It's Business Time

July 29, 2009 12:20 PM

Most interesting hip-hop, country, and pop of the 2000s?

Songs that made you say whaaa? In a good way or a bad way.

Innovative or just weird.

EXTRA BONUS if they have associated dances! Because I like to dance.

(I am asking this question because I have been really out of touch with the zeitgeist since I graduated from high school in 2001 and there has been another thread recently that covered the other genres I like)

posted by kathrineg to media & arts (21 comments total)

I really loved Vampire Weekend's self titled album. Thought it was innovative and fresh. Kind of an indie rock/pop.
posted by Precision at 12:21 PM on July 29

I listen to mostly indie and electronica (like that other thread) but these are a few pop songs that jumped out at me in the past few years:
Katy Perry - Hot n Cold
Fergie - Glamorous
Miley Cyrus - See You Again (and more importantly, The Mae Shi's brilliant cover)
posted by telegraph at 12:38 PM on July 29

Also, you would be remiss to not check out The Hood Internet's mashups, through which you can satisfy your indie, pop, and hip hop desires in one fell swoop. R. Kelly vs. Broken Social Scene in particular is a good starting point, then check out the mixtapes.
posted by telegraph at 12:44 PM on July 29

1. pop - (this is as poppy as i get)
phoenix - wolfgang amadeus phoenix (my kid friggin' loves the first three tracks)
2. hip-hop
madvillian - madvilliany (top-notch album)
3. country
johnny cash - that boxset produced by rick rubin - i guess i could google that but lazyiness ftw
posted by rare_g at 12:53 PM on July 29 [1 favorite]

Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
MGMT - Kids (the music video is a big wtf)
posted by chalbe at 1:00 PM on July 29

Buck 65 hits two of you categories simultaneously: country hip-hop. And it doesn't suck too much.
posted by scruss at 1:07 PM on July 29

Here are a few mostly pop songs.

In a good way:
Alanis Morrisette– My Humps (hilarious)
Alanis Morrisette – Unsent
Cher – Believe (+ points for being innovative, - points for the evil spawn it created)
Christina Aguilera – Dirrty (for the “controversial” video)
Katy Perry – I Kissed a Girl
Destiny’s Child – Bootylicious (for adding a fun word to our lexicon)
Lady Gaga – the interesting thing about her is that all her songs are extremely catchy and fun – plus she’s a pop singer who can actually SING (check her acoustic performances on Youtube)
Justin Timberlake – LoveStoned (actually, pretty much all of FutureSex/LoveSounds)
M.I.A. – Paper Planes
Sara Bareilles – Love Song (for the clever play on words)
Baha Men – Who Let the Dogs Out? (for pure silliness)
Eminem - Stan (for the twist ending)

Not so good:
Gwen Stefani – Wind It Up (yodeling? wtf?)
Kanye West – Love Lockdown (see Believe)
posted by yawper at 1:23 PM on July 29

R Kelly's Trapped in the Closet
posted by 23skidoo at 1:25 PM on July 29

I take every opportunity to push Busdriver, and specifically the album Temporary Forever. He's very fast with great lyrics and rhymes, but in general pretty avant-garde. The beats and more melodic focus in Temporary Forever seem to me to represent an interesting interaction with pop rap.
posted by cmoj at 1:26 PM on July 29

Hip-hop:
Cadence Weapon - Breaking Kayfabe and Afterparty Babies are both fantastic.
Bleubird - Weaker beats than Cadence Weapon but deeper rhymes, a bit more hit or miss. Rip USA (The Birdfleu) and Street Talk 5 are both good (the latter is a free download).

Both of these guys have produced some of my all time favorite tracks.
posted by skintension at 1:42 PM on July 29

Watch Kanye West on VH1 Storytellers. From the set design, to his rambling "stories," to the fact that the crowd looks like they got lost on the way to a club in the meatpacking district, everything about it is interesting and strange. During the performance he actually says that his "greatest regret in life" is that he can't watch himself perform.

The man is a genius, and I think 808's and Heartbreak was his best work. Someday this Storytellers performance will be the subject of a great American Studies dissertation, but for now we can only marvel.
posted by thebergfather at 1:45 PM on July 29

If you like Buck 65 or Busdriver, might I suggest the whole Anticon and Mush labels? Lots of digging and not much in the way of direct audio samples from these two links, but I support most of their work.
posted by filthy light thief at 3:00 PM on July 29

weird:

the Clipse - Grindin. the beat is really minimalist and harsh, but it was a huge hit. so cool.

System of a Down Chop Suey. I heard this & was like.. waaaoooww, this IS the worst band in the world. then I decided it was kind of awesome. completely schizo.

Panic at the Disco I Write Sins Not Tragedies. this song was mega huge. I don't get it. made me realize, I do NOT understand the kids these days, at all.

And yeah, MGMT. Electric Feel. kind of the most hipster douchebaggy thing of all time yet.. a great song, actually.

oh and these Coheed and Cambria guys. This band is a complete WTF to me. I mean, do your thing, but this is 1000% outside the scope of my personal taste.

and cosign Kanye. Love Lockdown. I think it's totally genius as is the video - American Psycho + African dancers? only he could.

T-Pain Buy you a drink. rapper turns singer + great hooks + the Auto-Tune. I love the Auto-Tune.
posted by citron at 4:08 PM on July 29

Electric Six is fun..

The Ting Tings - That's not my name..
posted by davey_darling at 4:24 PM on July 29

For hip-hop, you must include DJ Screw's work (and there's A LOT). He was the Lee Perry of hip-hop, revolutionizing production and aesthetics all on his own, and creating an entire sub-genre. RIP.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 4:45 PM on July 29

Ridiculous song that I listen to with some odd frequency: Young Jeezy and Nas - "My President (is Black)" from the album The Recession.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:57 PM on July 29

Not the 2000's but remixed by a few people this decade. I give you the Wolfgang Press.
posted by arcticseal at 5:35 PM on July 29

Off the top of my head, some stuff I've found interesting:

Hip hop: Ratatat, MF Doom/Madvillain/Danger Doom/Viktor Vaughn/Several other aliases I'm sure, Talib Kweli, The Cool Kids, Dead Prez, Fort Minor

Country (ish): Ryan Adams (esp. w/ the Cardinals), Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers (less country, more straight rock, but still good), Blitzen Trapper (mentioned in the other thread, not strictly country)

Pop: Annie, Girl Talk
posted by axiom at 7:58 PM on July 29

Most things by Darren Hayes, though I'd recommend The Tension and The Spark and This Delicate Thing We've Made over Spin (which is more major-record-label-try-too-hard-pop but still fun). TDTWM is especially theatrical and very conceptual, and beautiful too, while tT&tS is darker.
posted by divabat at 1:13 AM on July 30

Royce 5'9 is the best rapper alive right now. The gun talk gets old but he is at that everything-he-spits-is-fire stage currently. The hip hop version of being in the zone.

More Hip Hop : Detroit CYDI - (Roll, Show & Improve)

Clipse - Warning (the beat is on some subterannean monster madness).

Not really pop, but Fever Ray is incredible. Almost every song is flawless. It's close to being one of those listen straight through cds.

Also - Mimicking Birds (downloads at the Virb page) - The Loop.
posted by cashman at 8:40 AM on July 30

Thank you guys, this is going on an awesome mix
posted by kathrineg at 3:30 PM on August 31