Japanese-American hip-hop lifer Lyrics Born may never top Later That Day . . ., his career-defining 2003 album, but he still puts in an honest year's work. Now he's setting his rich-baritoned soul-rap verbosity over Eighties electro funk that recalls Cameo, Rockwell and "Party Train" Gap Band. He comments on fame's "bourgie" temptations in "I've Lost Myself" and prescription addiction in "Pillz" — music-biz sleaze in two skits. Money's on his mind too: nonexistent benefits and pension, a lady who bounced when the economy went south. But in "Something Better," he swears pessimism and cynicism aren't the answer. Corny, sure, but inspiring.

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“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.