For the past few years, the reigning queen of hip-hop soul has been slowly expanding her turf to include house music, through sleek, propulsive dance remixes of some of her biggest hits. Long obtainable only through import and promo-only DJ singles, these cult items are now available in a limited-edition CD. The good news is that it's a great workout soundtrack, full of pounding and energetic grooves. The bad news is that little of it is very imaginatively interpreted. Most of the remixes — such as Junior Vasquez's dated retooling of "Your Child" — simply edit Blige's original vocals and then slot them over bombastic, beat-heavy tracks that heavily recall recent remakings of Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey tracks. Still, the wistful funkiness of the disco-tinged "Give Me You" and "Everything" make this collection worth owning for Mary completists.

“1999”

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.