A culture of music that brought graffiti artists, DJ promoters (or “MCs”), and house parties moved to the car bumping, club dancing and literally making your “hip” hop. The “Hyphy” movement in the Bay Area of California, gave the West Coast a flavor that made people “do whatever when your dancing”, according to Artisan News interviewing E40 about the culture. “Screwed & Chopped”, pioneered by DJ Screw, is another subgenre that made a “Texas-originated” twist to a global style to many artists like David Banner, Bun B, and Paul Wall. As the subgenres of hip hop breaded life, so did more artists. Artists like Lil’ Jon getting “crunk” to Rick Ross riding to “Maybach” music added more dimensions to this culture. The flow, direction, and meaning to each song, portrays an image that fuses into a culture that’s impacts the listener. You thought spinning on your head was cool? Hip hop “Cranked Dat Soulja Boy”, “Leaned Back”, and “Krumped” its way to more phases of style all over the world. The past ten years changed the way we see hip hop today. Here are my top 10 rap/hip hop songs of the decade.
10. B.O.B – Outkast (2000). The name and style speaks for itself. Andre 3000 and Big Boi’s first single off their fourth album, “Stankonia”, created a high-tempo, southern-styled, and funky mood to bring out their identity as a group. With the high-tempo, the group still kept it flow throughout the song with the message “bombs over Bagdad”. Pitchfork Media, a music webzine, ranked this song #1 on the Top 500 songs of 2000.
9. What Would You Do – City High (2001). A question that sounds so simple, made an impact in the urban areas all over the country. The message of a single mother going through poverty and stress with the thought of selling their body on the street makes this song more relatable to all people that are going through trials and tribulation. This single was the hip hop/R&B; trio’s most succesful song being produced by Wyclef Jean, which boosted the song to go #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
8. Lose Yourself – Eminem (2002). Supposedly made for the “8 Mile” soundtrack, Eminem didn’t lose anything at all with this song. Not only an Academy Award winning song to a great movie, but symbolized Eminem’s “come up” as a rapper. The motivating lyrics and passionate delivery of Eminem influenced the whole world acknowledging opportunities and taking advantage of them.
7. In Da Club – 50 Cent (2003). “Go shorty! It’s your birthday!” is probably the most common phrase used to remember this club banger. The first single off his 2003 debut album, “Get Rich or Die Tryin'”, earned multiple Grammy Award nominations and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) confirmed platinum six times.
6. Lean Back – Terror Squad (2004). No need to sweat in a club; just lean back! This Grammy nominated summer smash was a hit single on Fat Joe’s “True Story” album and exploded clubs and parties all over the country. The hit featured Terror Squad’s female rapper Remy Ma, which gave her the Best Female Collaboration award in The Source Hip Hop Music Awards in 2004.
5. Diamonds From Sierra Leone – Kanye West (2005). Kanye West used a sample from the James Bond film, “Diamonds Are Forever”, to create this Grammy award winning song. The song emulates the image of West African nations mining conflict diamonds brought more meaning than just the use of “bling-bling. The song was also remixed with Jay-Z and lyrically brought more of the issue into the song.
4. Kick, Push – Lupe Fiasco (2006). This storytelling song kicked and pushed the Chicago native to stardom. The unique concept of skateboarding grinded up to a Grammy nomination in 2006. The first single off his debut album, “Food & Liquor”, brought out his urban lyrics in breeding his label “1st and 15th” Entertainment.
3. Crank That – Soulja Boy (2007). Probably the biggest dance of 2007, The Grammy nominated song rose Soulja Boy’s career beyond the ringtones and digital downloads. The song brought out a “YouTube” domination of many views and new dances (the “Roosevelt” and “Birdwalk” included in his album).
2. Lollipop – Lil Wayne feat. Static Major (2008). The New Orleans native used his auto-tune vocals to start off his sixth album, “Tha Carter III. The single was four times platinum according to the RIAA. It featured Static Major, who died a few weeks before the release of the single. This song, including “A Milli” and “Got Money”, went Top 10 on the Billboard charts in 2008.
1. Empire State of Mind – Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys (2009). This New York anthem brought life to the state as both Brooklyn and Manhattan native. Currently, the song is being played all over radio stations and the anthem in the new Yankees Stadium. It made Alicia Key’s on top of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and fourth number-one singles, according to Billboard.com.
Cited Sources:
www.artisannews.com
www.billboard.com
www.pitchfork.com
www.riaa.com
