“Who Let The Dogs Out” by Baha Men

(2000)

Not a lot of people know this but “Who Let the Dogs Out” is actually a cover of a song titled “doggie” produced by music composer Anslem Douglas. Douglas wrote the song for the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival in 1998. before the Baha Men, the song was first covered by Jonathan King, then King’s friend Steve Greenberg, an American record producer, gave it to the Baha Men and told them they should cover it as well. Greenberg’s advice was spot on because the Baha Men’s version became a smash hit. The song peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, as well as topping the charts in Australia and New Zealand. The song gained immense popularity in the USA, reaching the Top 40 Chart after it was featured in the film Rugrats in Paris: The Movie. It won a Grammy in 2001 for Best Dance Recording. Today it is still popular, especially in sports arenas.

“Butterfly” by Crazy Town

(2000)

“Butterfly is the third single off Crazy Town’s debut album The Gift of Game. The song was released in November of 2000 and reached number 1 in 15 countries, including the US. The song blends hip-hop and rock together, a style/genre that was becoming very popular at the time. “Butterfly” uses a sample from the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s song “Pretty Little Ditty.” VH1 ranked the song as #34 on their “Most Awesomely Bad Song Ever” list. In 2009 it was rated #3 on Billboard’s chart for One Hit Wonders of the 2000’s.

“Because I Got High” by Afroman

(2001)

“Because I Got High” is about a narrator singing about how his life got ruined because he kept smoking weed while putting off his responsibilities in life. Afroman wasn’t known at the time he made the song, he only sold his albums at his concerts. He put the song on the music sharing website Napster and it started gaining buzz on the internet. It really blew up when Howard Stern played it on his radio show where millions of people heard and loved it. Famous Hollywood director Kevin Smith directed the music video and put the song in his film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. From the film’s exposure the song became an international hit. Afroman was now nationally known and got signed to Universal Records. “Because I got High” is still a stoner favorite and probably will forever be. In 2004, Afroman went on to produce another hilarious classic party song, “Colt 45.”

“Stacy’s Mom” by Fountains of Wayne

(2003)

“Stacy’s Mom” was released in May 2003 from the rock band Fountains of Wayne, off their third studio album. The song is about a teenage boy who has a crush on one of his friend’s mom. The song was inspired by the bassist of the band Adam Schlesinger, who had a friend who had a crush on Schlesinger’s grandmother. The song peaked at #21 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, making it the band’s most successful song. “Stacy’s Mom” made it into the top 10 in Ireland and the top 20 in Canada, UK and Australia. The song sold more that 500,000 copies, putting it as certified Gold. It was even nominated for a Grammy for Best Vocal Pop Performance.

“Pieces of Me” by Ashlee Simpson

(2004)

“Pieces of Me” is the first single from Ashlee Simpson’s debut album, Autobiography. Ashlee Simpson is the younger sister of the singer/actor Jessica Simpson. Ashlee got her start in show business by being a backup dancer for her sister. She decided to branch out on her own though, aspiring to be a pop-punk singer like Avril Lavigne. Her song “Pieces of Me” did very well. It peaked at #5 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and her album Autobiography went triple platinum. The song also went on the top 10 charts in various other countries too. Later that year Ashlee was invited to be the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. She played “Pieces of Me” as her first song and was going to perform another song off the album for her second performance on the show. However, as the band was about to play the second song “Pieces of Me” started playing over the speakers. It was revealed that Ashlee lip synced the previous song “Pieces of Me”. Not sure what to do, Ashlee danced a little jig then left the stage. That night she blamed her band for playing the wrong song but later she admitted she did in fact lip-sync because she had an acid reflux problem that night. “Pieces of Me” remains Ashlee’s most successful song. In 2017, Billboard ranked the song #97 as Top 100 Greatest Choruses in the 21st Century.

Ashlee Simpson caught lip syncing in video below.

“Paper Planes” by M.I.A.

(2007)

“Paper Planes” is a song by British hip-hop artist M.I.A. from her second album Kala, released in 2007. The song was produced and co-written by Diplo, before his big breakout. The song was a sleeper hit because it didn’t get well known until 2008. It was put into the films Slumdog Millionaire and Pineapple Express, which were both huge commercial successes. After the films’ releases the song rose in popularity very quickly. It peaked at #4 on US Billboard Hot 100 and went multiplatinum in the US and Canada. The song went platinum in the UK and gold in New Zealand. It remains M.I.A.’s most successful song to date and is considered by some to by one of the best songs to come out of the 2000’s decade.

“I love College” by Asher Roth

(2009)

“I Love College” is the debut single from rapper Asher Roth’s first album Asleep in the Bread Aisle. The song is about partying at college, inspired by Roth’s time at West Chester University. When “I Love College” first hit the Billboard Hot 100 chart it started at #85, then climbed to #55 and finally it peaked at #12. It also reached #19 on the Pop 100, #53 in Canada’s charts and #26 in the United Kingdom’s charts. The song sold over 1 million downloads within 12 weeks of its release.