Pop Rap

Simply cue the intros of these songs and watch the smiles spread. Even a room of cynics should secretly adore the borrowed Queen bass line of "Ice Ice Baby," the funky drummer on Maestro's "Let Your Backbone Slide," the super-freaky, Rick James-channeling "U Can't Touch This," and the "it's your birthday" refrain of "In da Club."

Not wishing to stop the party for a second, we keep it popping and/or locking with another batch of hits heavy on the hooks and radical on the rhymes. Nelly warns us it's "getting hot in here," Kriss Kross relates Daddy Mack's intent to make us "Jump," and House of Pain kindly asks us all to "Jump Around." Comply, we most certainly will.

The tab above this playlist reads "Deep Cuts," but every one of these tracks belongs to a special breed of crowd-pleasing song. Now, everybody move along to the elastic keyboard backwash on Eve's "Let Me Blow Ya Mind," delight in decoding the dexterous rhymes of Snow's "Informer," and get it started with a new recipe for Black Eyed Peas.

Pop Rap? Indeed. But to be more specific, this playlist functions as an instant party, not to mention a reliable trigger of "play that again" nostalgia. Hit shuffle and you'll stumble upon a groundbreaking meeting of guitars and beats ("Walk This Way"); mechanical, steely G-funk ("The Next Episode"); trucker-speed soul ("Through the Wire"); a groove-tailing, hypersexual single or two ("Push It," "Work It"); and Top 10 novelty treats by the likes of Will Smith, Warren G, and Young MC.