My List: Lily Allen

Squeeze: "Up the Junction" [Listen]
"My mum used to play me that record when I was little," Allen says of the bittersweet 1979 pop song about a young couple with a baby. "She moved to London at seventeen with a young child, so it kind of reminds me of her."

Klaxons: "Golden Skans" [Listen]
The London trio is Allen's "favorite new band." This first single is her choice cut from the recent debut, Myths of the Near Future: "They touch on the Nineties dance era that no one's really touched on yet."

Dizzee Rascal: "I Luv U" [Listen]
When she was about fifteen, Allen heard the U.K. grime MC rapping on a pirate radio station. "It just blew me away," says Allen, 21. "It really reminds me of London and being a kid and having a laugh."

Jay-Z: "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" [Listen]
Allen cues up this Timbaland-produced track from 2003's The Black Album at her DJ gigs. "It always goes down well," she says. "It's a big song."

The Specials: "Too Much Too Young" [Listen]
"I feel like it's relevant to me and my life," Allen says of the 1979 ska classic. "I probably did do a little bit too much too young."