White-beat pirates can come home from Jamaica with riddim realness, or sand in their shorts. Producers Diplo and Switch, a.k.a. Major Lazer, definitely do JA right. Recorded at Kingston's legendary Tuff Gong studios, this EP twists dancehall and dubstep into kinky new directions. M.I.A. gets militant on "Sound of Siren," and a Thom Yorke remix of "Jump Up" (from Major Lazer's 2009 debut) spikes a naughty party jam with futurist spookiness. The best moment, though, might be "Good Enuff" — a roots-reggae tune with sweet vocals from Canadian Lindi Ortega that provides a little soul amid the gangsta beach bingo.

“The A Team”

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.