These are the top 20 songs from albums released between December 1, 2000 and November 30, 2001 in the United States. As I do every year, I factored in the following criteria when ranking the top songs: originality, composition/arrangement/production, lyrics, catchiness/memorability, energy, emotion.

1. DMX “Who We Be” The Great Depression (Def Jam)

2. D12 featuring Eminem “Purple Pills” Devil’s Night (Shady/Interscope)

3. The Living End “Uncle Harry” Roll On (Warner Brothers)

4. The Strokes “New York City Cops” Is This It (RCA)

5. Fugazi “Cashout” The Argument (Dischord)

6. Aesop Rock “No Regrets” Labor Days (Definitive Jux)

7. System of A Down “Deer Dance” Toxicity (American/Sony)

8. Missy Elliot “Get Ur Freak On” Miss E…So Addictive (Elektra)

9. Gorillaz “Clint Eastwood” Gorillaz (Virgin)

10. Missy Elliot “Lick Shots” Miss E…So Addictive (Elektra)

11. Burning Airlines “The Surgeon’s House” Identikit (DeSoto)

12. Bob Dylan “Mississippi” Love and Theft (Columbia)

13. The White Stripes “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” White Blood Cells (Sympathy for the Record Industry)

14. Jay-Z “Hola Hovito” The Blueprint (Roc-A-Fella)

15. Blu Cantrell “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!)” So Blu (Arista)

16. Bran Van 3000 “Love Cliché” Discosis (Grand Royal/Virgin)

17. Superchunk “Phone Sex” Here’s To Shutting Up (Merge)

18. The Shins “Caring Is Creepy” Oh, Inverted World (Sub Pop)

19. Jay-Z featuring Eminem “Renegade” The Blueprint (Roc-A-Fella)

20. Erik Sanko “While You Were Out” Past Imperfect, Present Tense (Jetset)