The Top One Percenters Playlist: My Top 100 Songs of All Time
I’ve been working on my top 100 songs for probably about 12 months. It was that intense. I sorted through almost 5000 tracks to find the ones that have been the most impactful to me, played the most, some so many times that friends don’t want to hear the track anymore. My first draft was about 250 songs that I whittled down to 150, then 120, and finally, a cool 100.
Then I spent another 6 months finding the perfect way to organize and sort them into tiers. Just because a song may be listed at the top of a tier ≠ I love that song more than anything else in the tier. See below the spotify embed, tiers, tracklist and some commentary.
Maneater - I was still in high school when Nelly Furtado and Timbaland dropped “Maneater”. It was actually several months before the record officially dropped. A version of it leaked. Basically the same song but with a different mix. Some instrumental pieces drop in and out at different times, a few adlibs here and there. But I was hooked. Then the official release. Then the Lil’ Wayne remix. The Peter Rauhofer Remix. At one point, I had about 6 versions in my rotation. Back when iTunes was the platform and we had play counts, I had listened to these versions well over 2,000 times by the mid 2010s. Just a perfect production.
Get Low - As soon as you hear that intro and hear them yelling “THREE-SIX-NINE” it’s all all out audio assault. TO THE WINNDDDDOOWWWWWWWW, TO THE WAAAALLLLL. I yell as loud as I possible can and always fuck my voice up. A terrible tragedy that this record peaked at #2 and the team never got their #1 record. I have the lyrics tattooed right next to my balls.
B.O.B. - This record continues to grow on me, 25 years later. I liked it when it came out, but over the past 10 years, as I dig further into the rap crates because modern rap is doo-doo, the energy of this record is just too impossible to ignore. It literally can change my mood from sullen to hype, indifferent to energetic, motionless to a full on sprint. Pitchfork ranked it first on its "The Top 200 Tracks of the 2000s" list
Sicko Mode - If you saw me at anytime between 2018-2020, I played this song. I played it for babies and toddlers, I sang it on the streets of Spain while jumping in and out of bushes, at one point there was an IG highlight of me playing this around the world. One of the best rap songs after rap music turned into sad boy music, and I’ll be forever thankful
I Get Around - Who doesn’t feel like a baller listening to this classic? Diddy even used the video as a basis for all future Bad Boy videos. The melodic, piano and disco inspired beat. You can do everything to this song: fuck, party, BBQ, club, everything. If I ever return to rapping, I’ve got to find a way to sample this
I have a tattoo of CSS’ “Music is My Hot, Hot Sex”. I’ll forever be grateful to the 2007 iPod Touch commercial featuring the song. It got me hip to CSS and their debut album is a top 20 album all time for me.
“Teenage Dream” is a perfect pop song. Of course I had to spray champagne listening to Migos’ “Spray the Champagne”. Britney’s “I’m a Slave 4 U” was originally for Janet Jackson. Kanye’s “Waves” was his last generational song.
Each one of these records gives the feeling of doing a line of pure 100% columbian cocaine. I was one of the lucky few to most to “Blood on the Leaves” under the stage at Kanye’s Life of Pablo Tour. This, “Piss On Your Grave” and the “New Rules” remix reminds me of when we almost got mosh rap as a genre. Those horns are fucking insane.
From 2008-2022, I was deep into indie pop and dance music. I still am but this felt like a golden age of dance music as pop music, with all the biggest producers doing pop albums featuring lyrics, hooks and pop sounds. Calvin Harris was killing everything he touched, Fred Falke had the most euphoric disco remixes. So many good music blogs back then put me onto so many great artists and records like La Roux, J*Davey, Niki & The Dove, New Young Pony Club. Now everything sounds the same.
“This is How We Do It” was my first favorite song when I was 7. My mother used to take me to talent shows where I’d perform Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise”. Nothing will ever get me as hype as a great rap song. Just so much energy, bravado, sing-a-long potential. Nothing compares.