It’s New Years Eve and you’re a DJ who’s just been asked to put together a set of the best hip-hop songs of the 2000s. What tracks make the cut and which ones get left behind? That imaginary scenario is exactly the situation RefinedHype.com and DJBooth.net are setting out to answer, and starting tomorrow we'll be droppiong the first entry in our soon-to-be-epic series.
Such a monumental undertaking requires some basic ground rules before we begin. So let's take a moment to get a few things squared away.
What music qualifies for the countdown?
Does your name rhyme with Saylor Twift? No? Then you probably qualify. Ok, that's an exaggeration, but the point is that although that the Top 25 is technically a "hip-hop" countdown, we're using that terms in the loosest term possible (i.e. "urban music"). To put it another way, if the song was or would have been featured on RefinedHype and/or DJBooth, it qualifies, if not, sorry. Is that self-centered? Probably, but it's our list so we get to make the rules. Deal with it.
What defines the "best?"
Great question, it's almost like I made it up. When deciding which songs were worthy of our love we considered quality, sales, historical impact, trendsetter appeal, bribes and a host of other intangibles. (Ok, not bribes, but if any millionaire rappers feel like sliding over some cash we will take their contribution into consideration).
Most importantly, unlike some other countdowns that pretended to have created a scientific formula (I'm looking at you MTV), we're willing to admit that any list like this will be inherently subjective on some level. Why did a certain song rank higher than another song? Because our staff locked ourselves in an apartment for a weekend - resulting in some furious debates and more than a couple near fights - and this is the list we came up with. Although we'll explain every pick, and it will make sense, there's no way everyone's going to agree on a list that covers an entire decade of music. Disagree with one of our picks? Good: comment on the selection, write about it, create your own list. Go ahead, have an opinion.
What's the schedule?
Get out a calender and a marker. I'll give you a minute. Ready? Our first entry (#25) will drop on Tuesday, November 17, and we'll roll out the next selection every weekday until we hit number one in late December. So you've got about a month to nod your head in agreement with our every pick, or grab your keyboard in frustration and let us know why you disagree. Plan accordingly. I won't lie, it's gonna be kind of a big deal.
