Aughts pt. 3

2002 My Pod's most played...

1. Talkin' To Me Amerie
Rich Harrison’s pretty mouthpiece arrived with “Why Don’t We Fall in Love” and that was cool. But this one actually stayed in my head and had nothing to do with how good she looked to me.

2. Right On Time Boyz II Men
Later for “Uhh Ahh.” This right here was proof the Boyz were now Men. The delivery of the natural and falsetto tones throughout make their voices barely recognizable. Wanya still kills it in falsetto. It was so swept under the mat from their last original album, Raheem Devaughn took it for “Ask Yourself” only a year or so later.

3. Full Moon Brandy
Had she not been on Rodney Jerkins so hard, Brandy’s follow-up to Never Say Never might’ve been better received. Jerkins songs had become formulaic as hell and the title cut should’ve been the first single. Mike City, being anything but formulaic, laced this one and you’d never know it was him. Awesome jam.

4. Come Close Common
In an attempt to keep the love jam going, Com’s pt 2 love letter to Erykah was melodically delivered by Pharrell & Mary J. As much as MCA tried to make it a hit, its heavy airplay wasn’t enough to convince folk he hadn’t lost his mind & heart with Electric Circus and blame Erykah for the whole thing. You know it’s got you when you keep singing “I know what you’re thinking you’re on my mind. You’re right.”

5. Water No Get Enemy D'Angelo, Femi Kuti, Roy Hargrove + Macy Gray
The Red Hot series donated to AIDS care and research for years. But Red Hot+Riot hit home in 2002 when they chose Fela Kuti who actually passed from AIDS complications five years prior. He was an awesome musician bridging funk, jazz, and Nigerian rhythms to create “afrobeat.” D’Angelo on vox and (more importantly) keys, Hargrove on trumpet married with Fela’s son Femi on sax (also his father’s instrument), and Questlove on the beat made one hell of an upgrade to an already classic jam. Not one boring minute out of the ten it plays for.

6. Cloud 9 Donnie
The audacity of Donnie. The love of the black folk hadn’t been heard like this in decades. Ether 9 and metaphysics was deeper than most thought, but even the simplest sentiments of the song resounded.

7. You Got A Friend Donnie
My absolute favorite song on my absolute favorite 2002 (and 2003) album. Steve ‘Scottmsman’ Harvey’s production reaches peak here as he himself is killing the drums on it. The vocals and arrangement is just as infectious as the musicianship.

8. Rise/Freedom Fertile Ground
Their residence was local to us in DC/MD, but their music was worldly and we were just proud to say we knew ‘em. On their third and best release, Fertile Ground brought in Raheem Devaughn to hit the bridges and they do exactly what musical bridges should do “elevate.” It’s the easiest route to his best tone and why the locals loved him so before Jive stole him from us.James Collins is a Gil Scott Heron level writer.

9. Say Yes Floetry
I haven’t the right words for Dre, Vidal, & Marsha’s musical marriage here. Sweet as “Butterflies,” but much later in the evening. This should’ve boosted the black population by at least a half million by the following year.

10. Lineage Jaguar Wright
“The What If’s” set it off for Jag, but this one hit home for me. She even has an aunt with the same name as mine. It was a nice window into her life over a brilliant overall production.

11. Excuse Me Miss Jay Z
Neptunes again! There’s something “else” that goes on between Pharrell & Jigga in the studio. It’s not the BP2 was wack, it was just too much to take in at once. Hell it took me a few years to listen to the whole thing and I’m a diehard Jigga fan. I came BACK to this album. But I got THIS song on first take. Also the one that set off "grown & sexy."

12. Lose Yourself-Eminem. This joint was like a fighting anthem ala Rocky's "Gonna Fly Now." To date I feel it's Em's most important recording. Passionate, hungry, and undeniable.

13. Last Night Justin Timberlake
And another Neptunes one. This one, rumored to be leftover from the Michael Jackson rejects (along with “There She Goes” from Face & “I Don’t Know” from Ursh), is the one I feel like I could hear MJ clearest on. My favorite cut from Justified. All about the bridges.

14. Harder To Breathe Maroon 5
Who are you and what have you done with Jamiroquai? Adam Levine’s exorcism of his ex-girl was hidden beneath three cranking openers on Songs About Jane. This is one of the best side one, song ones ever.

15. Dead Nigga Blvd. (Pt. 1) Me'Shell Ndegéocello
More education, information, instrumentation and thought provocation, than I’ve ever enjoyed on one disc and how deep of the shit you were about to get into was evident from the first song on Cookie.

16. halfcrazy Musiq Soulchild
Somewhere between latin and soul, Talib ‘nem blew my mind with this rhythm arrangement and production. Remains my favorite Soulchild song.

17. Don't Know Why Norah Jones
She could sing the phone book and I’d be ok. Some voices just get you. Delivered by the right song, they get everybody.

18. Be Here Raphael Saadiq
For a sober moment post-Voodoo we got the best of D & Ray.

19. Water/Complexity The Roots featuring Jill Scott.
Sorry, I couldn’t choose between them. As an independent musician, I can tell you no song by a major label artist spoke to me more than “Water” while my group was struggling to get “on.” “Tryna figure what the fuck we getting slept on for.” The drum pattern and bassline are friggin’ fire too. “Complexity” is the best Roots love song period. That’s saying a lot considering how many great ones they have, but Quest’s production of the track (using Prince's high hats), the gentle Jill we love most, and Thought’s confessional put it above even “You Got Me.”

20. How I Know-RH Factor featuring Shelby Johnson
This was a time Verve should’ve put some money behind some vids for Hargrove. The RH Factor contained some real gems from names you know, but where it excelled is in showcasing for the first time, Ms. Shelby Johnson. A soul singer seasoned beyond her years, who backed D’Angelo (alongside Anthony Hamilton), Martin Luther, and Prince. Her composition with Spanky Alford is one of the best old school soul songs you never heard.

21. Seven Nation Army-The White Stripes
Simple rock. Just the dopest simplest rock of the friggin' year.

22. Politik-Coldplay. 2nd best rock for me. And I'll admit I was late on this one. Since they came pretty with "Yellow" and "In My Place" I thought that's what Coldplay was about 'til they rocked the Grammys with this. "God Put a Smile on Your Face" was dope too.

23. Brown Sugar (Fine)-Mos Def. Enter Kanye West. All 3 productions of this song were dope, but the Norman Connors' "Invitation" usage on this remix still bangs hardest.

24. Nectarine-Cherokee feat Andre 3000. One of those times I hated the biz part of music. They paid doe for Cherokee's Soul Parade, then buried it. This, in the wake of Kast's Stankonia success would've worked. This got lost along with his Gwen Stefani & Kelis tracks.

25. Always Will-Tweet. Underrated debut despite its platinum sales behind "Oops" and "Call Me." Charlene's songwriting and artistry was hidden behind the label playing it safe. "Boogie 2night" not being released was criminal. And this one, "Hotel," "Smoking Cigarettes" and "Complain" were outstanding compositions.

26. Nothing at All/Game of Love-Santana. The follow-up to Supernatural got very missed, but these two did NOT for me. Musiq singing Rob Thomas' composition was a vocal performance I didn't know he had in him. And Michele Branch's "please tell me whyyyyy" sang in my head all year.