Back to Black
2006 · From Back to Black
Ronson cut it at Daptone with the Dap-Kings, sixties girl-group machinery rebuilt around a voice in ruins.
★ 7.9
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2006
Showing 38 songs from 2006
Rehab
2006 · From Back to Black
Cut live to tape at Daptone in Brooklyn with the Dap-Kings, and it took Record and Song of the Year.
★ 7.8
International Player's Anthem (I Choose You)
2006 · From Underground Kingz
A Willie Hutch loop left alone at the top, and Andre 3000's verse reportedly returned with the drums stripped off.
★ 7.6
SexyBack
2006 · From FutureSex / LoveSounds
Timberlake sang it in a distorted low register borrowed from Prince, and it held number one for seven weeks.
★ 7.0
Irreplaceable
2006
Ne-Yo pitched it as country, written with Shania Twain in mind; Beyoncé turned it into ten weeks at number one.
★ 6.8
When You Were Young
2006 · From Sam's Town
Twenty minutes for melody and title, by Flowers' account, and Flood and Moulder gave it Born to Run scale.
★ 6.7
You Know I'm No Good
2006 · From Back to Black
Ronson cut it at Daptone in Brooklyn with the Dap-Kings, Winehouse writing about infidelity and offering no apology.
★ 6.5
What You KnowT.I.
What You Know
2006
DJ Toomp turned a Roberta Flack interpolation into a synth fanfare, and T.I. won a Grammy for the performance.
★ 6.4
I Will Follow You Into the Dark
2006 · From Plans
One microphone, mono, caught during a studio break when the headphones failed, and Gibbard's breath before the first chord.
★ 6.3
Hips Don't Lie
Shakira and Wyclef Jean
2006
Jean and Duplessis rebuilt his 'Dance Like This' around Jerry Rivera's salsa trumpet line; number one in eighteen countries.
★ 6.2
Before He Cheats
2006
Tompkins and Kear wrote it hoping Gretchen Wilson would cut it; Underwood's version stayed sixty-four weeks on the Hot 100.
★ 6.1
Promiscuous
2006
Nicknamed the BlackBerry Song because every line could be text-messaged, and Timbaland trades verses instead of just producing.
★ 5.9
Hustlin'
2006
Produced by the Runners in 2005, it drew bids from Bad Boy and Murder Inc. before Def Jam won.
★ 5.8
Young Folks
2006
Yttling whistled a placeholder melody, ran it through tape delay, and kept it; Bergsman answers line for line.
★ 5.8
Blow the Whistle
2006
Lil Jon's beat never cracked the Hot 100, yet it became Too Short's signature, later borrowed by Drake and Saweetie.
★ 5.7
Dani California
2006 · From Stadium Arcadium
One character, tracked across three albums to her death, and a Frusciante outro built on Purple Haze.
★ 5.6
I Write Sins Not Tragedies
2006
Pizzicato cello, a title lifted from Douglas Coupland, and a circus wedding video that won Video of the Year.
★ 5.6
Chasing Cars
2006
Lightbody's father compared him to a dog chasing a car; a Grey's Anatomy finale sent it worldwide.
★ 5.4
Ridin'
2006
3.2 million ringtones sold, a Grammy won, and Play-N-Skillz's beat under a hook about racial profiling.
★ 5.3
Gravity
2006
Alicia Keys sings backing behind Pino Palladino's bass, and Mayer called it the most important song he has written.
★ 5.3
What Goes Around...Comes Around
2006 · From FutureSex / LoveSounds
Danja's guitar riff started it in the studio; Timberlake's third straight number one turns betrayal into slow burn.
★ 5.3
Phantom LimbThe Shins
Phantom Limb
2006 · From Wincing the Night Away
Mercer sketched a young lesbian couple stuck in a small town, then floated it on Chiccarelli's widescreen jangle.
★ 5.2
Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
2006
Never a single, still platinum: Mayer, Steve Jordan and Pino Palladino playing a relationship that both parties know is finished.
★ 5.0
Hey There Delilah
2006
Higgenson told a steeplechase runner he had written a song about her, then spent a year making it true.
★ 4.5
Waiting on the World to Change
2006
Steve Jordan on drums, Pino Palladino on bass, and a Grammy for a chorus about feeling politically stuck.
★ 3.9
Loud Pipes
2006
Stroud's guitar over Mast's programming, not a word sung, and a gold single that landed in MLB 07: The Show.
★ 3.7
Up Against the Wall
2006
Seven minutes long, never a single, self-produced by the trio, and the longest slow burn on Writer's Block.
★ 3.7
Smack That
2006
Akon met Eminem at an Obie Trice session, flew to Detroit's 54 Sound, and left with five weeks at number two.
★ 3.5
Too Little Too Late
2006
One week of downloads lifted it from sixty-six to three, a Hot 100 record, with JoJo just fifteen.
★ 3.2
What Hurts the Most
2006
Mark Wills cut it first in 2003; Dann Huff's production turned Steele and Robson's ballad into a country number one.
★ 3.1
I Wanna Love You
Akon and Snoop Dogg
2006
Plies cut the original verses; Akon swapped in Snoop Dogg, cleaned the title, and landed his first number one.
★ 3.1
(When You Gonna) Give It Up To Me
2006
Donovan Bennett's riddim, a Keyshia Cole verse added for the Step Up soundtrack, and a number three Hot 100 peak.
★ 2.8
Amsterdam (Peter, Bjorn and John)
2006
Track four on Writer's Block, self-produced by the trio, and its plainest study of being left behind.
★ 2.8
Walk It Out
2006
Atlanta radio had it in March 2006; by September the country did, and Outkast joined the remix.
★ 2.7
Life is a Highway (Rascal Flatts)
2006
Written after Cochrane's famine-relief trip to Africa, and reborn as a Pixar road anthem by Rascal Flatts.
★ 2.6
Make It Rain
2006
Fat Joe found no club record built around throwing money, so Scott Storch cut one at the Hit Factory.
★ 2.6
Buttons
2006
Polow da Don and Sean Garrett built it on Middle Eastern percussion, and Snoop Dogg turned up for the single.
★ 2.6
Snap Yo Fingers
2006
Finger snaps where the snare should be, E-40 riding shotgun, and Lil Jon proving crunk could whisper.
★ 2.1