Weekly Countdown: Five of Hip-Hop's Greatest Songs

Hip-hop has garnered its fair share of fickle hate from people everywhere, the oppressors of the genre claiming that it takes zero skill to spout off line after line of clever internal rhyme and create some of the most beautifully bleak urban imagery ever heard in music. Others will defend the genre's "golden age", and dismiss the more modern workings as pure garbage. I understand that music in itself is entirely subjective; you decide what you enjoy and what you don't, and if you don't like rap, that's your decision. But give the genre's finest a spin; maybe it'll change your mind.

5. Public Enemy - 911 Is A Joke



4. Jay-Z - 99 Problems



3. Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)



2. OutKast - B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)



1. Nas - N.Y. State of Mind

Weekly Countdown: Top 5 Singles of 2009

2009 was quite the year for music; we saw comebacks from grunge giants Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains, the emergence of glam-pop prima donna Lady Gaga, and we watched auto-tune slowly take over top 40 radio. It also brought an end to the decade that many called 'the downfall of music as we know it'; a statement that's downright foolish for anyone with a computer to say. While I must admit that there was an influx of shoddy mainstream rock bands who put more of a focus on image than music, it was an incredible decade for pop music, both independent and commercial. Without further ado, I present to you, my reader(s), my top 5 singles of 2009 (keep in mind that these are singles, not just any arbitrary album cuts).

5. Lady Gaga - Poker Face



4. Girls - Lust for Life



3. Animal Collective - Brother Sport



2. Jay-Z - Empire State of Mind (feat. Alicia Keys)



1. Phoenix - Lisztomania