Party Hip-Hop

Looking for a quick way to get tonight's party started right, but can't afford the kind of DJ who has that perfect blend of classic and current tracks? Fear not, rap-minded friends, we've got you covered: just set our Party Hip-Hop playlist to random and start worrying about more important things, like how crazy things will get once window-rattling rap classics like Public Enemy's "Welcome to the Terrordome" and the Beastie Boys "Sabotage" kick in. Not to mention relatively recent floor-fillers, like OutKast's Casio-caressed "Hey Ya!" and Kanye's "Gold Digger". Want things to get so hot there's sweat on the walls? Our Next Steps are a decent start.

Hip-hop party tunes have evolved over the years, and we realize there's no point crankin' the amps unless you've got every crucial decade and sub-genre covered. That's why we've made sure you'll find everything from the old-school (Kurtis Blow's "The Breaks"; the Sugarhill Gang's joyous reworking of the Shadows' twang-classic, "Apache") to the the bling-slingin' superstars of the past ten years or so, including Ludacris, who says he's "smellin' like a million bucks" on "Stand Up". T.I. brings us back to recent yesterdays along with Rihanna on "Live Your Life". Any decent party has its fair share of secret weapons . . . hence our selection of Deep Cuts.

Listen to the following section once and you'll immediately want to rename it your Wake the Neighbours Up playlist. Why? Because it's filled to the brim with bangers, to the point where it doesn't matter what song your cursor lands on. Simply put, all these artists are ready to start a minor riot: we got the brass-rippin' G-Unit collab track "Have a Party", uniting Mobb Deep, 50 Cent and Nate Dogg; a bongo-bustin' hook-up between Flo Rida and Nelly Furtado, "Jump"; and the Lou Reed-iculously infectious Tribe Called Quest funk-jammer "Can I Kick It?". Yes, you can.

Please note before you press play: the following songs are bound to make crowds move and floorboards creep. More importantly, they're capable of keeping a party going 'til the break of dawn . . . or at least until that miserable old git downstairs decides to alert the fuzz. Repeat visits from OutKast, 50 Cent, Eminem, Nelly, Missy Elliott, and Ludacris are a certifiable block-rockin' start to any night, but we've also made sure to include one-off bangers, like the serrated spy groove and crushing chords of N.E.R.D.'s "Lapdance", and Eminem's chucklesome' 1999 calling card, "My Name Is". The fact of the matter is that your house won't be the same once these songs are done — for better or for worse.