The 50 Best One-Hit Wonders of the 2000s

Flipping the riff of Weezer’s “Say It Ain’t So” and the boom-bap beat of MC Lyte’s “!0% Dis” into a lilting reggae-adjacent groove, the debut single from Pennsylvania MC Asher Roth celebrates the cheap pizza and endless partying that comes with his higher education. His incredulous delivery nails the always-wowed vibe of the typical campus stoner guy, and it pushed “I Love College” to blog fame (and made Roth a Spring Break star) in 2009. “I Love College” peaked at Number 12 on the Hot 100 that year, and Roth is still releasing music — although whether he’s the pride of his alma mater West Chester University, or a PR crisis, remains up for debate. 

The Atlanta sister act Cherish topped out at Number 12 on the Hot 100 with “Do It To It,” a Sean Paul-assisted serpentine ode to clubbing that shows off their silky blood harmonies. Cherish’s insistent instructions — “Bounce wit’ it, drop wit’ it, lean wit’ it, rock wit’ it, snap wit’ it” — are delivered in a gently firm cadence that will have even the most devoted sofa-dwellers moving along with its sweeping beat. 

A decade after “Smells Like Teen Spirit” broke and years after the alt-rock gold rush had passed, some music journalists were still on the hunt for the next Nirvana, and this Sydney act was tapped with that distinction in the run-up to their 2002 debut Highly Evolved. That album’s snarling cut “Get Free,” which didn’t reach the Hot 100 but did get airplay on American rock radio and MTV, lived up to that assessment: frontman Craig Nicholls’ strangled voice sounds dipped in a Cobainian lye, while his bandmates’ sonic assault makes every second of the song’s 2:07 running time land like a bomb.

Kandi Burruss had enjoyed pop fame as a member of the ‘90s R&B vocal group Xscape, and her songwriting credits for Destiny’s Child, P!nk, and TLC showed how her talents carried over into her post-Xscape years. “Don’t Think I’m Not,” her revved-up 2000 solo single, delighted in getting even with an ex—not through anything nefarious, but through having a full and happy life on her own. It topped out at Number 24 in October 2000 and was her only song to chart there, but Burruss kept thriving all the way to being cast on The Real Housewives of Atlanta in 2009. 

Perhaps the only way to respond to Yum Brands’ decision to house its many fast-food brands under the same roof was this surrealistic, loping track from the Brooklyn hip-hop collective Das Racist, which was initially released on MySpace in 2008. It didn’t reach the charts, but the way twin MCs Himanshu “Heems” Suri and Victor “Kool A.D.” Vazquez turned the phenomenon of looking at words for mind-warping periods of time into a heady, giddy pop experience created a viral smash that altered the musical landscape. 

While rock seemed to be getting leaner and meaner in the early ‘00s with the parallel ascents of nu-metal and post-Strokes/White Stripes garage-rock, the Los Angeles band the Calling veered in the opposite direction with their 2001 single “Wherever You Will Go,” a big-hearted, strummy ballad about love and mortality. Singer Alex Band’s gruff vocal drove home the song’s slow-build romanticism, which crests on a commitment-celebrating chorus tailor-made for weddings, anniversary parties, and other commemorations of long-standing bonds. “Wherever” reached Number 5 on the Hot 100 in March 2002, and it topped the Adult Top 40 for 23 weeks — a feat only bested by Santana’s Rob Thomas-assisted “Smooth,” and one that was tied by Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” in the Eras Tour glow of 2024.  

Soca singer Kevin Lyttle initially recorded “Turn Me On” as a ballad, but in 2003 it was remixed into a quick-stepping dancehall track that reached Number 4 on the Hot 100 in August 2004. Lyttle’s honey-dipped voice adds a bit of cushion to his come-ons, while the old-school synths surrounding him add urgency to the proceedings.

Romeo “Lil Romeo” Miller’s father is No Limit Records founder Master P, and he signed to his dad’s label for his debut album. The No Limit heir had a lot of resources for his debut single, as evidenced by the way it flipped the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” into a celebration of Romeo himself. Putting his not-yet-teenaged voice front and center, the ebullient “My Baby,” which reached Number Three on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 2001, was the ultimate playground boast — not only because of its pricey sample, but because of the way he name-dropped his uncles Silkk the Shocker and C-Murder, shouted out his basketball skills, and spent much of the song dodging the romantic intentions of a determined young woman. 

Shawn Maurice Mims’ debut single reached Number One in March 2007, thanks to a snaking, minimalist backing track, well-deployed interpolations that tip a cap to the world outside of MiMS’ hometown of New York. and some of the most tautological boasts ever committed to wax. “I’m hot coz I’m fly/ You ain’t coz you’re not,” he declares in laid-back yet firm fashion — and who are we to argue with that type of ironclad logic?

“Cock rock” wasn’t just a genre for the British band the Darkness: It was a reason for being, as their 2003 rallying cry “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” proudly proclaimed. With its winking, horny lyrics, delivered by octave-leaping frontman Justin Hawkins, and its full-arsenal guitar solo, laid down by Justin’s brother Dan, “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” was goofy but not a goof. It wasn’t really the kind of thing that’d get on the radio in the 2000s, but it touched a retro-rock nerve and its late-Eighties revivalism remains potent to this day thanks to the Darkness’ chops and charm. 

A happy-sad ditty that combines upbeat strumming with copious apologies from a not-great boyfriend, the lone hit by the Long Island alt-rock band Nine Days rides a syllable-stuffed opening couplet, “This is the story of a girl/ who cried a river and drowned the whole world,” to jangle-pop paradise. Reaching Number 6 on the Hot 100 in July 2000, the hooky “Absolutely” has just enough brightly framed self-loathing for vocalist-guitarist John Hampson to seem like an okay guy in the end.     

While the girlband craze that took over the UK never quite materialized on the other side of the Atlantic, the TV series Popstars, which spawned the mega-selling vocal group Girls Aloud, did take root on The WB for two seasons. Its first season led to the 2001 formation of Eden’s Crush, and while in 2025 that quintet is probably most notable for its inclusion of Tony nominee Nicole Scherzinger, it did arrive on the wider pop scene with a banger. “Get Over Yourself,” which topped out at Number 8 on the Hot 100 in March 2001, is a feisty and petulant pop&B cut in the Destiny’s Child mold, with sparkling instrumentation framing glowering harmonizing about a controlling ex.   

A true time capsule of its moment, the Atlanta snap-hop group D4L’s ode to booty-shaking rode a bunch of ‘00s trends — Atlanta hip-hop, dance crazes, ringtone-ready music, and digital song sales — to the top of the Hot 100 for a single week at the beginning of 2006. Its minimalistic beat made it catchy despite itself, while its ridiculous lyrics (“I’m lookin’ for Mrs. Bubble Gum, I’m Mr. Chick-O-Stick,” etc) added even more playfulness to the mix.

Puerto Rico-born twins Nicole and Natalie Albino created a cultural touchstone when they released “Move Ya Body” in April 2004. Fusing the Coolie Dance riddim with the sisters’ tightly wound harmonies—and adding some well-timed callbacks to Lisa Lisa’s “Can You Feel the Beat” — the certified summer jam, which hit Number 4 on the Hot 100 in August 2004, reflected the Albinos’ varied musical background while sounding very of its moment.

Brits Elly Jackson and Ben Langmaid threw back to the early Eighties with their synth-pop project La Roux, which released its icy, yet irresistible debut album in 2009. “Bulletproof,” the third single from the record, peaked at Number 10 on the Hot 100 in June 2010 and was a study in contrasts. It was pugilistic on its sharply rendered verses, where Jackson railed against an ex looking for reconciliation, but melted on its chorus, with Jackson stretching out the title into a wail that implied a lessening resolve. 

This slinky ode to self-love gets some of its heat from a woozy Timbaland beat, but Tweet’s swooning vocal is its real energy source. As she recounts a late-night session of taking in her own beauty and being overcome by it, she sounds happily surprised, adding to a dreamlike feeling that’s only heightened by Tweet’s pal Missy Elliott zooming in from out of nowhere to serve as an omniscient (and appreciative0 narrator. “Oops (Oh My)” reached No. 7 on the Hot 100 in April 2002, but its message of affirmation has resonated through the decades.  

American Hi-Fi leader Stacy Jones cut his teeth in the raucous rock bands Veruca Salt and Letters to Cleo, and his spin on feisty power pop had a punky edge to it. “Flavor of the Weak,” the band’s Number 41-peaking debut single, is an upbeat yet irritated chronicle about a woman who isn’t properly appreciated by her boyfriend. Rhyming “stoned” with “Nintendo” — which Jones and his backup vocals do in triumphant harmony — is only one of this gem’s many inspired touches.   

While this insouciant cut by the Bahamian junkanoo collective Baha Men only topped out at Number 40 on the Hot 100 in October 2000, the commanding way its titular question is bellowed (and the bark-echoing “who, who who”-ing that follows) made it one of the 2000s most indelible cuts. That’s especially notable given its origins: as “Dogs” writer and Baha Man Anslem Douglas told The Huffington Post in 2016, it’s actually “a man-bashing song” meant to shame guys who ruin parties by being too aggressive toward women.     

First Lady of Aftermath Truth Hurts’ debut single was marred by a bit of sample-based intrigue: The Bollywood snippet threaded throughout, of Lata Mangeshkar’s 1981 track “Thoda Resham Lagta Hai,” was used without being cleared, which triggered a federal copyright lawsuit against Truth Hurts’ label and producers. Truth’s powerhouse vocal, which added an intensity to her chronicle of a so-bad-it’s-good relationship, really didn’t need any backing track, let alone one mired in legalities. Thankfully, some of the problems with the track cleared up in 2021, when “Addictive,” which reached Number 9 in 2002, was finally available on streaming services.    

Neo-New Wavers the Click Five formed at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, and they enlisted a fellow pop scholar — the prolific Adam Schlesinger, who was fresh off the crossover-hit success of the randy “Stacy’s Mom” — to write “Just the Girl,” which would max out at Number 11 in September 2005. Goopy synthesizers, “ahh-ahh” backing vocals, and lead singer Eric Dill’s loopy vocal give just the right candy-coating to this besotted track’s power-popping center.  

Spinning out of the Diwali riddim and into pure pop bliss, this 2003 cut from the Harlem-born singer Lumidee is a sublime summer jam, thanks to the combination of its jumping-rope beat with across-the-playground call-and-response moments and Lumidee’s breathless vocal. “Never Leave You” only reached Number 54 on the Hot 100 in June 2003, but its simple structure and multiple earworms — particularly that “uh oooh”-ing — have made it stand the test of time. 

Today, the story told in “Hit ’Em Up Style (Oops!)’ would be recounted as a 21-part TikTok series complete with Nieman Marcus hauls and instructional videos on how to “go back and hit ’em up style.” In 2001, an R&B song would suffice — and that’s probably for the better, given the tour de force performance given by the Rhode Island-born singer here. Sampling Frank Sinatra’s “The Boys’ Night Out” only makes the pricey payback detailed in “Style” sweeter, and its Billboard Hot 100 pinnacle of Number Two turns revenge into something sublime.  

While the hypnotic rap-rock cut “Butterfly” didn’t announce Crazy Town’s 1999 debut The Gift of Game to the world, its release as a single in October 2000 did change the game for the Los Angeles band. Blending elliptical rhyming, unabashed horniness, and a sample of Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Pretty Little Ditty” that adds to its mystical vibes, “Butterfly” was a rap-metal spin on the power ballad that reached the top of the singles chart in March 2001. Its success didn’t quite satisfy the band: “We have a lot to prove because of ‘Butterfly.’ We have to prove we’re aggressive punk kids—a real band and not a pop act,” Shifty Shellshock told Rolling Stone in 2001. But it did open a door for other tough-guy acts to show off their softer side.

Khia’s 2002 debut single may have only reached Number 42 on the Billboard Hot 100, but that’s probably more due to a technicality than anything — it’s an absolutely filthy track, with Khia dictating her demands for pleasure in juicy detail while dime-store synths simmer behind her. Getting it regularly played on the radio in the U.S. would have involved a lot of meetings about how dirty the phrase “lick it good” is. “My Neck, My Back” was an absolute comet of a hit that probably would have received more chart recognition in the post-radio era — just look at how the Sexyy Red/Bruno Mars collab “Fat, Juicy, and Wet” is doing without FCC regulations to bind it. All the more reason to celebrate Khia for bringing women’s satisfaction to the fore and turning it into pop gold. 

Known as a funk-metal act, the California band Hoobastank reached Number Two on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 2004 with “The Reason,” a neo-power ballad that was as apologetic as it was self-lacerating. “I’m not a perfect person,” “I’m sorry that I hurt you” — those are lines one gives when one is about to break up with someone. But Hoobastank flip the script with “The Reason,” on which lead singer Doug Robb bellows his promises to work harder and be better — the sort of on-my-knees posturing that makes for the most-satisfying rock weepers.  

St. Louis-born MC J-Kwon hit it out of the park with his lead single, a “We Will Rock You”-sampling salute to “everybody drunk out on the dance floor.” Riding the synchronized hand claps of Queen’s stadium-rattling hit, some well-placed keyboard mashing, and the way J-Kwon bent the first syllables of the word “everybody” into a roar, “Tipsy” reached Number Two on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 2004. He might have hit the chart’s top spot were it not for the cultural domination of Usher’s thematically simpatico “Yeah!,” but justice came two decades later, when the “Tipsy”-interpolating “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by the country charmer Shaboozey reached Number One in the U.S. and around the world.

Channeling the glittery grooves of late-Nineties R&B through Samantha Fox’s assertion that naughty girls need love, too, the debut single from pop singer Willa Ford is both of its time and reminiscent of other pop eras. Ford delivers her coquettish come-ons, which are targeted toward an already-committed prospect, with lip-licking determination, while her ad-libs only add to the overheated atmosphere. “I Wanna Be Bad” reached Number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 2001, but Ford parlayed its success — and her undeniable gumption — into hosting gigs and a role as Anna Nicole Smith in a 2007 biopic.

A bare-bones boast — its backing track is made up only of claps and stomps — about proper makeup application, Lil Mama’s 2007 debut single, “Lip Gloss,” was a cross-generational banger: Even though the Brooklyn-born MC was throwing down verses about owning her schoolmates, the sentiment of deriving confidence from a well-chosen cosmetic was widely relatable. “Lip Gloss” made it to Number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 2007, but its no-nonsense production helps it still sound as fresh as a just-applied coat decades after its release.

Where to start with the Long Island band Wheatus’ perfectly pitched anthem for the world’s crushed-out heshers, which frontman Brendan Brown wrote as a belated fuck-you to Satanic Panicking types? Its quiet-loud-quiet verse-chorus-verse structure reveals the furtive emotions roiling underneath metalheads’ Slayer T-shirts; its protagonist’s offering of “two tickets to Iron Maiden, baby,” to his object of affection shows that he’s savvily bringing her to a full-on arena spectacle, and not just a scuzzy club show. Somehow, “Teenage Dirtbag” didn’t make the Billboard Hot 100 after its release in 2000 — a fact that radio programmers should hang their heads in shame over, as it not only made but reached Number One or Number Two on charts everywhere else in the world. It still has “hit” written all over it and the staying power to prove it even a quarter-century after its release. One Direction covered it on their Take Me Home tour, the Aussie pop futurist Peach PRC gave it a hyperpop makeover in 2022, and it’s become a TikTok perennial. As sweet as it is defiant, “Teenage Dirtbag” makes its louder moments land like a falling amp; and its chorus is infectious enough to even get buttoned-up preppies singing along — and maybe even headbanging — in unison.