You will not hear a finer accordion solo on a rap record this year than the one in the Coup's "We've Got a Lot to Teach You, Cassius Green." The song also has 2012's most furious washboard solo, and its most wild-eyed indictment of corporate oligarchy: "The assistant crouched at the monster's feet . . . in a puddle of urine and meat." The Coup's sixth LP is stuffed to the gills: with Boots Riley's radical politics and conceptual lyrics; with unexpected guests (Jolie Holland, Japanther); with punk beats. It's an admirably ambitious mix, often a bit too unruly. But when Riley gets it right – "The Magic Clap," a buzzy mix of Motown, punk clamor and "Hey Ya!" – it's novelty music in the best sense.

Listen to 'Sorry To Bother You'

“Everyday People”

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.