When the hip-hop/R&B history books are bound and delivered a few decades from now, 2004 will be looked at as "one of those years" - 12 busy months brimming with enough activity to make us (almos …

Remember Diddy's old buddy Mase - "Been Around the World," "Feels So Good," etc.? Sure you do, although no one expected the rapper to break his retirement in 2004, playing the role of "a Bad Boy gone c …

Back in the '70s, the Carpenters realized the huge potential of the Hispanic market when they recorded an endearing Spanish version of the hit "Sing." Culled from the infamous Hot Space album, Q …

Whether providing the basis for Santana ("Oye Como Va") or Lou Bega ("Mambo No. 5"), Latin jazz occupies a significant role in popular music. Who doesn't know "Spanish Flea," Herb Alpert's theme for

When the cascading piano lines and party-on samples - Shaft and Public Enemy in the same song? Yes! - of "Show Me What You Got" beamed a "Jay-Z's back" signal into the air, few people were surpr …

If the twinkling Atari tones of "Ayo Technology" sound oddly familiar, it might be because they're similar to the electro-rock effects of a certain Crystal Castles single ("Courtship Dating"). Whether  …

Pop-Rap? Isn't that an oxymoron, what with hip-hop's need to be "hard" (or, in the immortal words of Run-DMC, "tougher than leather")? Yes and no. No matter which way the beat bounces, rap thriv …

The "Deep Cuts" tab above the following tracks is a little misleading. After all, each and every one of these songs attacked the charts at one time or another. That includes the buzzing-beehive  …

The next time someone says modern rock lost the plot a long time ago, you might want to point them towards 2006's top releases. After all, the Red Hot Chili Peppers wasn't the only band that delivered  …