexy" movement in rap circles.
#129 RJD2 "A Beautiful Mine" - Mad Men. I think that's all that needs to be noted.
#128 Sean Paul "Gimme the Light" - Brought dancehall (lite) sounds back into the mainstream.
#127 Cannibal Ox "The F Word" - Definitely one of the more unusual picks for a list like this. Criminally overlooked album and song, that got critical play…but not enough ears.
#126 M.O.P. "Ante Up" - THE jack-move song of the last 15 years. Still a banger. "Get up off them g*ddamn diamonds!!!"
Stay tuned for tracks #125-#101 this Friday, then we'll dive into the Top 100 beginning next Monday!
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