The Best Eleven Singles of the Half-Year

Man, Rich Boy is totally a goober.

11. Young Jeezy featuring R.Kelly - Go Getta: Even though Young Jeezy continues to be the most superfluous rapper going, this one succeds on the strength of the beat, and R.Kelly's appearances.

10. Three 6 Mafia - Doe Boy Fresh: I love the epic samples used by Three 6 Mafia, this one is no different. Sure, it's the less skilled younger brother, the Keith Gretzky to Stay Fly's Wayne, but, in some ways, that makes it even more endearing.

09. Modest Mouse - Dashboard: It ain't no "Float On", but it's still a ramshackle catchy little ditty.

08. Diddy featuring Keyshia Cole - Last Night: This is the best Diddy single since "Bad Boy For Life". It's completely un-Diddy in that it's a bizarre 80s sounding beat, with Keyshia Cole crying over top of it about how sad she is, while Diddy is at his least braggadocious, lamenting lost loves. It's a toss-up between which is better, as the edit is about 2 minutes shorter and cuts out a lot of Cole's whining, which grates after a while, but the full-length has the completely insane ending with Diddy phoning his girl's house and threatening to shoot up her place if she is, in fact, just screeing out his calls.

07. Rihanna featuring Jay-Z - Umbrella: You know, I didn't even like "Pon De Replay" when it came out (still don't, actually), so I'm completely confuzzled as to just where all these great pop songs came from. Time will tell if this holds up to "S.O.S." which was played 'round the clock, but became better with each play, or if I will burn out quickly on this one. I would guess the former, but Jay-Z's half-assed appearance could drag it down to the latter.
06. [b]My Chemical Romance - Famous Last Words[/b]: Yeah, Throughsilver was right, this is THE MCR single. Miles better than The Black Parade which has a good start and finish, but no meat to the middle, this is just DRIPPING with emotion. Billy Corgan wishes he could hit these heights of emotional melodrama.

05. Silversun Pickups - Lazy Eye: A late-enough 2006er that I'm counting it for 2007, as that's when everyone started playing it. It's a complete mystery why this is doing so well, in that it really in no way sounds like anything current and is more of a throwback to late 90s alternative rock. It's a terrific song, though, my favourite part being the way he repeats that one section of lines with added vigor until the last time he shouts them right over the guitars.

04. Rich Boy featuring Polow Da Don - Throw Some D's: Rich Boy kind of looks like a goober, but, really, he has next to nothing to do with how good this song is. Really, it's all Polow Da Don (Who might want to shorten his name to something easier, PDD maybe?). PDD produces it, and it rides this simple, laid-back sample with a big bass then gets more complicated as the song goes on, mixing in this little sample that I can't quite place. But, what's more, is PDD than comes in after the second chorus and drops the best verse of the entire song, especially when he brags that "Every freak should have a picture of my dick/On their walls!" My only complaint is it's too early, as radio will have moved on, and this really should've been the song of the summer.

03. Ciara - Like A Boy: Ciara continues her miracle run, completing the Triple Crown of great singles after her appearance on last year's Field Mob single "So What", and last fall's "Promise" which was beyond amazing: a declaration of love/R&B personals ad riding a Prince-sounding beat. This one just might eclipse the other two (Maybe not, "Promise" is really, REALLY good). It has this strings sample that sounds just like that Diamonds commercial with the silhouettes of happy couples that was ridiculed oh-so-well on Family Guy. Ciara sings about double-standards and talks about how maybe she'll start staying out all night, leaving her cell on vibrate, and making boys cry, wishing that she "could act just like a boy" which is a pretty admirable song to attempt given that weird Internet rumor going around a year or two ago. But, the song is greatness. I'm hoping for many more Ciara singles this year, as she is just on a roll.

02. The Killers - Read My Mind: I really think all the reviewers last year lazily lambasting the Killers for copping Springsteen because Brandon Flowers dropped his name in an interview missed the mark. The Killers maybe were going for Springsteen lyrical content, but they never sounded anything like the Boss. No, I'm pretty sure, and judging by the opening of this one with the ambient keyboard sounds so reminiscient of "Where the Streets Have No Name", that The Killers dream is really to be this generation's U2. This song is nigh-perfect, too loud to be on the "soft-rock" stations, but tempered enough to be perfectly acceptable as the soundtrack to the next romantic comedy. The only things that throw me off are Flowers' weird hiccupped delivery on a couple of lines, but even that is becoming quite endearing.

01. Omarion - Icebox: This should have been such an amazingly huge hit that it's ridiculous. Timbaland delivers a better beat on this one than anything on his own album: twinkling piano keys, and a perfect throbbing bassline. But, really, Omarion's the star here, lamenting a girl he loves; he's losing her, he'll soon have lost her, because the girl he loves doesn't exist, except in his memory. Omarion sings the hell out of this one. Easy #1 single of the year. I wouldn't be surprised to see this still sitting here at the end of the year.