Get Ur Freak On
2001
Timbaland set a tumbi melody over tabla and left Elliott acres of empty space to fill.
★ 8.5
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2001
Showing 49 songs from 2001
Last Nite
2001 · From Is This It
Built on the bones of Tom Petty's American Girl, which Petty confirmed without complaint, and recorded in Gordon Raphael's basement.
★ 7.7
Harder Better Faster StrongerDaft Punk
Harder Better Faster Stronger
2001 · From Discovery
Edwin Birdsong's Cola Bottle Baby, found in a record bin, vocoded into a mantra Kanye West later borrowed wholesale.
★ 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
Can't Get You Out of My HeadKylie Minogue
Can't Get You Out of My Head
2001
Dennis and Davis wrote it in three and a half hours, and Minogue committed after twenty seconds of the demo.
★ 7.5
Clint Eastwood
2001
Albarn built it on a melodica and an Omnichord's first preset; Del cut his verses in half an hour.
★ 7.4
In The EndLinkin Park
In The End
2001
Shinoda's piano figure under Bennington's chorus took nu metal to number two, and the RIAA finally certified it diamond.
★ 7.4
Izzo (H.O.V.A.)Jay-Z
Izzo (H.O.V.A.)
2001 · From The Blueprint
A Jackson 5 chop, an arena chant, and Jay-Z's first solo top ten, courtesy of a young Kanye West.
★ 7.3
Fallin'
2001
Two chords, one piano, and Keys writing and producing her own debut single straight to Song of the Year.
★ 7.0
New Slang
2001 · From Oh, Inverted World
Sub Pop pressed it as a one-off single in 2001; three years later Garden State made it a generational password.
★ 6.8
Family Affair (Mary J. Blige)
2001 · From No More Drama
Dre's instrumental sat titled Fragile for months before it was renamed Family Affair and took six weeks at number one.
★ 6.6
Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)Jay-Z
Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)
2001 · From The Blueprint
A Bobby Bland soul record from 1974, rebuilt by Kanye West, and Jay-Z sounding untouchable and unloved at the top.
★ 6.3
Let Me Blow Ya Mind
Eve and Gwen Stefani
2001
Ninety beats a minute, Dr. Dre and Scott Storch on the track, Gwen Stefani's hook, Eve at number two.
★ 6.3
The Middle
2001
Capitol dropped the band, Trombino produced on credit, and the drum pattern came straight off Tom Petty's You Wreck Me.
★ 6.2
Hard to Explain
2001 · From Is This It
Four feet of air between hi-hat and snare mic, and a drum machine sketch reborn as live New York rock.
★ 6.2
Island in the Sun
2001 · From Weezer (The Green Album)
Not planned for the Green Album until Ocasek fought for it, then Spike Jonze filmed the band among wild animals.
★ 6.1
Whenever, Wherever
2001
Panpipes, a charango, and Gloria Estefan rewriting Shakira's Spanish lyric in English; it hit number one in twenty-two countries.
★ 6.0
Survivor
2001
A radio host's joke about the lineup changes, flipped into a Grammy winner Beyonce largely wrote on a flight.
★ 6.0
Sweetness
2001
Capitol passed on the Clarity demo, then a dropped band self-funded Bleed American and made those wordless hooks stick.
★ 5.7
Lady Marmalade (Christina Aguilera)
2001
Four singers, one Rockwilder beat, and Missy Elliott turning a Labelle cover into 2001's best-selling single worldwide.
★ 5.6
Weapon of Choice
2001
Bootsy Collins doubled in both channels, a Sly Stone sample, and Christopher Walken dancing through a Los Angeles hotel lobby.
★ 5.5
First Date
2001
DeLonge wrote it after the band's manager complained the album had no feel-good song; a SeaWorld date supplied the rest.
★ 5.3
Ride Wit Me
2001
A DeBarge interpolation from 1982, Jay E producing, and Nelly making must be the money a national catchphrase.
★ 5.2
Rollout (My Business)
2001
Timbaland built the beat at Manhattan Center Studios, and Ludacris turned deflecting nosy questions into pure comic swagger.
★ 5.2
Move BitchLudacris
Move Bitch
2001
Mystikal barks the guest verse, Ludacris takes his first top ten, and 2003 antiwar marchers rewrote the chorus.
★ 5.2
Stay Together For The Kids
2001
DeLonge's parents divorced when he was eighteen; Finn produced, and the wrecking-ball video was reshot after September 11.
★ 5.0
Bleed American
2001
Capitol dropped them, so they paid for it themselves; that opening riff bought the whole gamble back.
★ 4.9
Short Skirt/Long Jacket
2001
DiFiore's trumpet lick, chords borrowed from Sweet Jane, and McCrea deadpanning a want ad for the ideal woman.
★ 4.9
Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)
2001
Monahan woke from a dream of his late mother, and Paul Buckmaster's strings carry the whole ache.
★ 4.8
Always on Time
2001
By Ja Rule's account he fished the beat out of Gotti's garbage; Ashanti's hook carried it to number one.
★ 4.6
The Luckiest
2001
Written for the comedy Loser, which cut the scene, and now the piano ballad people play at weddings.
★ 4.6
U Remind Me
2001
Cut at Tree Sound in Georgia with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis producing, it won Usher his first Grammy.
★ 4.4
Wish You Were Here (Incubus)
2001
Written late in the Malibu sessions on the street that gave the album its name, Boyd making stillness sound enormous.
★ 4.4
I'm Real
2001
A Yellow Magic Orchestra synth loop from 1978, reportedly cleared for Mariah Carey first, carries Lopez to number one.
★ 4.3
Hear You Me
2001
Trombino set it as a 6/8 waltz for two sisters who ran Weezer's fan club; never a single, sung everywhere.
★ 4.3
Area CodesLudacris
Area Codes
2001
Jazze Pha's beat, Nate Dogg on the hook, and a Rush Hour 2 single that maps boasting by telephone prefix.
★ 4.2
Love Don't Cost a Thing
2001
Ric Wake heard the demo, played it for Lopez, and both loved it; it went to number one in Britain.
★ 4.1
Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)
2001
Dallas Austin wrote it, produced it, played bass and keys, and slipped a Sinatra snippet under Cantrell's revenge.
★ 3.9
Hanging by a MomentLifehouse
Hanging by a Moment
2001
Wade wrote it in about five minutes, and it never hit number one yet finished 2001 as America's biggest single.
★ 3.3
It's Been Awhile
2001
Written in 1996 for an acoustic side project and shelved, it returned to spend twenty weeks atop Mainstream Rock.
★ 3.3