Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs 2004 ◆

Only nine hip-hop songs made the top 100. While Grandmaster Flash’s "The Message" (1982) hit #51, and N.W.A’s "Straight Outta Compton" hit #166, the list completely missed the mid-2000s explosion. Where was OutKast’s "Hey Ya!" (2003)? It was released the year before the list was compiled but was relegated to the 2010 update. Worse: Missy Elliott, Jay-Z’s "99 Problems," and anything by A Tribe Called Quest were shockingly low or absent.

If you are a young listener discovering rock history, the is the perfect starting point—not because it is right, but because it is passionately, audaciously opinionated. It dares you to disagree. rolling stone 500 greatest songs 2004

Today, that list feels like a fossil from a pre-streaming world. Rolling Stone has since revised it twice (2010, 2021), adding more diversity, genre fluidity, and modern hits. But the 2004 original remains the most debated, the most quoted, and for many, the most beloved—because it dared to say, "This is what matters." And then invited everyone to argue about it forever. Only nine hip-hop songs made the top 100

Black Sabbath’s "Paranoid" sits at #251. Slayer? Nowhere. Metallica’s "Enter Sandman" (#399) and "Master of Puppets" (unranked) were treated as nuisances rather than essentials. It was released the year before the list

The original ranking was overwhelmingly male-dominated. In the top 30, only one woman—Aretha Franklin—held a spot.

In 2021, Rolling Stone released an updated list, which reevaluated the greatest songs of all time. The new list featured a more diverse range of artists, genres, and eras, reflecting changes in cultural context and musical tastes. Notable changes included: