10. Britney Spears, “Oops!…I Did It Again”
It’s impossible to think about “Oops!…I Did It Again” without recalling its companion music video: the red, latex bodysuit; the Moon Man, Titanic’s Heart of the Ocean jewel — oh my! Britney Spears’ early singles often explored doomed romances. But with “Oops!” she was back in control as the heartbreaker, not the heartbroken. The song was a cultural reset — and with its killer pop hooks and flirtatious chorus, it earned Spears her third Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Spears may have broken some hearts then, but it didn’t stop them from coming back for more. – I.K.
9. At the Drive-In, “One Armed Scissor”
“One Armed Scissor” moves like a rickety carnival roller coaster — at any moment it might fall apart and send you to hell — and that’s part of the thrill! The lead single from Relationship of Command, one of the most revered alternative records of the last 20 years, “Scissor” has become something of a mythic cut, especially since the band broke up only months after the manic track earned ATDI their first real radio airplay. Sharing its name with the Canadian version of a vodka/Red Bull and loaded with dense, vaguely digital lines (“A neutered is the vastness / Hollow vacuum, check the oxygen tanks”), it’s one of many Command songs that’s been key in post-hardcore’s development over the last two decades. Title Fight, Touché Amoré, La Dispute and a million more don’t exist — at least not in the same way — without Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Omar Rodríguez-López and Jim Ward. – B.O.
8. Modest Mouse, “3rd Planet”
Modest Mouse’s first major-label album, The Moon & Antarctica, had many fans worried that the band might sound too polished. Instead, the record preserved all their weirdness and recklessness, distilling that essence in moments of aching abandon and quiet restraint alike across songs about human life, death, the universe and all of its cold darkness. “3rd Planet” opens the record with its thesis: “Everything that keeps me together is falling apart / I’ve got this thing that I consider my only art of fucking people over.” In each of its movements, it marches through cycles of planetary evolution and personal tragedy, each event at the beginning or end of a world landing without resolution. It’s the record’s first question of the human desire to keep manufacturing meaning after world-altering change and grief, marveling at the mechanisms by which it continues to lurch forward thereafter. – S.F.
7. Deftones, “Change (In the House of Flies)”
Chino Moreno watches someone turn into a fly, captures them, takes them home, pulls off their wings, laughs about it, and then hands the wingless fly a gun — a very small gun, surely — to blow him away. The metaphor is obvious, right? Okay, fine, the lyrics to “Change” can mean almost anything (and Moreno has said as much), but the assailing, hypnotic single — Deftones’ highest-charting track ever — remains a cornerstone of the dream-metal giants’ mesmerizing catalog. If 1997’s Around The Fur didn’t sell you on Deftones as a band that would transcend the nü-metal craze and maintain rock relevance into 2020, its accompanying LP, White Pony, should’ve done the job. – B.O.
6. Aaliyah, “Try Again”
By the turn of the decade, Aaliyah had elevated from R&B singer to budding movie star. And she brought Timbaland — her lucky music charm — along for the ride. The result was “Try Again,” the Grammy-nominated lead single from the soundtrack of Romeo Must Die (in which she also starred). When Timbaland declares, “It’s been a long time, we shouldn’t have left you / Without a dope beat to step to” on the Rakim-interpolating opening seconds, he isn’t playing around. The anthemic lyrics, Aaliyah’s effortless cool factor and Timbaland’s fuzzy, acid house-inspired synths propelled “Try Again” to their first Hot 100 chart-topper. If not for her tragic death just a year later, we could only envision her earning more. – B.G.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=nEF_-IcnQC4
5. Common, “The Light”
While most rappers were flaunting their tough-guy status, Common opted to test the decade’s emerging new sound with the heartwarming “The Light,” the second single from his fourth album, Like Water for Chocolate. The Bobby Caldwell-sampling neo-soul track reads more like a poetry slam than a classic rap song, which makes sense as Common wanted to tribute his then-girlfriend Erykah Badu. “The Light” has even grown into a passing of the rap romance torch, with Jay-Z adapting the classic opening lines (“I never knew a luh, luh-luh, a love like this / Gotta be somethin’ for me to write this / Queen, I ain’t seen you in a minute”) for 2018’s Everything Is Love’s “713” — a lovestruck duet with his soulmate, Beyoncé. – B.G.
4. D’Angelo, “Untitled (How Does It Feel)”
As bubblegum pop and rambunctious nü-metal fought to take over the millennium, an innovative new sound was emerging: neo-soul. And D’Angelo was the leader of the pack. “Untitled,” the hit single from his sophomore album Voodoo, dared to explore what was occurring on the opposite side of the bedroom door. In the spirit of Prince, the song mimics the art of lovemaking: starting off sensual and measured before ending in a wailing climax. But one cannot discuss “Untitled” without mentioning the video, whose intimate close-ups revealing a chiseled (and very nude) D’Angelo propelled him to sex icon status. The legacy of “Untitled” has strengthened since its inception, as seen with Beyoncé’s “Rocket” in 2013, Miguel’s effortless sensuality and the entirety of Justin Timberlake’s falsetto range. Call it the power of the pelvis. – B.G.
3. Radiohead, “Everything in Its Right Place”
A windswept sonic cathedral of Prophet-5 synthesizer chords, “Everything In Its Right Place” presents an intriguing duality. The music’s effect is both an embrace and a smothering, a swirling balm, a fluorescent prison. Thom Yorke’s processed, mantra-like vocals deepen this impression; from moment to moment, he’s adrift in an inescapable tortured despair or ecstatic in a half-sarcastic way. Yorke’s emotions seem beamed in from a different, worse dimension — a reality not dissimilar to ours, corroded and cybernetic, alluring, damned. – R.C.
2. Eminem, “Stan”
By May 2000, Eminem was well on his way to becoming the world’s most popular rapper. That doesn’t mean he was happy about it. While The Marshall Mathers LP’s first single, “The Real Slim Shady,” entered the pop culture lexicon for Em’s rapid-fire delivery, mocking pop songs and noteworthy (hilarious in hindsight) celebrities of the time, another cut ended up having a more permanent impact: “Stan” — a heavy song about the perils of diehard fandom, with a somber beat that samples Dido’s “Thank You” — was a wicked curveball. From its gradual build, intense storyline and surprising twist, the track showcased Eminem’s lyrical depth, proving he was much more than just a shock rapper. If only fans of today listened to the message of that cautionary tale. – Daniel Kohn
1. Outkast, “B.O.B.”
In five minutes, OutKast managed to squeeze in every ounce of mania the world felt at the unpredictable start of Y2K. For a song boldly titled “B.O.B.” (or “Bombs Over Baghdad”), it begins suspiciously unassuming before Andre 3000 counts down to a sonic whiplash. He and Big Boi rap with a head-spinning fervor that the beat, filled with thunderous gospel cries and a wailing electric guitar a la Jimi Hendrix, runs to catch up with. The pair didn’t intend for the song as a political statement: “Baghdad” was meant to mimic the ghettoes of their native Atlanta. But as 2003 approached, “B.O.B.” transformed into a battle cry against the Iraq War — and a middle finger to then-President Bush’s administrative reign. And with the November election looming over our heads, it might just be time to resurrect “B.O.B.” as our 2020 anthem. – B.G.
