Twostepcublog

    " 21 Questions " - 50 Cent featuring Nate Dogg from the album Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (four weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 20   Today's song comes from Curtis " 50 Cent " Jackson, who had a one-two punch in the spring of 2003 with his first two singles " Wanksta " from the Eminem movie 8 Mile and " In Da Club ", with the latter topping the Billboard magazine Hot 100 for nine weeks. (Another track from the album, " Patiently Waiting " with Eminem, got enough unpromoted airplay on urban radio stations to place on Billboard 's R&B Songs chart for 20 weeks with a high of #56.) The rapper wasted no time in following that huge hit with "21 Questions", which features the chorus sung by G-Funk veteran Nate Dogg, whose last time on the series as a lead was back in the summer of 1998 when he teamed up with Warren G for the single " Nobody Does It Better " from Nate's G-...

    " She's My Kind Of Rain " - Tim McGraw from the album Tim McGraw and the Dancehall Doctors (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #27 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 9   Today's song comes from country music star Tim McGraw , who tackled the tough subject of young love and ending an unplanned pregnancy with the song " Red Ragtop ". That first single from his Tim McGraw and the Dancehall Doctors (which signaled he was using his own band) did OK, landing in the top-5 on Billboard magazine's Country Songs airplay chart. For him that was a let down, as some stations refused to play it, even some diverting to his cover of Elton John's " Tiny Dancer " from the album, which ended up getting enough airplay to spend 15 weeks on the Country Songs chart peaking at #49.  The second official single from the record would be the mid-tempo track "She's My Kind Of Rain". Written by Tommy Lee James and Robin Lerner, the song doesn't tackle...

    " Concrete Angel " - Martina McBride from the album Greatest Hits (2001) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #47 (two weeks)   This week's "robbed hit" comes from country music singer Martina McBride , whose first Greatest Hits album had four new songs, with one of them, " Blessed ", making the Billboard magazine Hot 100 top-40 in the spring of 2002.  The fourth and final single from the collection was the ballad "Concrete Angel". Written by Stephanie Bentley and Rob Crosby, the song tackles the tough subject of child abuse. The lyrics start out with painting the picture of a young girl battered and bruised in tattered clothes, where heronly respite from her home hell is a school that fails to notice and fellow kids that bully her. The one boy who does befriend her, is there at a neighbor house to witness the girl's final moments. I won't give away the twist at the end, please by all means watch the video. It's a rough topic done voca...

    " Emotional Rollercoaster " - Vivian Green from the album A Love Story (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #39 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 1   Today's song comes from R&B singer Vivian Green , who grew up in north Philadelphia (in the same neighborhood Broadway star Leslie Odom Jr. hails from). After being in a vocal group, a songwriter, and a backup singer for Jill Scott, Green was signed by label powerhouse Columbia Records, where she released her debut album A Love Story in the late autumn of 2002. The lead single from the record was "Emotional Rollercoaster". Written by Green with Ade Osuni (under the moniker Osunlade) and Eric Roberson, the lyrics have Green lamenting in the toxic relationship she's in, where the other person leaves her high and dry after "the act" and her heart is riding those highs and lows. It's a very Toni Braxton-ish kind of song, and producer Junius Bervine is nicely loose, framing the track like it would b...

  Saturday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 "hits" from the past week. Paul Russell clings to #1 for a fourth week, while South African newcomer Tyla (pictured above) leaps four notches in the top ten. Songs from Warren Zeiders, Eliza Rose & Calvin Harris, and Tim Montana make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ), while former big hits from Kylie Minogue, the Rolling Stones, and Tyler Childers drop off the chart. And under the list, everything is Spotify playlisted for 5 1/2 hours of the biggest in pop, rock, R&B, country, and dance music. 83 million, baby! This Week       Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Lil Boo Thang - Paul Russell (1) 2. Lose Control - Teddy Swims (2) 3. The American Dream Is Killing Me - Green Day (3) 4. Water - Tyla (8) 5. Is It Over Now? - Taylor Swift (7) 6....

    " Somewhere I Belong " - Linkin Park from the album Meteora (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #32 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 8  Today's song comes from the rock group Linkin Park , whose debut album Hybrid Theory had sent the song " In The End " all the way to #2 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in the spring of 2002. The album went on to sell over twelve million copies, paving the way for a whole generation of hard rock to break into the mainstream pop world. While they were touring and playing festivals behind the album's long-running success, the band released a "remix" album (a rarity in the rock world) called Reanimation . The collection went to #2 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, with sales of over a million copies. One of the remixed tracks, "Points Of Authority" (renamed "Pts.OF.Athrty"), peaked at #29 on Billboard 's Alternative Rock airplay chart in the summer of that year.  A year after "In Th...

    " Rock Your Body " - Justin Timberlake from the album Justified (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #5 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 19   Today's song comes from Justin Timberlake , whose debut solo album after leaving *NSYNC, Justified , had already spun off a pair of hits with " Like I Love You " and the Britney-bashing " Cry Me A River ", with the latter making the top ten in beginning of 2003.  Justin also appeared on rapper Nelly's single " Work It ", his first feature appearance, but that stalled down at #68 on Billboard 's Hot 100 even though it rose to #7 in the United Kingdom.  For the third single from Justified Justin went back to the producers of his debut single, the Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo). Pharrell foretold his work with Daft Punk in the future with the disco throwback "Rock Your Body". Written with Timberlake, the song's lyrics are nothing but the usual getting down with a lady on t...

    " Big Star " - Kenny Chesney from the album No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #28 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 8   Today's song comes from country music star Kenny Chesney , whose sixth studio album No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems had spun off a pair of singles that crossed over tothe top-40 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 with " Young " and " The Good Stuff ".   The third release from the record, the reflective " A Lot Of Things Different ", did decently on the radio, making it up to #6 on Billboard 's Country Songs airplay chart, but that was only good enough to place at #55 on the Hot 100.   For the fourth single, Chensey went big, as in the bombastic "Big Star". Written by Stephony Smith, the lyrics tell a story about a girl who grows to be a phenomenon in the industry. Soon after becoming famous, people are questioning how she made it, very much quite like a certain person that w...

    " Can't Let You Go " - Fabolous featuring Mike Shorey and Lil' Mo from the album Street Dreams (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #4 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 19   Today's song comes from rapper Fabolous (aka Johnathan Jackson), who returned to the Hot 100 in Billboard magazine in the autumn of 2002 with his contribution to the movie Barbershop , " Trade It All, Pt. 2 ".  That hit would also be a bonus track on his sophomore effort Street Dreams , which came out in the spring of the following year. Fabolous' next single to promote the album, " This Is My Party ", was released to radio right after "Trade It All" peaked, but it was only able to climb to #59 on Billboard 's R&B Singles chart, though it stayed on the list for twenty weeks. Another preview cut, " Damn ", got enough airplay on urban radio to pop on to the R&B list for four weeks with a high of #69.  For the third release from the set, F...

    " I'd Do Anything " - Simple Plan from the album No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #51 (three weeks)   This week's "robbed hit" comes from the pop-punk band Simple Plan , who came together in Montreal at the end of the 1990's, with high school friends Chuck Comeau, Jeff Stinco, and Sebastien Lefebvre along with lead singer Pierre Bouvier soon joined by David Desrosiers. Signed to Atlantic Records' imprint Lava (who also hosted Matchbox Twenty), the group released their debut album No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls at the start of 2002. The first single from the record, " I'm Just A Kid ", got play on music television but never made any of the radio charts in Canada or the U.S., though it recently got tagged as a meme on the TikTok app and has since become their most streamed song (deservedly so).    For the second release from the debut, "I'd Do Anything", came out that fall. Written by ...

    " Have You Forgotten? " - Darryl Worley from the album Have You Forgotten? (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #22 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 10   Today's song comes from country music singer Darryl Worley , who had landed his first crossover hit on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in the autumn of 2002 with the ballad " I Miss My Friend ".  Mind you, that was a year after the horrific terror attacks on 9/11. But after the follow-up single "Family Tree" failed to even make the top-20 on Billboard 's Country Songs chart, Worley got on the jingoistic bandwagon for the fist-pumping patriot cash-in "Have You Forgotten?". Written by Worley with Wyn Varble, the lyrics start from the get go talking down to people who are wary of the United States entering an invasion of Iraq, even when they possibly supported the military going into Afghanistan, where the terrorists were trained. Of course, this has nothing to do with where the vast majo...

    Saturday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 "hit" tunes from the previous week. Paul Russell parks himself at #1 for a third week, while Taylor Swift (pictured above) climbs a pair of notches in the top ten. Former big hits from Noah Kahan/Post Malone and Dylan Scott drop off my chart, while songs from Noah Kahan (!)/Hozier, Kane Brown, and Mary J. Blige make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ). Under the list, everything is Spotify playlisted for 5 1/2 hours of the biggest in pop, rock, R&B, country, and dance music. Snowed in...   This Week               Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Lil Boo Thang - Paul Russell (1) 2. Lose Control - Teddy Swims (2) 3. The American Dream Is Killing Me - Green Day (3) 4. What Was I Made For? - Billie Eilish (4) 5. Greedy - Tate McRae...

    " That'd Be Alright " - Alan Jackson from the album Drive (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #29 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 8   Today's song comes from neo-traditional country music artist Alan Jackson , whose tenth studio album Drive had already spun off three hits that crossed over to the top-40 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 with " Work In Progress ", " Drive (For Daddy Gene) ", and the sole reverent 9/11 tribute " Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning) ".  The fourth and final official single from the album was "That'd Be Alright", written by Tim Nichols, Mark Sanders, and Tia Sillers. The lyrics read out like a centrist's pipe dream, with everybody having just a little more to make it. It does take a (slightly) darker turn with the lines "If my dear old dog never got old, if the family farm never got sold", again like other songs he's done without emphasizing who's to blame f...

    " I Know What You Want " - Busta Rhymes and Mariah Carey featuring the Flipmode Squad from the albums It Ain't Safe No More... (Busta, 2002) and The Remixes (Mariah, 2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 22   Today's song comes from rapper Busta Rhymes and singer Mariah Carey. Busta, who had scored a pair of top-40 crossover hits on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 from his first album on Clive Davis' J Records, Genesis , with " Break Ya Neck " and " Pass The Courvoisier Part II ".  The lead single from his next record It Ain't Safe No More ... " Make It Clap ", however, missed the pop top-40 by a handful of notches in the beginning of 2003. For the second try from the record, Busta released a much more radio-friendly track with "I Know What You Want", which featured one of the biggest stars of the previous decade, Mariah Carey . But in the early 2000s, that wasn't a guaranteed ...

    " Hell Yeah " - Ginuwine featuring Baby from the album The Senior (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #17 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 12   Today's song comes from R&B singer Ginuwine , who returned to the Billboard magazine Hot 100 top-40 in the autumn of 2002 with a song he contributed to the soundtrack to the movie Barbershop , " Stingy ".  "Stingy" would also appear on Ginuwine's fourth studio album The Senior the following spring. His next single from that record would be "Hell Yeah", which featured rapper/Cash Money label head Baby , who had reached the top-40 himself with the single " Do That... ". Written and produced by R. Kelly, it sports a groove much funkier than I expected from him, with a bassline that's mind-grabbing. The lyrics are the usually going out to party and find some women to spend their "time" with, with only a passing and unnecessary gun reference. Baby actually sounds better o...