Janet Jackson, “Doesn’t Really Matter”Ħ1. Fantasia, “Free Yourself”ĭesiree: Sick and tired of being sick and tired … We’ve all been there and we got a theme song for it!Ħ2. Amy Winehouse, “Tears Dry on Their Own”ħ1. Erykah Badu, “Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)”ħ5. Goapele, “Closer”ĭesiree: This joint makes you feel so good I caught wind of somebody in the media ministry at my church playing the instrumental in between services! Lol!ħ9. One listen and even you will beg Charlene to come back just to keep Anthony from falling apart.Ĩ8. No one – NO ONE – belts out Southern-drenched soul like Anthony Hamilton, and this bluesy track aches with emotion. Anthony Hamilton, “Charlene”Įdd: And y’all say my man Keith Sweat is the master of begging for love. Luther Vandross, “Dance with My Father”ĩ1. Jill Scott, “The Fact Is (I Need You)”ĩ6. Stress”ĭesiree: “My, my annngel, I’d stop breeeathing, for you….if my life was possible without…… AIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRR!!!!!” Whew! Nuff said!!!!ĩ8. Now, let’s look back at the best R&B of the early 21st century. This is simply an unbiased look back at the decade of which his music was a big part of.)

That is not an endorsement of his character or a dismissal of any allegations against him. (And one note: Yes, this list does include songs from R&B’s Voldemort, R. We compiled them into one mega list, ranked them all and created the list below.Īnd we even created a playlist for you to enjoy all the songs here. To compile this list, each panelist nominated their 30 favorite songs from the years 2000-2009 (so don’t yell at us for excluding Miguel or H.E.R., they’ll be on the 2010-2019 list, playa). My dude Kyle Ng, senior editor of and my tormentor on the weekly SoulBack PodcastĪnd of course, yours truly, the Shao Kahn of, your favorite singer’s least favorite album reviewer Longtime R&B fanatic Charles Williams, who returns after helping out with our 90s listįormer Soul In Stereo contributor and music junkie Desiree Savageĭiane Hawkins, who will throat punch anyone who dares to besmirch the good names of Prince or Luther Vandross We’ve already looked back at the 100 best songs of the 1990s – see that list here.Īnd like that list, once again I’m joined by members of the Soul In Stereo Cypher, our official Facebook group, to break down our favorites. Today, we’re looking back at the 100 best. Blige and Mariah Carey reclaiming past glories, ’90s upstarts like Beyonce and Usher becoming megastars and the arrival of new trendsetters like Alicia Keys and Ne-Yo filled the 2000s with many memorable hits. The rise of neo-soul, legends like Mary J. But that momentum slowed by the time we rolled into a new millennium.Īnd for what it’s worth, I think we often underrate the great music created in that era. If you’re a longtime R&B fan, you probably pine for the glory days of the 90s, when R&B was dominating mainstream airwaves and we were blessed with back-to-back classics on an almost monthly basis.

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