Madvillain
A pure showcase of technical rap virtuosity built almost entirely on internal rhyme chains and boastful non-sequiturs, "All…
braggadocio persona/mythmaking criminal alter-ego
Vashti Bunyan
A short pastoral hymn that treats an ordinary day of rural labor as something precious, using plain agricultural imagery to…
rural simplicity contentment the sacred ordinary
XTC
XTC dresses up an anti-militarist satire as a jaunty, whistleable pop song, mocking career soldiers who crave conflict for its…
militarism and glory-seeking satire of authority boredom as a driver of violence
Richard Thompson
A jaunty, almost comic account of a wrecked relationship, where the narrator recounts being physically and emotionally battered…
toxic romance emotional exhaustion comic violence
Eric B.
This is the title track and origin document of hip-hop's most sampled record, a first-person account of a hustler talking…
hustling and survival redemption through legitimate work the music industry as a means of escape
A Tribe Called Quest
A victory-lap travelogue disguised as a posse cut, where the pleasure of touring the world with a hip-hop crew becomes the whole…
hip-hop craft and lineage global travel and touring life authenticity vs. imitation
Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire turns the ABBA-adjacent disco hook into an inventory of surfeit: a world so saturated with information, content, and…
information overload consumerism emotional numbness
Deep Purple
This is a straightforward garage-pop cover turned hard-rock workout, built almost entirely from nonsense syllables and a simple…
obsessive infatuation powerlessness in love physical desire
Bad Company
A straightforward blues-rock strut about wanting sex and not being satisfied, built almost entirely on one repeated declaration…
physical desire insatiability masculine bravado
Aesop Rock
A children's-book superhero story about a heroic frog who rescues people (and a poodle) from peril, delivered with a straight…
heroism as ritual childlike wonder absurdism
Grandaddy
A slight, hazy love song built almost entirely out of anti-events: no plot, no conflict, just a wish to be near someone and do…
companionship over accomplishment fear of losing someone through neglect romanticizing inertia
Run-DMC
The title track of Run-DMC's landmark album is a boast-battle anthem built almost entirely from self-crowning imagery and…
braggadocio hip-hop supremacy battle rhetoric
R.E.M.
A torrent of disconnected images—natural disasters, media noise, Cold War figures, cultural detritus—gets fired off at…
information overload apocalyptic anxiety played as comedy media saturation