Decked out in identical utility gear and sporting enough lyrical artillery to frighten all of middle America, N.W.A quickly upended hip-hop tradition with Straight Outta Compton. One of hip-hop's crucial albums, it was a bombastic, cacophonous car ride through Los Angeles' burnt-out and ignored hoods. Dr. Dre's busy funk production lent the proceedings a carefree, unhinged air, and the lyrics, mostly written by Ice Cube, were powerful audio verite, especially on songs such as "Fuck Tha Police," "Express Yourself" and "Dopeman." N.W.A's broad influence became apparent three years later, in 1991, when Billboard adopted SoundScan technology only to learn that the top slot on the pop album charts didn't belong to Paula Abdul but to these Compton, California, thug arrivistes (sans Ice Cube, who'd left the group due to financial differences). Niggaz4life wasn't quite the barnstormer its predecessor was — it was less textured both sonically and politically — but its success showed that the boyz in the hood weren't to be taken lightly ever again.

“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.