JoleneDolly Parton
Jolene
1973 · From Jolene
Dolly pleading with her rival rather than fighting her, written the same day as "I Will Always Love You."
★ 9.3
The Songs canon
Sourced and sung.
Every song chosen by hand, with the recording to play it.
Browse all 2,393 songs or filter by genre, subject, artist, and year.
Browse all 2,393 songs or filter by genre, subject, artist, and year.
Sweet Home Alabama
1974 · From Second Helping
An answer record to Neil Young's "Southern Man," riding Ed King's riff and a name-check for the Muscle Shoals Swampers.
★ 7.8
Protect Ya Neck
1993 · From Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Eight MCs, a beat RZA scrapped and rebuilt, and a 12-inch the group pressed themselves before any label would.
★ 7.7
Sucker MC's
1983 · From Run-D.M.C.
An Oberheim drum machine, a few scratches, and two voices. Everything before it suddenly sounded old school.
★ 7.6
EtherNas
Ether
2001 · From Stillmatic
Ron Browz's beat, handed over before he knew its target, and a release date set on Jay-Z's birthday.
★ 7.5
Insane in the Brain
1993 · From Black Sunday
A diss aimed at Chubb Rock, by B-Real's account, over a squealing hook DJ Muggs still won't explain.
★ 7.2
You Belong With Me
2009 · From Fearless
Banjo, fiddle and mandolin under a scene Swift wrote after overhearing a touring musician's phone call with his girlfriend.
★ 6.8
Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing ta Fuck Wit
1994 · From Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
RZA cut it at Firehouse Studio on almost no budget, Method Man co-produced, and the chorus became the Clan's motto.
★ 6.8
South BronxBoogie Down Productions
South Bronx
1986 · From Criminal Minded
James Brown horns looped, an answer to MC Shan's The Bridge, and hip hop's birthplace claimed for the Bronx.
★ 6.7
Ready Or Not
1996 · From The Score
Uncleared, the Enya sample nearly brought a lawsuit; she heard the finished record and chose to settle instead.
★ 6.6
My Philosophy
1988 · From By All Means Necessary
KRS-One produced it himself over a Stanley Turrentine loop, from the first album made after Scott La Rock's murder.
★ 6.5
RawBig Daddy Kane
Raw
1987 · From Long Live the Kane
Marley Marl on the beat, Kane's debut twelve-inch in 1987, and a rapid-fire delivery that reset the bar.
★ 6.5
The Choice Is Yours
1991
An upright bass loop, a playground chant for a hook, and a remix that so eclipsed the original nobody plays it.
★ 6.3
The Boy Is MineBrandy
The Boy Is Mine
1998
Brandy got the idea from a Jerry Springer love triangle, and Darkchild's clipped beat held number one thirteen weeks.
★ 6.0
You Gots to Chill
1988 · From Strictly Business
More Bounce to the Ounce plus a Jungle Boogie sample, cut in West Babylon, and EPMD sounding utterly unhurried.
★ 6.0
Ego Trippin'Ultramagnetic MC's
Ego Trippin'
1986 · From Critical Beatdown
First record to lift the Synthetic Substitution break, which hip hop never stopped using, with Kool Keith rhyming deliberately off-beat.
★ 5.8
Hollaback Girl
2005
Courtney Love called her a cheerleader, so Stefani and the Neptunes built the taunt into pop's first million-selling download.
★ 5.7
Flava In Ya Ear
1994
Easy Mo Bee built that beat for Apache, who was on tour; Mack took it and made 1994's sparest hit.
★ 5.7
0 to 100/The Catch Up
2014
Boi-1da, Vinylz and Frank Dukes built the boast; Nineteen85 and 40 flip a James Blake sample for the reckoning.
★ 5.6
Don't Cha
2005
CeeLo Green produced it for Tori Alamaze first, and the Dolls took her taunt to number one in fifteen countries.
★ 4.6
The Tide is High
1967
Holt's rocksteady original for Duke Reid, White Rum Raymond on violin, and a chorus Blondie later took to number one.
★ 4.5
Bow DownWestside Connection
Bow Down
1996
Bud'da's beat, Ice Cube, Mack 10 and WC in formation, a West Coast declaration that topped the rap chart.
★ 4.1
Bang Bang
2014
Grande recorded it first and disliked her take; Jessie J took over, Minaj added a verse, all three stayed.
★ 3.2
Two Princes
1991
A video at Bethesda Fountain, a six-dollar hat, and a hook that pushed the album past five times platinum.
★ 3.0
Fuck Compton
1991
Ced-Gee of Ultramagnetic MCs built the track; a Bronx rapper aimed it at Compton and lit the coastal rivalry.
★ 2.9
Burning Heart
1985
Stallone commissioned it for Rocky IV, and Peterik and Sullivan answered with East-versus-West dread over a marching riff.
★ 2.8