I've decided to rank the biggest hits in America throughout the 00's, however doing so presented me a challenge given how there's no end of decade chart that extends beyond the top 100 like there is for the 80's and 90's. I've decided to rank these songs based on how long they lasted in the Billboard top ten to compensate for this. Again, I'll be recycling what I've said about each entry from an earlier post on this site until I have the inspiration necessary to come up with something new to say for each entry.
To think there was a time where this ballad wasn't a meme and instead a genuine hit single for Vanessa Carlton, nowadays it's become a meme due to it being ridiculed in the film White chicks and people struggling to take it seriously since that movie came out. I guess this is why there haven't been a lot of heartfelt piano ballads from female singer/songwriters to make it big in recent years which is a shame.
This is a song I want to like but don't because of Akon's chanting throughout the track, I'm obviously in the minority here as this remains Gwen's biggest solo hit and arguably her biggest hit overall given that its popularity rivals that of "Don't speak" from a decade prior down under. She would have one more hit after this before fading into obscurity as a solo artist, although she did reform No doubt in 2012.
It appears that P Diddy was still trying to find the next teen idol for his label as he signed (then) teenage model Cassie Ventura to his label where she scored a massive worldwide hit with this RNB track before fading into obscurity. There were a lot of female RNB stars in this vein who were likely trying to become the next Ashanti or Ciara, although Cassie was by far the most successful in this vein.
Although Nelly had already demonstrated his desires to be a country artist from the start of the decade with songs such as "Ride wit me" and "Country grammar," it was this collaboration with Tim McGraw that finally won him over with the country scene in his native America given how immensely popular this was on the Billboard country charts. It was also a massive international hit for the otherwise inner-city rapper.
Apart from her earlier appearance on this list, this will be the only entry from Kelly Clarkson to appear on this side of my site which is fitting given how it was the one hit of hers that failed to do so likely due to strong album sales preventing it from being a hit over here despite it being easily one of her most recognisable (and my personal favourite) songs in her catalogue.
This is the first of three Billboard chart toppers to compare sex to candy this decade, the other two being "Laffy taffy" from a group called D4L and "Lollipop" from Lil Wayne, neither of these other songs were hits in Australia which makes this the biggest hit down under with this premise by default. It's also the only one out of the three to get a female perspective as we have Olivia handling the chorus on this track.
This is one of those songs that many people feel is one of the worst of the decade, I can't say I disagree mainly because I don't have a lot of patience for songs that are about forced positivity which this song exemplifies. Still, enough people back in the day were touched by Daniel's reassurance that things will get better that it was a massive worldwide hit for him, heck it even topped the Billboard charts the following year.
Rihanna certainly had success prior to this lead single to her third album, however it was the theme of friendship in the lyrics that allowed audiences to make this an inescapable hit and that she was in it for the long haul which wasn't a certainty prior to the song's release. Apparently, people have misinterpreted the song to be about sex, I guess I can see that although I won't burden my readers with that thought process.
This was the other big hit that Rihanna had from the deluxe edition of Good girl gone bad, it has a horror element to it likely to compliment the music video which seems to have been inspired by the industrial rock of the 90's. This would be the last hit that she would have before she would have a major falling out with Chris Brown over something that I won't get into on this list.
This is the final hit that Janet Jackson scored in her career worldwide, mainly because she would find herself getting cancelled at the 2004 Superbowl for her wardrobe malfunction despite the fact that Justin Timberlake was the reason for why the world got a peak at her breasts that night. She hasn't made any comment about how she feels about that night, although I doubt she has positive feelings towards the N sync member.
This is one of those songs whose sole purpose is to shock an offend audiences, personally I don't find this song offensive as it's little more than Katy admitting to experimenting with her sexuality (although I'll admit that it's one of the more annoying songs of the decade.) This became the first of many of her hits worldwide likely due to audiences being shocked and offended by this track.
Well, I guess this wasn't a huge departure from her earlier work as the production does make it fit with the likes of "I'm like a bird" even if the subject matter is about her moving on from a toxic relationship rather than finding her spirituality. Depending on where in the world you're from, this was either the third single from her album or the fourth and final single as the album cycle was different in each country.
Keri Hilson was on a roll over in NZ as this became her biggest hit over there thanks to how much good will she had following her breakthrough with Timbaland from two years prior, here she recruits Kanye West and Ne-Yo for this song about how she's fallen for the person she's singing to (likely Ne-Yo since he takes up quite a lot of time on this song.) It would be her final hit outside of her native America.
This is the last hit that Mary J Blige was able to achieve anywhere in the world, although it appears that this was the big hit off her 2005 effort the Breakthrough and not her cover of "One" with U2 like it was here in Australia (at least it was on our digital charts.) I guess the kiwis wanted to hear an RNB ballad over her collaborating with one of the biggest bands of the 80's around this time.
This was the only hit that Fat Joe had over here in Australia, I think it's mostly due to the "What's love got to do with it" interpolation on the chorus as well as it being another "thugs need love too anthem" which was becoming increasingly popular throughout the world back in the day. It even has Ashanti on the chorus which I guess was meant to reassure audiences that she wasn't exclusively for Ja Rule when it comes to hip hop collaborations.
This was the one and only hit from the Plain white T's, an American band who originally released this track the previous year to deafening silence only for it to pick up momentum this year for whatever reason. I guess it was popular due to the indie sphere becoming more mainstream now that the digital storefront was supporting music that wasn't centred around reality TV.
For nine years, this was the only hit that Train had outside their native America as none of their other singles from the 00's managed to become a hit for them outside of the Billboard charts. That of course changed in 2010 when "Hey soul sister" got them out of the one hit wonder bin in most parts of the world, although I'm sure many people would rather this be their one and only hit in retrospect.
This was the second hit from JT's second solo album Futuresex/Lovesounds, an album that seemed to want to make JT into a sex symbol which it arguably succeeded in doing given how successful it and the singles were in addition to him being considered one of the sexiest men of the decade. This was also the song which made T.I a household name here in Australia due to his guest verse being memorable.
We've finally arrived at what many people consider to be the quintessential track from Green day as it doubles as both a breakup anthem as well as a song attacking the American political climate of the mid 00's. For me, I always felt this song was a rip off of Avril Lavigne's "My happy ending" mostly for the "oh oh's" feeling ripped from that song on this track, although many have argued it working better on here.
This is another song I remember hearing on the radio quite a bit back in the day, evidently it was written for the Pink Panther remake which had Beyonce costar with Steve Martin that divides audiences to this day (I like it but understand why people don't.) Apparently, there was a version with a rap verse from Slim Thug that became popular in NZ and her native America that was released on Destiny's Child's greatest hits album.
Although his earlier song outranked this when it comes to their respective chart runs, this second single from Hot shot was actually the biggest hit of Shaggy's career in Australia likely due to it sampling both "Angel of the morning" (specifically Juice Newton's cover from 1981) and "The joker" from Steve Miller. It's also the second hit that he had with Rayvon who previously collaborated with him on his cover of "In the summertime."
This was the debut single for the Pussycat dolls, a former burlesque troupe turned girl band who scored massive success with this track where even upon its initial release I remembered being widely mocked for how overconfident the lyrics are. I'm not that familiar with the Busta Rhymes feature as they never played it on the radio back in the day, I'm guessing to promote the song as a sexual fantasy for those attracted to the band members would have.
It took a while for Maroon 5's debut album to find success worldwide, in fact I remember hearing the lead single "Harder to breathe" on the radio from the previous year quite a bit back in the day, so you can imagine my surprise when I found out it was a flop for them even in their native America years later. Their second single is also much lower on this list than I otherwise would've predicted if I'm being honest.
This was the only hit from American RNB singer Mario Winans anywhere in the world, I'm guessing because it samples the Enya track "Boadicea" which is why she has a featuring credit on this track despite not having any vocals on here. Another featured artist was P Diddy who provides a guest verse to reinforce why Mario doesn't want anything more to do with the person he's singing about.
These guys already had massive success in their native America throughout the decade, however it was this lead single to their third album which finally allowed them to have a hit internationally largely due to this type of emo rock still being very popular in the mainstream when it was initially released. It did take a while for this to become a hit here in Australia, however once it did it was a massive success.
This was another song that was impacted by Sony tampering with the release schedule, trust me, this one and only hit from the Hoobastank was inescapable here in Australia as I'm sure it was throughout the rest of the world back in the day. I'm not sure why this was the song to catch on worldwide as the rest of their catalogue would've fitted in nicely with the rock scene equally as well as this did.
This was all set to become another flop for Enrique Iglesias given how it had such a slow climb to the top of the charts worldwide, however it received a sudden boost when it was chosen as the unofficial theme song to the 9/11 attacks as it would play over news coverage of the aftermath of the disaster. This allowed the album it serves as the lead single for to become a massive success for the Latin crooner.
Given how two of the members had released highly successful albums between the trio's third and fourth album, the fact this was able to pick up where the singles from Survivor left off three years prior is impressive as you'd think fans would've gravitated away from the group by this point. Indeed, Destiny fulfilled was their final album as a unit as they would go their separate ways after its album cycle was done.
This is the one and only hit from the RNB duo Gnarls Barkley, a duo best known for its member Cee Lo Green who had a huge solo hit with "F U" in 2010 and for appearing as the Mummy in the Hotel Transylvania franchise (and a bunch of social media posts I won't get into here.) This feels like a throwback to the 70's which how rich the soul sound is even compared to the songs that inspired it.
I don't know why this was only relegated as a sleeper hit here in Australia given how well Lenny Kravitz did down under throughout the 90's, heck I'm willing to bet this only stuck around as long as it did on our charts due to the success of his greatest hits package this serves as a bonus track on.
This was the sequel to "My humps" that apparently everyone was asking for back in the day as it once again has Fergie brag about how hot she is and Will I am validating her ego with his own verse, I guess she at least has more of a presence on here which justifies this being a solo single from her.
It seems odd that Jack Johnson never had a hit outside his native America (although he was plenty successful with his albums) considering this guy managed to score a massive hit worldwide with this track that feels ripped straight from the folk singer's discography. Evidently this guy had incorporated hip hop in his earlier work which perhaps explains why his only international hit was as stripped back as this.
OK fair warning that I'm no fan of Taylor Swift, this will be hard for me to contain when I'm covering the 2010's given how she dominated the music scene, however I will admit that my dislike towards her music comes from her later material and not on her earlier work which is largely inoffensive at this stage of her career. Here in particular we have her imagining herself as a Disney princess which no doubt helped her find an audience outside her native America.
This was a random hit that Nelly had this year about grillz, for the uninitiated, those are the fake teeth that rappers and other celebrities tended to wear throughout the decade, meaning Nelly made a song specifically about how he finds women wearing the mouthpieces to be sexy. I guess enough people also found the mouth gear to be sexy which is why it was a massive hit for him worldwide.
It looked like there would only be one hit from Linkin Park's debut album as the second single "Crawling" failed to become a hit here like their debut from the previous year, however this third single from the album picked up the slack as it became their first hit in their native America likely due to it being an emo rock track rather than the nu metal that the rest of the album was.
This was the world's introduction to Kesha, I bring this up because by the end of the year, Kesha reportedly begged her label to remove her credit on this track which tells you how embarrassed she was to be on here in the first place. I guess she didn't like how she helped Flo Rida interpolate the Dead or alive track from the 80's that this song is named after, although audiences this year certainly did.
It appears we Aussies gave these guys a second hit after all (technically third as their earlier entry was a two for one deal here) this time they had the full endorsement of Nelly who provided a guest rap for the RNB group at the height of his popularity which no doubt was what enticed us Aussies to make this a sleeper hit for the group.
Although this came bundled with her earlier entry on this list here in Australia, ARIA was kind enough to count this as a separate entry on their charts which allows me to include both of these songs on this list. I get why this song was a hit for Beyonce even though I personally find it irritating to listen to, it's about how being single isn't a bad thing and that one shouldn't feel pressured into settling down when they're not ready.
This wasn't nearly as successful internationally as it was on Billboard where it became 50 cent's second consecutive chart topper, and in case you were wondering, yes there are exactly 21 questions asked in this song (even if some of them were asked more than once.) I think the real appeal of this track was having Nate Dogg on the chorus who just like on "Regulate" nine years prior, delivers a killer chorus.
This is the third and final hit that T.I had outside of America, although I feel that this would've been a hit regardless given how it has Justin Timberlake on the chorus who seemed to be a cheat code when it came to artists (specifically rappers) throughout the decade scoring a massive hit. This cheat code of his expired once the 2010's rolled around as he didn't have much success then even as a lead artist.
This was the third Billboard chart topper in a row that Usher had in his native America, it's easy to see why as it continues the theme of him airing out his dirty laundry from his relationship with Chilli from TLC where he admits that he screwed up in the relationship. It was a bit of a surprise hit here in Australia given how it didn't even chart over in NZ where Usher was infinitely more popular.
This often gets lost in the shuffle for the singles from Mariah Carey's comeback album, mainly because it wasn't a huge number one hit in her native America like "We belong together" or "Don't forget about us" was nor as memorable as "It's like that" despite that being her lowest charting song on the album worldwide. It could also be that a much more famous song with this name has since come out over the years.
This is the censored version of one of the more controversial songs to come out of the decade, replace the word love with f**k and you'll start to see why as that's the only change made in the song which has some macabre production to juxtapose with Akon's voice. Snoop Dogg is also on here to provide a verse which is also creepier if you're looking at the censored version.
This was the penultimate hit that Akon had as a lead artist here in Australia, although he would still have a ton of hits moving forward as a featured artist for the likes of David Guetta and even the king of pop himself before his tragic death in 2009. This was a bit of a contrast to his other big hit this year given how this is him being remorseful about a relationship ending rather than wanting to force his love on someone.
Following the success that he had with Dru hill in his native America, Sisqo left the group to pursue a solo career which was off to a good start with this track about how he fell in love with a woman based on her thongs (a bikini bottom for my non-American readers.) Some have accused this song of being sexist as it glorifies the objectification of women based on a piece of clothing, usually by people who do the same thing to men.
I guess the kiwis had a bit more of a soft spot for this lead single to Puddle of Mudd's breakthrough album than we Aussies did, the trade-off of course being that "She hates me" was a huge flop over there despite it being a massive success over here the following year. Still, they have the comfort of giving them a hit with this ballad about coping with domestic violence that people still have fond memories of.
This is one of the last RNB songs to have its released delayed here in Australia compared to the rest of the world, although the wait for its release was certainly worth it as it became much bigger here than it did even in her native America. I'm guessing this was due to it being about her showing concern towards her partners feelings for their ex and detailing why their relationship with them bothers her.
It took her nearly a decade, but Britney Spears was finally able to have a second Billboard chart topper with this lead single to her album Circus likely due to her embracing the sexual nature of herself which she does tenfold in the music video. At the risk of coming off as mean towards this track, I have to say that this is one of the most repetitive songs to ever become a success as the title is repeated over forty times throughout its runtime.
I guess this was meant to be Fergie's attempt at creating a power fantasy for the working-class population for what it's like to have the lifestyle of the rich and famous, it paid off given how this was a massive hit for her and would've been her biggest solo hit were it not for her earlier entry on this list stealing that title from this track. The song is perhaps best known for Fatman scoop's infamous line "if you ain't got no money take your broke ass home."
You better believe Soulja boy wasn't a one hit wonder here in Australia, although he nearly was as this struggled to find an audience amongst us Aussies given how much of a novelty his earlier entry was back in the day. Naturally this was a far bigger hit for the rapper in NZ and his native America.
This is a song that was a massive success here in Australia but was ineligible to chart on ARIA due to not having a physical release here in Australia, fortunately this wasn't an issue in NZ as they had fully incorporated digital sales onto their charts by the time it was released as a single over there. I feel this song's placement on this list is an accurate representation of how popular it was here in Australia given its overplay back in the day.
This was a song that showcases a more sexually provocative side of Justin Timberlake given how it has lyrics alluding to BDSM which I'm surprised were unedited for the radio back in the day. It was an easy hit for the former N sync member given this was back in the day where former child stars moved into adulthood in the most sexual (and some might say tacky) was possible.
I did mention on the NZ side of this site that this was a sleeper hit here in Australia, that was certainly the case as despite it barely cracking our top twenty back in the day, it managed to become one of the bigger hits at the turn of the millennium largely due to the surprise success this achieved in Lonestar's native America.
I guess the first Bad boys film spawned not one but two big hits that took the world by storm in 1995 (those being "Shy guy" and "I've got a little something for you") so it makes sense that the sequel would also have a massive hit with this posse cut from Nelly, his protegee Murphy Lee and P Diddy of all people. It was a massive hit worldwide despite criticisms involving the chanting on the track and the police siren in the production.
It turns out this lasted for quite some time on our charts despite it not being much of a hit for Chamillionaire (I can't even with that name) so much so that it earns itself a spot on this list even though I doubt many Aussies remember this being a hit here back in the day. Naturally this was the best the rapper can do given how he's a one hit wonder even in his own homeland.
Well, this is a song that's become divisive in recent years, mainly because like "Justify my love" from exactly a decade prior, the song is too Avant Garde for most mainstream audiences who likely feel alienated with how Madonna experimented with her sound on this track. I guess part of this song's success at the time comes from the music video which introduced the world to Sacha Baron Cohen's character Ali G.
This is another song that's relatively low on this list due to shenanigans with the ARIA charts of the 00's, however I've gone on long enough about how dodgy they were on this site already, so I won't dwell on it here. This was the theme to the Baz Lurhman flick Moulin rouge which was a jukebox musical that revived the musical genre in the mainstream after many years of it being restricted to Disney flicks and their knockoffs.
This was the only hit for the underage American southern rapper J-Kwon, a hit that sparked a bit of minor controversy as it opens with a song about how teen drinking was bad but he didn't care because he had a fake ID. Naturally this line was cut from the radio version of this song which left audiences with the counting gimmick he had throughout the song, it's about all I remember from it if I'm being honest.
It looks like we Aussies weren't as interested in making the Game a household name like the rest of the world was given how this is the only appearance he'll be making on this side of my site. Even then, this was one of the many entries from 2005 on this list that only made the cut dure to a lack of competition rather than it being pushed aside for fiercer competition.
This was the fifth hit in a row that Fergie achieved from the Dutchess, I think this is about how she feels like she's clumsy given how I've heard this song hundreds of times back in the day and could never made out what she was saying. I think the song was a hit for the music video which seems to depict her as part of a popup book which audiences found amusing back in the day.
This was the other collaboration that the Game had with 50 cent this year; it was the first of the two collaborations they released which no doubt led to the success of their earlier entry on this list as well as the Game's own album. While they were taking the world by storm with these songs, they were fighting with each other over who was more popular in the mainstream due to both their albums being released at the same time.
This was the lead single to BEP's (that's Black Eyed Peas for short) second album with Fergie, and it seems that she had more creative control over this project as we have her providing a chorus to how each of the original members would treat her which is further emphasised with the music video of them being in a reality show where she was the prize the members was trying to win.
There was a five-year gap between Maroon 5's debut and sophomore album, although it didn't feel as long given how most people didn't even know about the band until 2003 when "Harder to breathe" began making the airwaves from their debut. Here we are with the lead single to their second album which was a much more instantaneous hit for the band worldwide due to their popularity being as strong as ever.
This is the only other hit that Eve had as a lead artist in her career, although she would score two more hits after his as the guest rapper with Gwen Stefani and Guy Sebastian of all people. In the meantime, we have this collaboration with Alicia Keys fresh off the success of her debut album who provides her a chorus about how even female thugs need love too, the male equivalent worked for Ja rule after all.
There was no escaping 50 cent during the midpoint of the decade as he managed to rack up hit after hit both as a lead artist as well as with his features, most notably with the Game who won't be appearing on this list despite scoring two hits worldwide with his hip hop numbers. I feel the production is why this song was a hit as it's by far the most recognisable of producer Scott Storch from his catalogue.
This was back when Kanye West and Jay-Z were friends (boy how times have changed) as such we have them working off each other on this track while Rihanna provides them a chorus to connect their verses with each other. Jay-Z never had a hit on his own here in Australia as he always needed the assistance of someone else (usually these two or his future wife Beyonce) to make it big down under.
This was originally a flop for Nelly here in Australia due to his album not making many waves in our music scene despite its international success, however it got a second chance when it was featured in the film Scary movie 2 due to it being made by the Wayan brothers who were known for using drugs in their films and this song having a ton of drug references throughout its runtime (which were all censored on the radio of course.)
This was meant to be the middle ground between P!nk's earlier material and her second album given how it's a hybrid of a pop rock jam and an RNB joint to bridge her early fans with the music she wanted to make. It paid off for her as the rest of her career saw her moving in a rock direction to the point where her first album feels like a complete black sheep from the rest of her catalogue.
This was the second and final hit that Missy Elliott had here in Australia as well as being the other track on this list where she had a hit with Ciara given how the RNB singer is on here to not only provide a chorus for the rapper but also provide her own rap verse to try her hand at a hip hop track. It was a massive hit for the pair and suggested the possibility of them making an album together that never came to be.
It seems weird that this would be the bigger hit for 50 cent here in Australia than his second Billboard chart topper "21 questions" mainly because this was a song about how as he puts it is a motherf**king pimp which is why you shouldn't mess with him. I guess we Aussies preferred him being confrontational rather than him being a romantic.
This was the other big hit that Kings of Leon had from their album Only by the night, it was also their one and only hit in their native America albeit months after it was a success internationally for the alternative band. I'm not sure why they weren't able to retain their popularity going into the new decade even in places like Australia where rock music still has its place in the mainstream.
This is one of two collaborations that J-Lo made with LL Cool J throughout the decade, the other was with "Control myself" three years later which was a hit in most parts of the world but not here in Australia. Here the duo is in a relationship that's falling apart and how she feels like that her pride is all she has left, although in the chorus, he points out that she no longer has that either.
This was the first hit that Outkast managed to achieve outside of their native America, I'm guessing because people took an interest in the song's subject matter about how the narrator is apologising to the mother of his girlfriend and how he impregnated her during the relationship. Both rappers take a different approach to the song with Andre being more sympathetic whilst Big Boi isn't as such.
This was the lead single to Eminem's album the Eminem show, an album that's meant to be a display for all of the rapper's thought process given how his previous two albums had been criticised for the way it influenced the youth of the day. This is far more light-hearted compared to the rest of the album (complete with a wacky music video) however it does fit in the theme of him making art and not propaganda on the album.
This was meant to be Christina Aguilera's self-empowerment anthem; it was a massive hit for her due to it coming from an album where she strips herself of the pop machine that made her a household name during her time with Disney and thus makes it more genuine from her than if she had of released it earlier in her career. I get the feeling this also would've been even bigger here if digital downloads were legal at the time.
To think this was originally commissioned for the terrible (in my opinion at least) film adaptation of the Daredevil comics starring Ben Affleck, specifically for the scene where Elektra Natchios (played by Jennifer Garner) is training in her mansion with sandbags. At least the song was effective in the scene it was used in as it single handedly launched Evanescence into the mainstream as their debut single.
Although this can easily be seen as a typical breakup song (which is highly unusual coming from a boy band) this was actually a diss track towards the group's former manager who had screwed them over with their royalties during the early phase of their career. Although they had a big hit here in Australia the previous year with "I want you back," this was the song that finally put them in the league of the boy band wars here.
It appears the kiwis passed up "Hella good" this year in favour of this third single from No Doubt's album Rock steady as this was a flop here in Australia due to the success of that song over here, I guess they preferred listening to Gwen dial it back on this track as opposed to her rocking out to that track back in the day. Her final hit with the band would be equally as popular in both countries the following year.
There were no signs of these girls slowing down in the music industry as their second single managed to become a massive worldwide hit for them, this time it's with one of their ballads which showcases a more restrained side of them which I'm sure also titillated their audiences the same was as their other songs did.
This is a song that's more well known nowadays for the behind the scenes drama it caused as two of the original members of Destiny's child only found out they were fired and replaced from the band when the music video was unveiled this year, I guess that explains why it took them so long to release a second single from their sophomore album given that "Bills bills bills" was a Billboard chart topper for the quartet.
This will be Busta Rhymes one of only two appearances on the Australian side of my site as the rapper never had much success here for some reason, even so this isn't much of a hip hop track as the rapper instead sings on this song along with Mariah Carey who was still very much cancelled around this time due to her erratic behaviour around the time she starred in her first film Glitter.
This song was originally featured in Coyote ugly in a scene where the main lead realises she needed to perform the songs she wrote in order to land her dream job of being a professional songwriter, I guess enough people were impressed with a song that was meant to be little more than a jam session that the band in question the Calling were given a record deal where they were able to release it in the real world this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment