Lupe Fiasco wasn’t always a rapper that blipped on my radar. He’d come up in mixes, I’d heard him at parties, and I’d seen the odd video on YouTube, but I didn’t own any CDs, and I’d never bought any of his songs on iTunes. The Show Goes On changed that.

I’ll admit, I have a soft spot for Modest Mouse. They’re just a great band to listen to when you’re doing pretty much anything. Now, I was skeptical when one random website called The Show Goes On the best song ever, but when I realized that it was mixed with a fire-roasted Float melody On by Modest Mouse, I started to care a lot more.

This song has to be one of the best feel-good rap songs I’ve heard in ages. I put the video on loop for weeks until iTunes decided to offer it as a download and then I listened to it on my iPod for weeks after that. Just do it:

A totally worthy buy on iTunes if you have a spare buck or two. More of Lupe’s stuff can be found on his site.

I like John Legend, I really do. I’m also a big fan of this song, but the remix really nailed it home.

Every part of this song kicks ass, but it’s the chorus that makes you lift off from your seat. I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never actually heard it in a club (not for lack of trying) but when I do all hell will break loose. Rugs will be cut.

Enjoy:

Having heard the remix before the original, I was a bit unsure when I grabbed the full Kid Cudi album, but I was completely blown away. The original is great, the Crooker’s remix is brilliant, and I’ve really yet to hear a bad remix of the song. Listen for yourself:

Unfortunately the original doesn’t have a you-tube video I can embed, but you can give it a listen here.

Here’s the rock-solid Crooker’s remix:

And the speedy Agent X remix:

Solid.

Gifted is a really incredible motivation song. From Kanye’s ego-fuelled verse on rising to the top, to Santogold’s verse on smacktalking adversity, the entire song really just pushes you to try harder at whatever you’re doing. My favourite part? Lykke Li’s chorus:

The hook is what took me in. Like I said, not my favourite album in the world, but damn isn’t this song catchy. You can watch the music video here: