Singles Rate: 2001 (Winner Announced!)

[jarrylf]

DAMN, I thought I gave it a 10! I still use it all the time

[RedSimba]

STCML's never been one of my favorites, but it's still a very good pop song. Really great remixes too!

[TwistedElegance™]

No update today. 

[hotboy06]

[Rock & Roll Hall of Game]

 

[VelvetKnowledge1814]

Late reply, but STCML is one of her best pop-heavy songs. I've seen it get some flack here and I don't understand it. Everything about the song makes me feel happy inside

[Rock & Roll Hall of Game]

Late reply, but STCML is one of her best pop-heavy songs. I've seen it get some flack here and I don't understand it. Everything about the song makes me feel happy inside

Never to late to speak some truth.com

[TwistedElegance™]

Tying with Janet for sixth position are the four self-appointed "badass chicks from the Moulin Rouge", Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mýa and P!nk. Steered by Missy Elliott and producer Rockwilder, the foursome struck gold with their version of the disco classic, first released by Labelle in the mid-'70s and later by All Saints in 1998, who took it to number one in the UK. After topping the Hot 100, it became the third song (behind Aaliyah's Try Again and Shaggy's Angel) to reach No. 1 solely on the strength of airplay. Like any hit collaboration, chemistry was key. And although the ladies had it, the making of the song was not without its tension. During P!nk's Behind the Music, she revealed Lady Marmalade to be the root of her long-standing contention with Aguilera. She recalled, "Ron Fair walked in, he didn't say hi to any of us and said, 'What's the high part? What's the most singing part? Christina's gonna take that part.' And I stood up and I said, 'Hi, how are you? So nice of you to introduce yourself. She will not be taking that part. I think that's what this fucking meeting is about.'" The animosity grew further when Aguilera hired Linda Perry for Stripped, after P!nk plucked her from obscurity during the creation of M!ssundaztood! P!nk, commenting on Aguilera's Beautiful, written by Perry, said, "I took it really personally when she started working with other artists, particularly artists I didn't like. I don't think imitation is the highest form of flattery, I think it's annoying." Still, the beef did nothing to hinder Lady Marmalade's chances at success, soaring to No. 1 in over ten countries and remaining to this day the longest-running No. 1 by an all-female collaboration on Billboard's Mainstream Top 40. It also held the record for longest-reigning number one single by a female rapper until Iggy Azalea's Fancy surpassed it in 2014. The song earned the ladies a Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, and also took home Video of the Year at the 2001 VMAs. Many rumours have surfaced over the years of a remake based on the 2001 version, with Rita Ora pushing for Azalea, Miley Cyrus and Charli XCX to join her. While Aguilera herself suggested last year that Cyrus and Nicki Minaj were two that directly came to mind.

The breakdown ~ Lady Marmalade reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 and places 6th with a voter average of 8.

• 10 - DarkStormSC, hotboy06, Jarrylf & TwistedElegance
• 9 - Stealth & __VelvetKnowledge1814
• 8 - kennita jo & LyricalLesson
• 7 - RedSimba
• 5 - Dammn Bu
• 2 - Game

[bu.]

I should have rated it higher 

[Rock & Roll Hall of Game]

I should have rated that lower  the most overrated orgy every 

[TwistedElegance™]

Rounding out our Top 5 is OutKast with Ms. Jackson. The second single lifted from their critically acclaimed fourth album, Stankonia, it became the duo's first No. 1 on the Hot 100, where it reigned for a single week in the first quarter of 2001. What began as an acoustic song was eventually reworked into a hip-hop apology from Andre 3000 to Kolleen Maria Wright, the mother of former partner Erykah Badu, and grandmother to the ex-couple's son, Seven. Years after the song's success, Wright commented that it was her favourite track on the album. When it came out, she played it over and over to make sure she wasn’t being insulted: “I didn’t know, because – with a lot of music during that time – I didn’t know where it was coming from, because that wasn’t my genre of music. After I listened to it and listened to it I said, 'Oh, this might not be too bad. This might be harmless; this might be apologetic, this may be okay.' So when I felt that it wasn’t being an insult or disrespectful, then I kind of settled into it." Badu also embraced Andre's redress, saying, "It was her (my mother's) chance at stardom. She got the airbrushed ‘Ms. Jackson’ shirt, the bobble-head doll. It was on her screensaver. She had the ringtone. That was her chance, so I just let it be." The song took on a more literal form when OutKast performed it at Janet Jackson's MTV Icon ceremony, reworking the lyrics to proclaim, "We love you Ms. Jackson." Its video was directed by F. Gary Gray, who prior to Ms. Jackson had directed brilliant hip-hop and R&B videos such as Ice Cube's It Was a Good Day, Babyface & Stevie Wonder's How Come, How Long and TLC's Waterfalls. He would also work with Andre 3000 again on 2005's Be Cool, the sequel to Get Shorty. Ms. Jackson would be the song to break OutKast internationally, reaching the Top 5 in over ten countries. In 2002 the song won the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, beating the likes of Ja Rule, Jay-Z and P. Diddy.

The breakdown ~ Ms. Jackson reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 and places 5th with a voter average of 8.36.

• 10 - Jarrylf, Stealth & TwistedElegance
• 9 - hotboy06, kennita jo, RedSimba & __VelvetKnowledge1814
• 8 - Dammn Bu, DarkStormSC & LyricalLesson
• 2 - Game

[RedSimba]

I remember when it came out and the radio DJ announced "Ms. Jackson," I initially thought it was a brand new Janet song.  Still a great song tho -- OutKast really came with it

[Rock & Roll Hall of Game]

Annoying song that's not about Janet. I rated it too high 

[TwistedElegance™]

Annoying song that's not about Janet. I rated it too high 

Goddamn your votes suck. 

[bu.]

I remember thinking this song was going to be about Janet and I was disappointed when it wasn't

 

[TwistedElegance™]

Mary J. Blige claims fourth spot with the captivating Family Affair. Engineered by Dr. Dre, he had already enjoyed a No. 2 peak with Eve & Gwen Stefani's Let Me Blow Ya Mind, and would earn further critical acclaim with Busta Rhymes' Break Ya Neck a few months later, making 2001 a banner year for the producer. The queen of hip-hop soul had achieved two Top 10 singles prior to the record (1992's Real Love and 1996's Not Gon' Cry), however Family Affair became her first chart-topper, where it ruled for six consecutive weeks. The song also became Dr. Dre's second No. 1 single, after he reigned with California Love, his 2Pac collaboration, in 1996. The singer and producer would pair again on Not Today, the Eve collaboration from 2003's Love & Life, however that record failed to break the Top 40. Family Affair's video was directed by Dave Meyers, who was in his element at the time, and featured his trademark bold colours and glossy sheen. The song proved a universal hit, reaching No. 1 in France, and climbing to the Top 10 in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

The breakdown ~ Family Affair reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 and places 4th with a voter average of 8.45.

• 10 - Dammn Bu, Jarrylf & LyricalLesson
• 9 - DarkStormSC, Stealth & TwistedElegance
• 8 - hotboy06 & kennita jo
• 7 - RedSimba & __VelvetKnowledge1814
• 6 - Game

[bu.]

Classic! This song never gets old! 

[RedSimba]

Used to love this song when it came out. I personally prefer her 90s hip-hop soul songs ("Real Love," "Be Happy," "I Love You"), but I still like this too. 

[TwistedElegance™]

[Written by Dammn Bu]: It’s no surprise that this song has hit the top 10. Who else can boast that their debut single became an instant classic as soon as it was released?

It was Spring 2001, when this song took over the airwaves worldwide. This R&B/Soul tinged with gospel song peaked at #1 on the US Hot 100 and hit the top 10 in the majority of other markets too. The critically acclaimed smash hit went on to win 3 of 4 Grammy nominations including Song of the Year, in 2002.

The first time I watched the video, I was initially more interested in hearing the song “Girlfriend” in full. And then that killer line “I keep on falling…iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin” debuted and I was immediately hooked. Fun fact about the video: originally Alicia Keys was supposed to be the one that was incarcerated and the boyfriend was to visit her.

I just remember it being so inescapable for at least the 2-3 years following it. Everyone wanted to audition with it at what was then called Pop Idol which later became the X Factor and there were even reports that the judges would ask them to sing another song, due to the fact that they were sick of it being used as an audition song – something that recently happened with Adele’s Someone Like You.

I think it’s amazing that this song was able to resonate with so many people in a time where Bubblegum Pop and mainstream R&B/Pop were ruling. This was a woman that wasn’t dressed like the other girls, didn’t sing like the other girls and the music was not like the other girls. It was refreshing, soulful and its simplicity paid off.

The breakdown ~ Fallin' reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 and places 3rd with a voter average of 8.54.

• 10 - Dammn Bu
• 9 - Game, hotboy06, Jarrylf, LyricalLesson & RedSimba
• 8 - DarkStormSC, Stealth, TwistedElegance & __VelvetKnowledge1814
• 7 - kennita jo

[Rock & Roll Hall of Game]

Fallin' to this day GOES SOOOO HARD 

Alicia def still has potential to slay the masses on a large scale if she gets her lyrics together. 

[RedSimba]

Timeless song. Probably my favorite debut single of the 2000s 

[TwistedElegance™]

 

Our runner-up for 2001 is Usher with his mammoth ballad, U Got It Bad. The second single released from 8701, it was written by the singer and frequent collaborators Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox. R. Kelly also receives a co-writer's credit thanks to the short adaptation of Fortunate (a hit he wrote for Maxwell) during the song's second verse. Discussing his hit records with Complex, Dupri told the publication: "I learned from Nice & Slow that people wanted that. Nice & Slow was a big record, but we only made one. We went into that album saying, we got to make another Nice & Slow. What I did with U Got It Bad was take it to the next level, make another version of that. U Got It Bad was basically just another version of Nice & Slow with me trying to repeat and just make a better version." Setting success as a goal sure paid off, with the song shooting to number one in late 2001, and returning to the position after Nickelback's month-long reign with How Your Remind Me ended. As previously mentioned, Usher was the only male solo act to achieve a number one that year, and he did it twice - after the Jam + Lewis-produced U Remind Me reached the summit in July. The song is particularly memorable for its video which featured love interest Chilli of TLC. Directed by Little X (Nelly's Hot In Herre, Iggy Azalea's Fancy, Drake's Hotline Bling), it depicted the singer tied up in knots, unable to escape the image of her, and scored heavy rotation on music networks. The song became Usher's third No. 1 on the Hot 100, and reached the Top 5 in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

The breakdown ~ U Got It Bad reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 and places 2nd with a voter average of 8.72.

• 10 - Dammn Bu & hotboy06
• 9 - Game, Jarrylf, kennita jo, LyricalLesson & __VelvetKnowledge1814
• 8 - DarkStormSC, RedSimba & Stealth
• 7 - TwistedElegance

 

[Written by Dammn Bu]: It is ironic that this Grammy Award winning smash hit the top hit #1 on Singles Rate: 2001 the same week it peaked at #1 for 7 non-consecutive weeks, 15 years ago. In fact, the song was the first song to advance to number one by a female artist in the new decade. Janet seems to have a lot of firsts, but let’s not go into that.

Fun fact: the song made radio music history when it was added to every pop, rhythmic and urban radio station, dubbing Janet as the “Queen of Radio”. No other song at the time was able to achieve that in its first week until Lady Gaga’s Born This Way (which only broke the record due to a radio deal).

One thing I remember about this song at the time was that EVERY TIME I went for the food shop, the supermarkets would play it multiple times throughout my time in the store.

Billboard called it “a vitamin shot in the arm for the airwaves”. Entertainment Weekly labelled it as “a frothy butt shaker and skilled throwback to old-school disco”. Even Rolling Stone added to it’s acclaim, “swirling on the dizzying energy of a disco-era sample”. The most surprising of all, to me, was NME (who can be very snobbish to pop music) who called it “a faultless funk affair”.

As mentioned earlier, the song peaked at #1 on the Hot 100 for 7 non-consecutive weeks. But it also peaked in the top 10 in the world’s biggest markets, including the UK, Australia and the overall Europe chart.

The vibrant and fun video was directed by David Meyers and would mark the beginning of a frequent working relationship. Dave went on to direct Feel it Boy, Just A Little While, I Want You and most recently No Sleeep (and supposedly Dammn Baby). The video added to her legendary collection of music videos as the sexy Queen of Pop would dance effortlessly with a 2D cartoon backdrop. And just like her previous classic enigmatic hits Rhythm Nation and If, the video came full with a brazen and energetic dance break – something we have all probably tried to imitate, but never duplicate.

Another fun fact: Anticipating by Britney Spears received heavy comparisons to All For You by critics due to its similar production/arrangement. This isn’t the first time the White Janet was compared to the original innovator (Britney has paid reference to Janet throughout her career).

The breakdown ~ All For You reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 and WINS the competition with a voter average of 9.63.

• 10 - Dammn Bu, DarkStormSC, Game, hotboy06, Jarrylf, LyricalLesson, RedSimba & Stealth
• 9 - kennita jo & __VelvetKnowledge1814
• 8 - TwistedElegance

 

[Rock & Roll Hall of Game]

and the Goddess of Music Prevails...

I'm surprised Usher won*. Alicia Keys' song is better  

 

* - if you removed the Queen

[TwistedElegance™]

and the Goddess of Music Prevails...

I'm surprised Usher won*. Alicia Keys' song is better  

 

* - if you removed the Queen

It is. Personally, I'll be glad to move to 2002 and lose the bias. All For You is not a worthy winner IMO. Doesn't Really Matter surely wasn't either.

[Rock & Roll Hall of Game]

It is. Personally, I'll be glad to move to 2002 and lose the bias. All For You is not a worthy winner IMO. Doesn't Really Matter surely wasn't either.