"The youth is not youth for long/Rest in peace, Trayvon," declares Chuck D on PE's second 2012 LP, following Most of My Heroes Still Don't Appear on No Stamp. A predictably righteous volley of rhyme grenades on race and pop-culture politics, tinged with grumpy nostalgia, it's startlingly potent. Grooves clobber, facts sucker-punch; and Flavor Flav lights up "31 Flavors" like a Christmas tree, riding a hot go-go groove. They're still partying for their right to fight, hard as ever.

“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.