Urban Contemporary

Like the name says, urban is the sound of the streets — the hypnotic voices of soul and hip-hop merged into a style that captures the essence of the black experience. Experience it for yourself with these 25 fundamentals.

The finest urban draws on the deep tradition of black music that stretches from James Brown through Marvin Gaye to Funkadelic and the Sugarhill Gang, and translates it into a new language for a new century. These next 25 urban sounds tell us it's a language we can all understand.

Urban has touched places that soul has never been able to reach before. Its divas, heroes and villains have captured a global audience, uniting different cultures with their street-smarts, swagger and sexuality. Go a little further with these 25 deep cuts from deep in the pocket.

Like the name says, urban is the sound of the streets — the hypnotic voices of soul and hip-hop merged into a style that captures the essence of the black experience. Sometimes it's smooth, sometimes it's bumpin', but it's always in the pocket. Get the glide in your stride with these 75 slick but oh-so-funky favorites.