CL’S BIG IN ‘06 SONG LIST!

Friday, December 22, 2006

You either love them, or what you hate them, but these are some of the most memorable songs (or artists) for ‘06. These are the songs that you couldn’t turn on the radio without hearing. From artist comeback songs, to songs that just were bumped in cars and clubs alike all day, every day. There was a lot of music to come out in ‘06, but this is just a look at some of the songs that we just couldn’t seem to stay away from, no matter how good or bad they were!

CASSIE - ME & U (DOWNLOAD)

She pretty much came out of nowhere, and blew up over night on MySpace. No matter how much we hate her, and how little talent she has, Cassie had the #1 song in the country and everyone was bobbing their head to the Ryan Leslie-produced single. Cassie’s album was released during the summer and debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts, proving that it doesn’t take talent to have a #1 album. Let’s see if she can twerk it out the second time around.

GNARLS BARKLEY - CRAZY (DOWNLOAD)

Cee-Lo Green and DJ Danger Mouse became the crazy imaginaries behind the vivid images and oddball sounds of the enigma that is Gnarls Barkley. They crossed boundaries and reached a huge audience with the single “Crazy” and it spread like wildfire. Even if you don’t know the group, you know the song. With huge success in the United States, and overseas, Gnarls Barkley and their album “St. Elsewhere” were definitely big in ‘06.

BEYONCE feat. JAY-Z - DEJA VU (DOWNLOAD)

The world was definitely talking when it was found out that Beyonce was to release a second solo album in the fall, and was in a frenzy over what the first single would sound like. Would it top the success of “Crazy In Love?” Would the actual album live up to the success of her previous multi-platinum debut, “Dangerously In Love?” Fans, stans and “haters” alike (especially on CL) had something to say when “Deja Vu” dropped, and you couldn’t turn on the radio without hearing it.

T.I. - WHAT YOU KNOW (DOWNLOAD)

T.I. definitely proved himself to be King of the South this year with his fourth studio album, “King.” I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t escape the song or video for “What You Know” this year. T.I. had a successful album and single, as well as a movie this year, proving that he could crossover into the mainstream as one of this year’s premiere hip hop artists. He put the south on the map without all the snapping.

NELLY FURTADO & TIMBALAND - PROMISCUOUS (DOWNLOAD)

With the help of Timbaland, Nelly Furtado randomly had the #1 pop album in the United States, making her first album to debut at the #1 spot. This was due largely to the success of this summer’s hit, “Promiscuous” which was constantly bumped in cars and clubs. Surprisingly, even urban radio ate the song up and gave it spins. Nelly Furtado definitely gained herself a new audience with the album “Loose.”

YUNG JOC - IT’S GOING DOWN (DOWNLOAD)

No matter how much I hate to admit, this was one of those songs that just goes down in history as one of the most addictive songs in ‘06. No matter how bad we wanted to fight it, when “It’s Going Down” came on, ALL of us were doing that motorcycle dance. At every party, in every club, in every car, this song was played at some point, and no matter how sick of it we are, we still continue to get our motorcycle on…

LETOYA - TORN (DOWNLOAD)

Miss LeToya Luckett gave Beyonce a run for her money this summer with her hit single, “Torn,” produced by Teddy Bishop with the classic sample of “You Are Everything.” Although this wasn’t the first single Toya’d hit with for radio, it caught on like wildfire, and people were pleasantly surprised when they found out that it was Miss Luckett. “Torn” was hot on the charts and allowed LeToya’s self-titled debut solo album to appear at #1 it’s first week on the charts.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE - SEXYBACK (DOWNLOAD)

Not only was it the comeback year for Timbaland, with several hit singles on his hand, but Justin Timberlake definitely came back hard when the clubs and cars heard “SexyBack.” Regardless of the infamous Nipplegate scandal, Justin Timberlake got all the love with his second solo album, “FutureSex/LoveSounds.” But as we saw, Justin got a little big-headed after recieving his “ghetto pass” and “street cred” back, after trying to call Janet and Prince out on an unrelease track with Nelly Furtado.

LUPE FIASCO - KICK, PUSH (DOWNLOAD)

Lupe Fiasco garnered himself much success on his critically acclaimed debut album “Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor.” Skateboarders, back-packers and oddballs alike were highly impressed by Lupe’s ode to skateboarding and the struggles of being an outsider. Although “Food & Liquor” wasn’t as successful as people thought it would be on the charts, Lupe’s song was definitely one that people will remember in ‘06.

CHAMILLIONAIRE - RIDIN’ DIRTY (DOWNLOAD)

Texas has been on the map for a couple of years, with representers Mike Jones, Slim Thug, and Paul Wall, just to name a few, but Chamillionaire blew up this year with “Ridin’ Dirty.” So much so that Weird Al did his own spoof (c’mon, I know ya’ll have hard “White & Nerdy”). I’ve learned on thing about Chamillionaire since the success of this single: you either love him or hate him. I’ve never heard anything in between with him. But he definitely got those radio spins this year, and I guess that’s all it’s about!

HONORABLE MENTIONS…

These songs also garnered a lot of attention in ‘06. Some are fairly new and will probably carry on into early ‘07, but some were just the jam during ‘06 that we couldn’t get enough of. Make sure you check these out too!

Ciara - Promise (download)
Jay-Z - Show Me What You Got (download)
E-40 - Tell Me When to Go (download)
Janet Jackson & Nelly - Call On Me (download)
Kelis feat. Too $hort - Bossy (download)

Of course there were more memorable music moments of the ‘06, but I decided to highlight these for whatever reasons. I guess when I thought about ‘06, these were the songs that came to mind. Let me know what was on your lists!