20. Public Enemy – “Harder Than You Think”

How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul?







Political music isn’t an easy sell. Part of what allowed Public Enemy to reach cultural-phenomena status during hip-hop’s golden age was their understanding that the PSA could also be a party. It wasn’t enough just to clean clocks with a powerful message – knowing what time it was meant both pumping fists in solidarity and busting moves in defiance. It’s that formula that Chuck D, Flavor Flav, and longtime producer Gary G-Wiz turned back the giant clock to on How You Sell Soul…, especially on third single “Harder Than You Think”. Sampling Shirley Bassey’s “Jezahel” and Flav’s own banter from the group’s original single, “Public Enemy No.1”, G-Wiz amps the former’s horns to 11 as Chuck booms atop about both the state of hip-hop and the black community. It’s a rally, it’s a dance-off, and it’s a reminder that PE are still in full effect boyeeee. –Matt Melis

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19. Yeasayer – “2080”

All Hour Cymbals





Sometimes a first taste is the best. And while this is arguably true for Yeasayer, who certainly have released a handful of excellent tracks over the last ten years, it might have been the first impression that made the biggest impact. Emerging out of a Brooklyn indie scene that was on a particularly vital upswing, Yeasayer was informed by their contemporaries (it’s hard not to hear Animal Collective’s freaky influence through a particularly accessible filter on “2080”) while also showcasing global sounds that weren’t usually heard in Western rock and roll. On “2080”, the song is elevated by the vocal performance of Chris Keating, whose singing walks a graceful, elastic tightrope. There is tension throughout the song, enough so that when the track reaches its schoolyard chant crescendo, it’s as if everyone within a mile radius needed to join in the number. In a time when communal bellowing was en vogue (thanks Arcade Fire), “2080” took the trends around them and made it sound like a wondrous, global future. –Philip Cosores

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18. Dan Deacon – “Wham City”

Spiderman of the Rings





Two years after the release of “Wham City”, Baltimore artist Dan Deacon would release Bromst, an album of digital orchestrations that’s about as symphonic as electronic music gets. “Wham City”, more than any other track on the excellent Spiderman of the Rings, provides probably the best hint of Deacon’s talent for managing and balancing so many disparate influences and instruments. It’s easy to miss the refinement of his melodies amidst all the Saturday morning jingle flourishes, zippy sound effects, and playfully modulated vocals, but there’s nuance to be found in this confluence of synthesizers, the likes of which still hasn’t been replicated in the music world. Deacon’s beats, in both their presentation and organization, tell stories. In their juxtapositions, he ignites bygone emotions and memories. In their execution, he makes you long to leap out of your skin. This is what stupid joy sounds like, and he’s crafted it exactly so. –Randall Colburn

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17. Kanye West – “Stronger”

Graduation





It’s difficult to fully appreciate “Stronger” a decade after its arrival, if only because we no longer live in a pop cultural universe in which artists like Plies, T-Pain, and 50 Cent represent hip-hop’s best and brightest (yikes). Gangsta rap had a stranglehold on the wider genre of hip-hop by 2007, and it took a game-changer by the name of Kanye West to smash that status quo with a robotic sledgehammer. “N-now th-that that don’t kill me/ Can only make me stronger,” he raps in the hook to Graduation single “Stronger”, and what he really means is that he might be committing career suicide by pairing his beat with a sample of electronic French duo Daft Punk. No other rapper — seriously, no other rapper — was taking that kind of risk in 2007, but it’s exactly the kind of move that set the stage for West’s unparalleled success in the 2010s. These days, mashing together hip-hop and disco and electronica and whatever else seems like a matter of course for young artists, and we have West and the quietly revolutionary “Stronger” to thank for that. –Collin Brennan

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16. Chromatics – “In the City”

In the City





The crackle of a vinyl record was neither the sound of original inspiration nor a played-out trope in 2007, but its placement throughout “In the City” cemented the trajectory of Chromatics. It was a time of transformation for the band, with Night Drive and the Italians Do It Better comp After Dark, establishing Johnny Jewel’s aesthetic in synthwave and move away from their punk roots. In hindsight, it was a move that cemented the band’s legacy. And in hindsight, the poise of “In the City” screams of a band that knows what it’s doing, even if it couldn’t be sure that their sound would become tremendously influential in the decade that followed. Maybe best about the track is how the melody finds a sturdy groove for a couple minutes in its outro, plummeting down a windows-down, skyline-flickering rabbit hole that is transportive and evocative. “In the City” is Chromatics at their height, signaling a decade-long mastery that shows no signs of slowing. –Philip Cosores

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