Top 25 Summer Jams of The Decade

Summer Jams have a way of defying everything you hold sacred about your music tastes. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, your entire aesthetic jumps right out the window, in favor of a radio-friendly, beachy, head-bopping soundtrack. You know you have succumbed to the allure of the most infectious Summer Jams when they can be heard multiple times in a one hour car trip, and you yell to not change the station. And what better day to revisit the greatest Summer Jams of the decade than on the last day of autumn, with a foot of snow on the ground.

Summer Jams are delivered in many packages. Summer movie blockbusters attempt to remind you of how awesome they are by permeating your radio with an immediately identifiable soundtrack. Many movies that try to accomplish this fall short, such as Will Smith’s Black Suits Comin’ (in MiB: II). However Aaliyah’s Try Again (of Romeo Must Die), Christina Aguilera and friends’ Lady Marmalade cover (from Moulin Rouge), and Chad Kroeger’s Hero (of Spiderman) were all far more successful.

Some had help rising to the top from the sheer luck of being associated with a moment in pop culture. Beyonce’s Single Ladies was undoubtedly super-huge, but it was propelled by over 25,000 YouTube videos of people imitating her dance steps.It also didn’t hurt when Justin Timberlake spoofed it on SNL, or Kanye West extolled it’s virtues in his now infamous “Imma let you finish” speech. In 2004, if you did not at some point yell “Yeah!” like Lil’ John, then you are really just lying to yourself. Not that Usher needed the help, but Dave Chappelle’s Lil’ John impersonation was so infectious, the rapper himself has credited Chappelle with increasing his visibility as an artist.

And speaking of Usher, he has to be the crown prince of Summer Jams in the 2000s. The man knows how to work a release schedule.

Click here to stream the whole mix.
25. Nelly Furtado ft Timbaland – Promiscuous (2006)
24. Hoobastank – The Reason (2004)
23. Chris Brown – Forever (2008)
22. Vanessa Carlton – A Thousand Miles (2002)
21. 50 Cent – P.I.M.P. (2003)
20. Chad Kroeger ft Josey Scott – Hero (2002)
19. Avril Lavigne – Complicated (2002)
18. Evanescence – Bring Me To Life (2003)
17. Maroon 5 – This Love (2004)
16. Lifehouse – Hanging By A Moment (2001)
15. Pussycat Dolls ft Busta Rhymes – Don’t Cha (2005)
14. Gnarls Barkley – Crazy (2006)
13. Aaliyah – Try Again (2000)
12. Katy Perry – I Kissed A Girl (2008)
11. Vertical Horizon – Everything You Want (2000)
10. Fergie – Big Girls Don’t Cry (2007)
9. Black Eyed Peas – I Got A Feeling (2009)
8. Kelly Clarkson – Behind These Hazel Eyes (2005)
7. Plain White Ts – Hey There Delilah (2007)
6. Beyonce – Single Ladies (2009)
5. Nelly – Ride Wit Me (2001)
4. Christina Aguilera, Lil Kim, Mya and Pink – Lady Marmalade (2001)
3. Rihanna ft Jay Z – Umbrella (2007)
2. Gwen Stefani – Hollaback Girl (2005)
1. Usher ft Lil John & Ludacris – Yeah! (2004)

Honorable Mentions:
Alicia Keys – If I Ain’t Got You (2004)
Beyonce ft Jay Z – Crazy in Love (2003)
Black Eyed Peas – Don’t Phunk With My Heart (2005)
Eve ft. Gwen Stefani – Let Me Blow Ya Mind (2001)
Jimmy Eat World – The Middle (2002)
Kelly Clarkson – I Do Not Hook Up (2009)
Mariah Carey – We Belong Together (2005)
Nelly – Hot In Herre (2002)
Nina Sky – Move Ya Body (2004)
Pitbull – I Know You Want Me (2009)
Train – Drops of Jupiter (2001)
Usher – Confessions, Pt. II (2004)
Usher – U Remind Me (2001)