08 June 2016

top 100 of the '00s | 81. mya, pink, lil kim, christina aguilera - "lady marmalade"

Editor's Note: My apologies for the gap in a couple of weeks between posts. I finalized my list before ever making the first entry in this project, and a closer look revealed that two songs did not belong on the list because they were released outside the 2000-2009 window. We hadn't reached either in the list. I had to replace and readjust, and I'm now ready to resume. Thank you for understanding.

Movie songs aren't the pop culture staple that they were in the 1990s and earlier, but every now and then still a great one comes along.

The most interesting thing about this one, of course, is that it never appears in the movie, and is basically in another quadrant of the galaxy in terms of tone. Moulin Rouge is a modern musical with orchestral-pop-centric numbers -- soft, calculated tunes you'd expect to hear in a stage production. This hit from the soundtrack, however, was a big-bassed radio smasher with pop princess prowess.

I'm totally gay for duets, so naturally a quartet had me doing wallkicks like the bartender from that Rick Astley video. They really diversified the vocal ranges and qualities too; Mya is soft and sweet, Pink is rough and tough, Lil Kim is classy/trashy, and Xtina is the powerhouse. Missy Elliot is just the little bit of whipped cream on the mocha latte: Never overpowering the main event but a very nice way to finish it.

Man, I wish movie songs would make a comeback.

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