The PlayStation-bleepy crossbreed of hip-hop and house known as grime has become England's new chart-pop. On his debut, 22-year-old MC-producer Tinie Tempah dreams of even wider glory: "Disturbing London, baby, we about to branch out," he rhymes like a psyched-up robot over neon-lit synths on the irresistible "Pass Out." Tinie is a smart and sly hook maestro, mixing the flashy and the mundane with lyrics like "I've got so many clothes I keep some in my aunt's house." He skirts cheesiness on tracks like the trance headbanger "Miami 2 Ibiza." But the closer to hip-hop he gets, the better: On the slow-rollin' "Snap," stripped-down beats are perfect for his simple, brash enthusiasm.

Listen to "Pass Out":

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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.