As the clock ticked over on the 20th century and the fear of a Y2K apocalypse evaporated, we waved a fond farewell to a decade dominated by grunge, gangsta rap, Britpop and big beat. The 25 years that followed have seen music move in any number of fascinating ways - streaming replacing CDs, the rise and fall of music festivals, billion dollar world tours, superstars launching their careers from their bedrooms.

We’ve seen the rise of world-dominating megastars like Taylor Swift and Beyonce; a garage rock revival in The Strokes and The White Stripes; global crossover artists like Bad Bunny and Sampa The Great; the return of heavy metal in Slipknot and System Of A Down; and the emergence of the rapper-as-popstars, like Nicki Minaj, Lil Uzi Vert, and of course, Drake (who *spoiler alert* did not make the list).

This list is special project to choose the best and most influential songs from this century so far. To try and keep it interesting, I have limited myself to only one song per artist. There are, of course, a million controversial cuts. But that’s list-making, baby! Without further ado, let’s dive in.