The heavy hitters that defined the clubs and the radio waves.
| Rank | Song | Artist | Year | Key Theme | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | 1 | “Crazy” | Gnarls Barkley | 2006 | Postmodern soul / Loss of control | | 2 | “Hey Ya!” | OutKast | 2003 | Joyous nihilism / Breaking the format | | 3 | “Fallin’” | Alicia Keys | 2001 | Neo-soul revival / Vulnerability | | 4 | “Mr. Brightside” | The Killers | 2004 | Indie rock jealousy anthem | | 5 | “In da Club” | 50 Cent | 2003 | Gangster rap’s commercial peak | | 6 | “Since U Been Gone” | Kelly Clarkson | 2004 | Pop-rock emancipation | | 7 | “Beautiful Day” | U2 | 2000 | Post-9/11 uplift | | 8 | “Cry Me a River” | Justin Timberlake | 2002 | Electro-R&B betrayal | | 9 | “99 Problems” | Jay-Z | 2003 | Narrative rap / Civil rights subtext | | 10 | “Clocks” | Coldplay | 2002 | Piano-driven stadium rock | vh1 100 greatest songs of the 2000s
Observation: The top 10 is remarkably genre-diverse. Notably absent is pure pop (Britney Spears’ “Toxic” ranked #13; Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful” at #21). VH1 favors songs with a moody or anxious edge over pure dance-pop. The heavy hitters that defined the clubs and the radio waves
Sometimes the best stories live between #100 and #11. Notably absent is pure pop (Britney Spears’ “Toxic”