'90s Hip-Hop

Every one of these tracks could spark a party in the blink of an eye, playing off nostalgia for classic '90s hip-hop, which came swaggering out of the States and had us all perp-walkin' and throwing gang signs, even though our 'hood was probably a leafy village in rural Cheshire. Warm things up with 2Pac, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg.

The competitive nature of hip-hop at the end of the 20th century kept tracks fresher than your morning croissant, as adventurous producers and MCs tinkered with proven formulas. A Tribe Called Quest ("Award Tour") provided a sharp alternative to gangsta clichés, and Eminem proved to be one of the finest pop-poets this side of Dylan.

It's debatable whether we can really call these tracks Deep Cuts. After all, you never had to look far to find the Beastie Boys, who turned up in one of the best videos of the decade: "Sabotage", directed by Spike Jonze, was a hilarious parody of '70s cop shows. And Diddy captured imaginations with his sampling of the Police on "I'll Be Missing You".

Ah, the '90s — the decade when hip-hop went from a street-level movement to a cultural institution, and straddled the Atlantic, offering a connection to that most cherished of pop commodities: street authenticity. It was a fine time, if you're into beats and rhymes . . . and let's face it, who isn't? That said, our '90s hip-hop playlist also serves as a fitting summation of the decade itself: turf wars between the East and West Coasts, OutKast and others reinventing pop, and the likes of Diddy and Master P cementing empires from two turntables and a rusty microphone.