Back again with another blast from the past!

Have a few days off from work / doing anything so I figured I'd go ahead and do one of thhese to keep myself busy. Admittedly, I wanted to do a full top 100 albums list, but its been difficult to assemble and would likely take a month to post rather than a week. The 60s were also sitting there as another decade project, but I still just don't feel like I have enough knowledge of that era to make a full 50 out of it (maybe one day!)

So why 2002? Well, my first list I posted online was in 2003 (olllllllld), so it makes sense (to me) to start going backwards. 2002 also turns 22 this year which is ... poetic ... maybe? Also going through my countdown now is giving me all sorts of nostalgic dopamine hits. Hopefully will do the same for you!

And also, it is a quickie since I only have a week at most to do it. So will probably fly through the first half, perhaps even posting it all in one big clump (haven't decided.) Will give the top 25 the full Flava'd Fifty treatment though.

Close calls later. Maybe the start of the list after I get home from Longlegs (hopefully.) #1 up before July 19 since that is the start of Inkcarceration Festival (which has some of these bands on it lol.)

Cool. Early 2000s will always be my favorite.

Eh screw the close calls and all other introductory stuff. This is meant to be quick, not close.

Countdown begins now(ish). One song per artist as usual. I think it will match pretty close to what 2002 Flavad would have wanted, but obviously there's some stuff he hadn't heard or changed his opinion on yet. The biggest difference is how follow up singles were such a bigger part of an album cycle back then because of the music videos. Figuring out what came out when would be too much a pain though, and not certainly not quick. So just for claritys sake everything had to have been released on an album in 2002 (or a standalone single.)

Damn homie, in high school you was the man homie, the fuck happened to you?



50. Wanksta by 50 Cent

-50 would experience his major breakthrough in early 03, but Em gave him a head start by throwing this song on the excellent 8 Mile soundtrack.

You're always hiding behind your so-called Goddess



49. I Stand Alone by Godsmack

-Also from a movie soundtrack, and for the longest time I thought the lead singer of Godsmack played the villain of The Scorpion King ... but he's nowhere near as big as whoever played Memnon much less The Rock.

And they wonder why we act this way, nappy boys gon be ok



48. Po Folks by Nappy Roots and Anthony Hamilton

-Southern rap was a big thing in the early 00s as everyone wanted to be the next Outkast. You could say the record labels came to Atlanta to make a few dollas...

Who bombs the mic?



47. Stick Em Up by Quarashi

-The band and song might sound unfamiliar, but I bet you've all heard this riff somewhere before. Commercials, trailers and movies have all made use of it.

When I look in your eyes theres no stoppin me, I want the Don Joey Crack on top of me



46. What's Luv? by Fat Joe and Ashanti

-Fat Joe was pretty much the Pitbull of the 00s. And Ashanti ... is really hot in this video.

What's Luv has such a good beat

Its just the thought of you in love with someone else



45. Keep Fishin by Weezer

-Back in the day I might have picked the lead single, Dope Nose, over this. Over the years Fishin has won me over though. How can it not when it has muppets in the music video???

No matter where I go, I know where I came from



44. Jenny From The Block by Jennifer Lopez, Jadakiss and Styles P

-Don't be fooled by all my money, I still love taco flavored kisses honey. South Park jokes aside, I like how Jlo just put rappers on every song for awhile to try and recreate the success of Im Real. The opening and bridge of this song are especially great with Jada and Styles going back and forth.

Im not gonna stand here and wait



43. Hero by Chad Kroeger and Josey Scott

-Another movie song! Spider-Man was another great soundtrack too. Both of these guys would have one more song in them that I liked with Someday and Always (a close call for 2002.)

Tell me what you thought about when you were young and so alone



42. The Best of Me by The Starting Line

-Yes, this is the band Taylor is referring to on The Black Dog. No, this will not be the last when we were young type artist on this list. Far from it!

It helps me to live



41. Poem by Taproot

-My favorite radio station growing up was 92.3 Xtreme Radio and they sure did love this song.

I can't feel my chest



40. Send The Pain Below by Chevelle

-92.3 Xtreme Radio loved this one too. It's disguised as the slow second single (rock band labels loved this release streategy), but then that bridge gets moshy in a hurry.

Even though you snubbed How You Remind Me at least Kroeger made it on the list

Silver Side Up album came out in 2001. Songs like that were going to be 90% of the close calls list lol. Maybe if I do a 2001 list at some point...

I'll post one more and be done for the night ... unless I can't sleep which is always a high possibility. Getting through 12 on first day when I was planning on starting tomorrow meets the requirements of Quick.

We could be perfect one last night and die like star-crossed lovers when we fight



39. Our Lady Of Sorrows by My Chemical Romance

-MCR are now known as the (rightful) kings of the emo genre, but back in 2002 they were just taking some princely baby steps with their debut album.

Late start today - not in the interest of quickness at all, but lets start plowing anyways!

We get high in backseats of cars, we break into mobile homes



38. The Way We Get By by Spoon

-Spoon is a band that was so very hip, and I knew I was supposed to like them, but they didn't really click with me till later in life. First I had my Death Cab For Cutie inspired indie-phase inthe mid 00s, but more importantly Spoon's 2014 album They Want My Soul made me connect with them fully and finally appreciate their older material.

Knocked up 9 months ago, and what she finna have? She don't know



37. The Seed 2.0 by The Roots and Cody Chestnutt

-Most people probably know The Roots from being Jimmy Fallon's backing band, but Black Thought, ?uestlove and the crew go way further back. The memory is incomplete for; I can't member why I was in a hotel or where, but I definitely member this coming on their special music video channel and younger me thinking it was awesome.

Back off I'll take you on



36. Headstrong by Trapt

-This song had two lives; one as a mid-level hit on rock radio in 2002 ... and then again as a randomly huge breakout crossover hit on pop radio in 2003. Yes, pop radio still played rock songs back then if they were catchy / sad enough.

I'll play it all night darling



35. Busted by The Black Keys

-This is the "do you wanna feel really old?" song of this update, since yes, The Black Keys do go all the way back to 2002 with their debut album. Their sound was so much different though, really heavy on the blues vibes and barely any of the stadium rock that would come to define them once they hooked up with Danger Mouse. This album also has Ill Be Your Man which was the theme song to the show Hung.

I will never bother you



34. You Know You're Right by Nirvana

-At this point in time, Tupac had released more albums after he died than he did while alive - there was a new one like every few months. It was a funny joke on the lost season of Chappelle's show. Someone, somewhere thought "why not do the same thing with Kurt?" and we got this song ... which is pretty awesome so I guess we owe a thanks to those greedy and insensitive record industy people for once.

The iist has been fun up to this point, but shit is about to turn up. When going through playlist, 33 felt way too low for next song, but there's nothing else to move down. Just pure bangers till the end.