The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 2002

 

The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 2002

In the following article, I take a look at one of the best years of the 2000s for the Hot 100 and look at the songs that make it one of the best years.

Hey guys, welcome back to Fire’s Flaming Hot Takes for another year-end list. Today, we’re examining the top 10 best hit songs of 2002!

So unlike the previous two years of the 2000s, 2002 is not uninteresting, it was quite great!! Honestly, it’s one of the best years of the 2000s for the hits, so let’s show Anne-Marie the songs she should’ve referenced in “2002” instead of “99 Problems” which didn’t even exist back then haha!

Pop delivered excellence, rock held mostly good to great quality, and hip hop and rap delivered a lot of classics! All while the 90s trends were getting pushed out and teen pop started to collapse. 2002 is definitely a very great year with the good songs being fantastic, so now, let’s get started on the greatness of 2002’s hits. There were 35 songs here that were good or better, including the 2001 repeats. As a rule, the songs had to debut on the year-end Hot 100 in 2002 in order to qualify, that said though, as with my worst list, none of the 2001 repeats would’ve made this list, so let’s get things started with our honorable mentions!

HM #1: Mary J Blige - No More Drama (YE: #79, PEAK: #15)

This song is a plea to break free from drama in one’s life and Mary J Blige sells that sentiment amazingly , with the backing vocals and the piano-backed production and Mary J Blige belting in the right places and having a restrained delivery in the right places,  it’s just a damn powerful little song.

HM #2: Usher - U Got It Bad (YE: #9, PEAK: #1)

Usher was a huge name in R&B in the 2000s and it’s not hard to see why, while he’d go on to have an even better 2004, his hit from 2002 “U Got It Bad” is still pretty great. Usher’s still got a great voice and the production is quite pretty, with that pretty sounding guitar and that crisp percussion. Yeah this is really nice!

HM #3: Jewel - Standing Still (YE: #87, PEAK: #25)

One thing I’ve noticed from my years of music listening is that I tend to gravitate to songs in the key of D major, this included, I just think they have the prettiest melodies haha, and the melody here is really pretty and Jewel’s more restrained delivery building up into her belting more as the song goes on, and yeah, it’s just a really cute and pretty song.

HM #4: Aaliyah - Rock The Boat (YE: #85, PEAK: #14)

This song’s laid back instrumental combined with Aaliyah’s breathy vocals make for an excellent combo, man what could’ve been, Rest in peace Aaliyah, so much potential...

HM #5: Alan Jackson - Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning) (YE: #98, PEAK: #28)

This is probably an unpopular opinion, but more than the other country songs released in the wake of 9/11, this honestly felt way more heartfelt and meaningful, from Alan Jackson’s restrained delivery to the soft, gentle melody from the guitar, it was an earnest attempt to be comforting to the people at the time, and while I’m too far removed from that tragedy for this to have any real impact on me, being 2005 born, this was potent all the same.

HM #6: Missy Elliott - Work It (YE: #54, PEAK: #2)

Hip hop classic, I’m saying it! With Missy Elliott being a goldmine of charisma and personality and plenty of hilarious moments like the random shouts of “Ti esrever dna ti pilf nwod gnaht ym tup i” and her calling her ass her “badonka-donk-donk” that goes “ba-bump, ba-bump-bump” yeah, this is a banger, and has rightfully stuck around today.

HM #7: Eminem - Without Me (YE: #21, PEAK: #2)

There’s a reason this is considered one of Eminem’s best songs, just like “Work It”, this is insanely quotable and a sticky as hell hook delivered with Eminem’s incredible personality and some clever wordplay and synth piano driven beat that’s so bouncy, this is a banger, but still not Eminem’s best hit this year though.

Alright, now for the list proper!

10...Well, I said “Without Me” wasn’t Eminem’s best hit this year, so here is the reason why!...

10.  Eminem - Lose Yourself (YE: #14, PEAK: #5)

Also widely considered one of Eminem’s best songs for a reason, “Lose Yourself” is a classic. The beat is dark and menacing - with that opening piano chords set the mood well and the tense guitar rollick throughout the song is extremely...fire, no other way for me to put it haha, which matches Eminem’s more aggressive flow. Absolute banger, and definitely worthy of this list.

9...One big thing this year was pop punk emerging and cementing a foothold in the pop scene, like this..

9. Jimmy Eat World - The Middle (YE: #14, PEAK: #5)

I’m kinda embarrassed about this but until writing this entry, I literally thought the lyrics said “elephant” instead of “everything” in the chorus hahahahahaha. But moving away from that, and onto the song itself, it’s a pop punk banger with a killer guitar riff and melody, and strong percussion, plus Jim Adkins’ incredibly potent vocals, this song is a reassurance that everything will turn out fine and to not write yourself off and just to give it your all, which not gonna lie, kinda hit hard for me, delivered with such high energy too, it’s a shot of optimism that is definitely much appreciated.

8...Another pop punk banger right here, so let’s get on with it!...

8. Avril Lavigne - Sk8er Boi (YE: #96, PEAK: #10)

So something I found out when going through the year-end lists for the 2000s is that I like Avril Lavigne a lot more than I thought, she brings in tons of energy into everything she releases and her vocals are potent as hell, and this may just be the best exemplification of that, while her biggest hit this year, “Complicated” was good, it just can’t compare in energy with this, with that powerful melody and high energy percussion. Yeah this is a fun as hell banger.

7...Okay this is a hot take but it’s a huge guilty pleasure of mine so let’s go...

7. The Calling - Wherever You Will Go (YE: #5, PEAK: #5)

So I wasn’t gonna put this song this high originally but it just kept growing on me to the point where now I genuinely love this song. Yeah, I get why some people may call the lyrics condescending but this song is written from the perspective of one of the band member’s relative’s best friends passing away which puts the song in a bit of a new perspective. Plus the production is great, obviously it’s a pop song chords song so it may be a bit generic, but you can’t be that mad at The Calling here, it was their debut single, it was the first song they made, and it just makes the song feel generic in a charming way, that probably doesn’t make any sense but whatever, I don’t really hate Alex Band’s overearnest delivery either honestly, Yeah this isn’t a perfect song by any means, but it’s still nice, and call it a guilty pleasure, but I don’t  care.

6...So something I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned on this blog is that I’m of Indian origin and so when I hear songs that sample Indian songs and actually find them good, I kinda feel a sense of pride I can’t lie, like this one for instance...

6. Truth Hurts f/Rakim - Addictive (YE: #40, PEAK: #9)

I’ve heard terrible songs that sample Indian songs and I ended up being repulsed by them, like “Jalebi Baby” by Tesher and Jason Derulo, which took a song I never liked in the first place and actively made it worse. I can’t lie, the Indian sample in this song carries this heavily for me as the song is just good if otherwise forgettable without it. Certainly one of the most unique hits in recent memory.

5...So “Wherever You Will Go” by The Calling may have been one of the biggest adult contemporary hits of all time based on fan-made tabulations I looked at but at least where I live, this has  actually had a lot more recurrent staying power  and I can’t say I’m unhappy about that because this is excellent...

5. Michelle Branch - All You Wanted (YE: #23, PEAK: #6)

There’s not much to this song but it just works in its simple beauty. The guitar melody is really pretty and Michelle Branch’s singing sounds really pretty as well while being potent too! The song is about wanting someone who understands you while being there to catch you if you fall. Yeah this is excellent in its simplicity. I love this.

4...One sweet song right into another...

4. Kylie Minogue - Can’t Get You Out Of My Head (YE: #45, PEAK: #7)

That said this is sweet in a different way than “All You Wanted” was, while that song leaned more into rock, this is a completely different genre, Dance-pop. But let me start with this: the “la-la-la”’s are almost hypnotizing and the production is groovy and funky as all hell. Plus, Kylie Minogue’s cooing on this song is a great fit for the production. Kylie Minogue definitely deserved more success after this, seriously, if you haven’t heard it already, I highly recommend “Magic”, it’s great! But I’m fine with this for now, it’s excellent.

3...Now going in a completely different direction for this next one...

3. DJ Sammy & Yanou - Heaven f/ Do (YE: #31, PEAK: #8)

This was a cover of a Bryan Adams song, wow, I don’t like Bryan Adams at all, spoilers for any worst lists I may make for the 80s, but this cover is excellent, a dance song that captures the magic of being in love incredibly, it’s so heavenly, pun intended helped with Do’s great vocals and the dance production from Yanou is transcending, one of the best dance hits of the century thus far, yes I’m going that far. Such a banger!

2..I don't really have an intro for this one other than rest in peace Chester...

2. Linkin Park - In The End (YE: #7, PEAK: #2)

This is my favorite Linkin Park song, yes, I’m going that far, It’s super intense, with the production consisting of this super dark  sounding guitar, it allows Chester Bennington to let loose, it’s like he’s wailing out all his frustrations and despair on this song and as mentioned, the production backs him up so it doesn’t sound awful. And Mike Shidona’s rapping is pretty on point here too! One of my favorite songs of all time, but still not my #1 pick. So what could be better?

1..For the longest time, I would’ve probably put “In The End” at #1, I’ve loved the song since I first heard it but one song, that being this one, just kept sneaking up on me until I couldn’t deny it anymore, ladies and gentlemen, a pop classic...

1. Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles (YE: #6, PEAK: #5)

Yes, this is a pop classic, and I won’t take any opinions to the contrary. I has a powerful as fuck piano melody that really soars in that chorus, this song genuinely also just feels liberating, like you can let go of all worries and just feel free. Helps that Vanessa Carlton has a very good voice here. Every little thing works here, like the string touches, plus the writing, inspired by a Julliard student she had a crush on, she described the song as a mix of fantasy and reality, a moment where you are so infatuated with love, you’d do anything for someone, and the song has that vibe of adolescence in Carlton’s delivery that fits this sentiment just perfectly, and with that “A Thousand Miles” by Vanessa Carlton is the best hit song of 2002 and one of the best pop songs of the century thus far, and that’s list! Next stop on our journey through the 2000s is 2003, stay tuned for those lists and in the meantime as always, Spotify playlist is below this article and if you wanna comment your own lists of the best hit songs of 2002 or predict what my 2003 worst list could be, please comment below, I’m eager to see them!

Until then, you've been reading Fire's Flaming Hot Takes, and I'll see you next time!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3To3Zq23j7zo5dzNw8AYf8?si=084f1a909d2f421f