Best Song of 2000: Heat #7

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Destiny's Child get their third qualifier, joined by All Saints, Mary Mary and Mystikal and Ladytron (thanks to a last-minute tick to beat Darude).

Today we have about equal measures of bosh, pop, indie and rap! You have until next Tuesday to vote. Get ticking!

• You get a maximum of TEN TICKS over the three bits of the poll. The top five will go through to the next stage.



• If you want to change your vote (or tick too many by mistake), you can edit your votes by clicking on 'Poll #12345' then 'Fill Out Poll'.



• UK chart placings given in brackets.



• Rep for your favourites in the comments!

[Poll #1421444]

Comments

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Annoyed about Ladytron beating Darude!

This is def the worst heat yet, barely got to 10. Don't want to reward 'Spinning Around' (like it but wayyy overrated) or 'Stan' (amazing for all the reasons people say it is, but how can I reward something I have had NO desire to listen to in 8 years?), ended up ticking Sia - what with this and the garage remix of 'Little Man', I remember being really excited about her career. Pity she turned into such a beige, boring singer-songwriter.

'Stronger' might be my favourite Britney I (Max Martin Era) single: it feels like the Baby/Oops template ramped up harder, better, faster...STRONGER. That opening slashing chord is just awesome. And for ages I genuinely thought she was singing "I'm not your property, I swing both ways".

'Southern Hospitality' might be the best thing here - that deep-fried Neptunes beat is incredible, so evocative in how it encapsulates the Dirty South. There was a period when lots of idiots kept saying that Luda was only any good as a guest rapper - this is No 1 evidence for the contrary, he goes hard on every damn line here. Favourite bit might be when he rolls his Rs on "Afro American, afro thick" in the third verse. Also: "You can sweat from a burn in the third degree/And if you sweat in your sleep then you sweat from me" <3 <3 <3 luv u Luda!!!

'Suck My Dick' is so great too - this entire album was soooo revelatory for me in terms of hearing such wilfully explicit sexuality in pop (and it really made me disdain the likes of Peaches, who was getting rapturous press at around the same time for a less rude, more rudimentary take on female sexuality). This one is probably about as explicitly feminist as Kim gets - the sheer contempt in her voice is so amazing, every line just asserting her superiority over people who've been beating women like her down for their whole lives, just BOSSING men around. "I'll treat y'all niggas like y'all treat us, no doubt - ay yo yo yo, come here so I can bust in your mouth!", "Look, I ain't tryna suck ya, I might not even fuck ya - just lay me on this bed and GIMME SOME HEAD!" and that totally o_0 line about how "he sucked the piss out my pussy". I mean...as she says, in the song's finest moment, "What? I'm LOVING this shit!"

Here is a strange Sims video of this amazing song.

[justfanoe.livejournal.com]

The problem with the poll is, I assume Britney, Kylie, both Eminems and Still DRE are the five for sure, so that leaves no room for stuff like Luda and Lil Kim. Maybe something will surpise. I'm rooting hard for Luda (hometown favorite!) and The Bad Touch.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Ugh Ludacris and Lil' Kim are so much better than Eminem...generally, and in particular these cuts. And 'Spinning Around' is kind of weak.

Considering switching my 'Real Slim Shady' tick to 'The Bad Touch', but it grosses me out just as much as I enjoy it.

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

Is that really a problem with the poll though? I'd probably rather have 'The Bad Touch' in there than 'Stan', but if those 5 got through, I wouldn't be particularly upset.

Having said that, it's a travesty that a song featuring Dido could reach the next stage, yet Darude miss out.

[justfanoe.livejournal.com]

No, it is not a problem. If I were picking I'd put "The Bad Touch" and "Southern Hospitality" over "Stronger" and "Spinning Around" but this is a very strong top 5. It just makes it tough to really get out there and campaign.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I think it's less a problem than just...a bit too obvious.

[justfanoe.livejournal.com]

exactly. It's usually fun to follow and see what's going to get the last slot or two. Not this time.-

[meserach.livejournal.com]

Ludacris and the Bloodhound Gang may yet make this interesting.

No hope for 'Lil Kim though :(.