The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 2000

The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 2000

In the following article, I venture back 20 years ago to a mostly middling way to kick off the new millennium and dig up both the forgotten gems and the classics that came from it.

What’s up guys, welcome back to Fire’s Flaming Hot Takes where it’s time for another year-end list, and it’s the one I always love to make: the best list! That’s right, today we’re looking at the top 10 best hit songs of 2000!

In my worst list, I mentioned how I had a difficult time trying to compile the worst list because there were just very few songs that were outright terrible and everything else was just bad and not even in an interesting way. I didn’t have any sort of struggle like that when it came to filling out the best list for this year. I found every song I put on this list great.

And although this honestly tends to be true for pretty much every year I’ve covered thus far - probably except for 2014 - considering how nervous I was that my bias towards the 2010s would prevent this from happening, I cannot begin to tell you how relieved I am. Yes, 2000 was a mostly mid year for the Hot 100 with most of this year trending towards average. The bad songs, they didn’t give me much to say at all and were tedious and boring. But the good stuff, they stuck out more and I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of quality that broke through, especially at the very top of this list. Hip hop in particular, for as much as its presence felt limited on this year-end list, still had a great wealth of quality to pick from. Teen pop was still growing strong and there were a few damn great songs on this list from that arena. Even R&B, for as boring and interchangeable as it could get at times pushed through some quality to get on this list.

And that’s ultimately what pulled me back into creating this list. Beyond the fact that I love making the best list more than I do the worst list - and I mean that’s a given I’d rather listen to great songs on repeat to get my thoughts out than terrible songs on repeat to do that - the worst list for 2000 was so difficult and tedious to make I was seriously considering whether continuing to make these lists was even worth it. But no matter how bad a year can get - and it has gotten way worse than this for sure - it’s still able to scoop up enough quality that I want to talk about and there were quite a few more tough cuts from this list than I was expecting. There were 62 songs on the year-end list for 2000 - including the repeats from 1999 - that I ended up liking, and for as much as quite a decent chunk of it was just pleasant enough background filler, that means something, right? Anyway, time for the list, and as always the rule is the songs had to debut on the year-end Hot 100 list in 2000 to qualify - so unfortunately “Smooth” by Santana and Rob Thomas is ineligible for this list - so let’s get things started with our honorable mentions!

HM #1: Nine Days - Absolutely (The Story Of A Girl) (YE: #35, PEAK: #6)

Holy shit, that hook is an absolute monster. Seriously, that hook is irresistibly catchy and even despite it being somewhat cheesy, it’s also conveyed with just enough sincerity and energy to where it comes across as pretty cute instead of boringly sappy! And the line about how the lead singer said he absolutely loved her when she smiled honestly was really adorable! Not to mention, that production is absolutely kickass, especially in the prechorus, where the guitars and those drums really pick up a shit ton of momentum and just go hard all around. Yeah, this was a ton of fun, great song.

HM #2: Third Eye Blind - Never Let You Go (YE: #43, PEAK: #14)

Well, on the topic of insanely catchy pop rock, that guitar riff is absolutely undeniable. The verses are kinda dumb, but that only puts the focus on that absolutely killer hook and, again, that killer guitar riff. In other words, just like with “Absolutely (The Story Of A Girl)”, I had a ton of fun with this, an absolute banger.

HM #3: Faith Hill - The Way You Love Me (YE: #41, PEAK: #6)

In 2000, Faith Hill’s “Breathe” became only the second song to ever become the biggest song of the year without ever peaking at #1. Now for such an impressive feat, here’s my opinion on that song...it’s pretty good, but let’s be real, it’s one of the most forgotten year-end #1s I could ever think of and as a whole it’s not exactly a great song. Now, “The Way You Love Me” is a song that’s actually gotten a lot of hate...and yet I can’t lie to myself, I actually really like this song. Yes, that autotune was a...choice, to say the least, but the song is pretty cute and it definitely feels really bouncy as a whole. Plus, Faith Hill sells this song with enough sincerity for it to really work. Damn adorable song.

HM #4: Jo Dee Messina - That’s The Way (YE: #74, PEAK: #25)

But you know what, on the topic of country pop that I probably like a lot more than I should, yeah, the lyrics are definitely pretty cliché “you just have to roll with it no matter what life throws at you, you live and you learn, you shouldn’t give up on your dream”, but for a song like this to work, the singer has to inject a shit ton of personality into this song, and yeah, Jo Dee Messina delivers. She can really sell that sentiment really well on top of a surprisingly propulsive hook. It may be kinda cheesy, but hey, it works for what it is.

HM #5: soulDecision f/Thrust - Faded (YE: #66, PEAK: #22)

It felt like boy bands were everywhere on the year-end list for 2000. And yes, some of it was absolutely cheesy to a painful level, we covered a bit of it in my worst list. But we also had some damn great songs from boy bands on the year-end, including “Faded”, which ultimately won me over with that incredible nu-disco groove and catchy hook - hey I’m sensing a pattern in these honorable mentions. Add on top of that an awesome rap verse from Thrust, great synth work, and absolutely glorious amounts of personality from soulDecision, and it’s just a damn fun song.

HM #6: JAY-Z f/UGK - Big Pimpin’ (YE: #60, PEAK: #18)

I’m telling you, this was a strong year for hip hop, and “Big Pimpin’” is a damn banger. Timbaland’s production sounds absolutely excellent - that sample goes so hard and the flute is honestly a really nice addition. Oh yeah, and JAY-Z flows on this production quite nicely, but really, the biggest star of the show here is the hip hop duo UGK, their two verses absolutely slap, and their flows are just excellent. Regardless, this is a great song, what a banger.

HM #7: The Chicks - Cowboy Take Me Away (YE: #95, PEAK: #27)

Okay, I didn’t really talk about how country music was during 2000, really because there’s nothing to talk about. I mean, there was no bro-country to be found here, and outside of a few bad songs I talked about in my worst list it was just inoffensive for the most part to me. There were a few damn great songs, though - one being “I Hope You Dance” by Lee Ann Womack which will be just missing this list, and the other and the best of them being “Cowboy Take Me Away”. The beautiful harmonies, the trio sounding absolutely fantastic, and that fiddle solo - just everything about this song sounds so beautiful in its simplicity. A really pretty song that was just edged off the list proper, but still, I really like this.

Shockingly great start, and now it’s time for the list proper!

10...So as I mentioned before, the Hot 100 in 2000 kinda just felt like the 90s again. And arguably the biggest indicator of that was R&B continuing to have immense success on the Hot 100. And yes, a lot of the R&B was pretty boring and interchangeable, but it did manage to push through some quality, like this song!

10. Debelah Morgan - Dance With Me (YE: #89, PEAK: #8)

This was a song that I really wish didn’t fall through the cracks of time, because this was a great song! The solid groove, the really nice keyboard melody, the overall bouncy and fun feel of it all, I already am totally on board with this production. But really, the star of the show for me here is Debelah Morgan herself, who delivers an absolutely fantastic vocal performance here. Seriously, her vocal range is amazing, including her hitting some whistle notes towards the end! Plus, she has a lot of personality to add to this song! She sounds like she’s having just as much fun in this song as I am listening to it, and I genuinely love her vocal melodies in the chorus - it’s enough to convince me to dance the night away. Another fun banger and a forgotten gem worth digging back up, check this out, because this is terrific!

9...Another trend that one could associate with the early 2000s was the eurodance trend. Arguably the eurodance song that has managed to have the most staying power was Eiffel 65’s “Blue (Da Ba Dee)”, and as a ridiculous, dumb as fuck, meaningless song I actually like it quite a bit! Not even as a guilty pleasure! I mean, it’s just ridiculously catchy all the way around with enough personality for me to overlook all the repetitiveness. That said it wasn’t the best eurodance hit song of the year. That would be...well okay it wouldn’t actually be this, we’ll get to that later, but this is still really good too!

9. Sonique - It Feels So Good (YE: #34, PEAK: #8)

Yes, this placed all the way up here on this list purely because of that beat. No other way for me to put it, it’s incredible. It’s super danceable and the synths sound incredible. Plus, Sonique’s voice is great on this song, and it fits this beat so well. This song sounds like something that would get played at a club late at night, and I absolutely love it for that. Not even joking, while writing this segment, I actually listened to this song on repeat, turned off all the lights, and turned my karaoke machine on. That karaoke machine has a disco ball thing on top of it, and it’s 11:30 PM as of writing so it’s really dark outside. This song just works so perfectly in this precise setting right now, it’s a damn banger that absolutely goes off at any time, and in the right setting it’s absolutely glorious.

8...These next two songs ended up back to back on this list and they are by the same artist. I swear I didn’t intentionally script it like this, it kinda just happened that way. So let’s kill two birds with one stone and talk about them both...

8. Dr. Dre f/Eminem - Forgot About Dre (YE: #73, PEAK: #25)

And now for #7...

7. Dr. Dre f/Snoop Dogg - The Next Episode (YE: #76, PEAK: #23)

Let’s start with “Forgot About Dre”. Look, it’s been widely considered to be one of Eminem’s best songs for a reason. The production just sounds really angry, which allows Eminem to flow on this incredibly. Seriously, his flow is on point and he really sells his rage here. And that makes sense because apparently Eminem wrote a huge chunk of this song, including some of Dr. Dre’s verses. But screw it, Dr. Dre’s verses are fire as well, his flows are also on point and he’s really clapping back at all his haters who said that he fell off, and yeah he does it so well. Yeah, I definitely wanna see Dr. Dre and Eminem collaborate together...well at least if it’s more songs like this and not stuff like the terrible “I Need A Doctor”. Now, “The Next Episode” goes in a completely different direction. Yes, it uses the same guitar tones that were used in “Forgot About Dre”, but instead of being aggressive, it’s more chill. And yes, both Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg do an excellent job at selling it. The beat is really tight and both of our rappers just sound so relaxed, so much so that it’s ridiculously fun and easy to vibe with! And honestly, that’s enough for it to work as well as it does for me! It’s just a fun, chill club jam that I really like. And yes, part of the reason I put this song above “Forgot About Dre” was because of the iconic “smoke weed everyday” line at the very end of the song. Or maybe it was the Superbowl Halftime Performance that caused this song to come back into recurrent rotation on my local pop station for some time that made me grow into it. I don’t know, either way, both of these songs are great, and dare I say, they are classics.

6...But you know what, speaking of fun club jams...

6. Destiny’s Child - Jumpin’ Jumpin’ (YE: #13, PEAK: #3)

I’m glad I decided to do retro year-end lists for years older than the 2010s. Because I remember when I was like 12 or 13 or something I used to almost always change the station when a song from before 2010 came on, this song included - an era in my life I’m not particularly proud of. But hey, being more open minded to music now, yeah this is an absolute banger. The beat is minimal enough to put all our attention on Destiny’s Child yet also catchy enough to remain as fun as hell. And the women in Destiny’s Child all sound like they’re having a ton of fun and are bringing in everyone for the ride, especially Beyonce, who’s absolutely killing it with her performance here. It just has such a fun energy to it that allows everybody to absolutely jam to it. And who can’t like that?

5...So, remember when I said that “It Feels So Good” still wasn’t the best eurodance hit song of the year? Yeah, this song is why...

5. Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone (YE: #88, PEAK: #27)

That beat is just pure bliss. Yes, the vocals are kinda minimal and repetitive, it’s basically just a loop of “do you think you’re better off alone” and “talk to me” over and over again - but that means all the attention goes to that beat. And again, the beat is pure bliss. Especially in that buildup towards the drop, with those keyboards helping support the synth loop magnificently. And for this type of song, nothing else about it really matters if you can dance to it, at least to me. And yes, this absolutely goes off. The synth loop sounds wonderful and it doesn’t get tiring to me, it’s just so addictive. Yup, yet another fun club jam, I love this one.

4...But going from a eurodance song that’s just pure bliss to an alternative rock song that’s just pure bliss...

4. Filter - Take A Picture (YE: #58, PEAK: #12)

Look, a band named Filter making a song called “Take A Picture”.

That was terrible, I’m sorry, let’s move on to the song itself.

Seriously, though, “Take A Picture” just sounds so dreamy and all 6 minutes just go by in a flash, it’s incredible. Yes, I’m sure no one could ever relate to this song - or at least I hope no one can, given that the song is literally about how the guys got so high on an airplane that they literally got naked, oh god I already feel embarrassed for these guys. The song is about being in a state of mind of being high and feeling like you can do whatever you want, and it delivers incredibly. The guitars sound so dreamy and the lyrics are really good at depicting this imagery. This helps build into those really cathartic screams of “hey dad, what do you think of your son now!?” It’s a moment of feeling like you can do anything with no regrets, even if you end up actually regretting it in hindsight, in that very moment, you aren’t really thinking about it. Yeah, just because you can’t really relate to the song doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it, because this is a moment of euphoric joy captured almost immaculately into song form, absolutely fantastic.

3...So one name that comes to mind when thinking of boy bands from the 90s and the year 2000 was Savage Garden. Or at least I think so - okay well the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC are probably far better remembered. But my main point is that Savage Garden were a duo around this time period that racked up a few hits in the 90s and in 2000. They had the 4th biggest hit of 1998 with “Truly Madly Deeply” which was pretty good and in 2000 they had the 7th biggest hit of the year with “I Knew I Loved You”, also good, if a bit sappy. That said, I simply refuse to believe that these two songs became humongous hits over this forgotten gem from them, in which I simply can’t describe as anything other than just, ethereal...

3. Savage Garden - Crash And Burn (YE: #78, PEAK: #24)

Again, “I Knew I Loved You” is good, but it’s also super cliched and pretty sappy, how did that song become a bigger hit than this? Yeah, the lyrics are standard “it’s okay to hit low points and experience heartache and sadness at times, just let it out, I’m here for you to crash and burn”, but I think Darren Hayes sells it absolutely wonderfully. He’s not overselling it, he’s keeping it at a very normal register to allow for a sense of comfort, and he sounds great here! I absolutely adore the production on this song, it’s so beautifully ethereal and it swells into that chorus incredibly. The electric guitars building up magnificently, the keyboard melody sounding genuinely beautiful, and a perfect amount of bass, they all work so perfectly. It creates an incredible atmosphere of relief and sense of dreaminess that makes me weirdly nostalgic. No, I have no clue why I feel nostalgic for a time period I wasn’t even alive for either, but whatever, this is an excellent song, and in comparison to their other big hit this year, yeah, this is way more romantic, without question.

2...I mean, some people have already considered this song to be a classic, and rightfully so...

2. Eminem - The Real Slim Shady (YE: #51, PEAK: #4)

That harpsichord line just sounds so good. Seriously, I love it, it makes the beat just that much more bouncy and catchy. And then, we get Eminem himself, and his flows are absolutely excellent. And hell, this song is just really funny, immensely helped by Eminem’s delivery, which manages to be humorous and yet all the more intense at the same time. I also can’t help but appreciate the irony of Eminem taking shots at the Grammy’s and then having this song actually winning a Grammy. Yeah, it’s just a damn banger.

1...I feel this pick may surprise people who’ve read my lists before. I mean, I usually wouldn’t put a song like this at my #1 spot. I don’t really know what to tell you, I said that hip hop had a damn good year this year, and all I can tell you is that this song immediately hooked me from the first time I heard it. Besides, we all need a song to let out some energy to, right? Yeah, seriously, this is an excellent banger...

1. DMX - Party Up (Up In Here) (YE: #71, PEAK: #27)

Part of me wants to just say “it slaps” and leave it at that. I mean, seriously, a song like “Party Up” doesn’t really require that much to work for me. It just needs to have a rapper with a ton of personality and the production needs to be able to match it. And wow, it somehow manages to go above and beyond in both of those arenas! The late DMX puts so much personality and so much energy into his delivery, it leaves me in awe. He’s really letting you know that given the chance, he’ll beat your ass, like how he says if you diss him he’ll leave you lying on the ground looking at the roof of the church, or that if you think you’re Superman, he has the kryptonite. He really sells it, with that growling delivery driving it home. And the production doesn’t disappoint either, those horn-like synths just sound absolutely amazing and those whistles in the background are a pretty damn nice touch too! Is the song very smart? No, absolutely not, it’s very meat-headed, but honestly, when someone like the late DMX sells it this well and the production is just that energetic, I couldn’t care less! I mean, it’s super fun and it fills you with a shit ton of energy and it doesn’t worry about the consequences. “Party Up (Up In Here)” by the late DMX is an absolute banger, and it’s the best hit song of 2000. That said, don’t put this song on blast when you lose a Valorant game and then smash your computer to pieces with this song blaring, your parents and likely you aren’t gonna be very happy about that in the end - don’t be impulsive y’all. Seriously though, this is one hell of a banger.

But yeah, thanks for reading through this list, it was definitely a fun one to make, even if it did take longer than I expected. For real, it looks like I’ll be a lot busier than I was anticipating this summer so I can’t say I’ll be able to pump out lists that often like I did before, so apologies in advance for that. Before I move on to 2001, though, there is a special list that I want to make - and yes, it is in fact a retro year-end list. Stay tuned to see what it is, but until then, you’ve been reading Fire’s Flaming Hot Takes, and take care.