15 Songs to Kickstart the Weekend

SBTRKT is a master of collaboration. If and when he chooses to add vocals to his instrumentals, it has to be just right. And since his 2011 self-titled debut album, he's been killing it in the selection department.

Roses Gabor's smoky, sensual voice is the perfect complement to the bouncy tension of "Pharaohs," creating a jam that will force you to wiggle all those body parts that have gotten stale over the course of the week.

Ice Cube's performance in Friday was amazing enough. But his contribution to the film's soundtrack cemented his (and its) legacy as an all-time classic. That big snare clap is the modern equivalent of Fred Flintstone's 5 o'clock bird call. When "Friday" starts to bump, you know the weekend is nigh.

Frantic Kendrick is Kendrick at his best: he raps with reckless anxious abandon that seems to ooze right out of the speakers and into your bones. It's a strange paradox: he's out there exorcising demons, and your limbs are flailing around like a drunken octopus. Still—that's no reason to resist the rhythm.

"m.A.A.d City" is a dark, dark song, detailing the block-to-block warfare that comprised Kendrick's childhood, but good god does it go. Sounwave's production creates a world on fire, and that signature "YAWK YAWK YAWK YAWK" war cry is the spark that lights the flame.

TNGHT came and went too quickly. The Hudson Mohawke/Lunice collaboration dropped some of the hottest tracks of 2012, spawned a generation of cheap imitations, and then hung it up, going their separate ways at the end of 2013.

And while HudMo is still pushing boundaries in his own way, there's been nothing to match the hyperactive insanity of tracks like "Higher Ground." If this doesn't stir you from your stupor, have a co-worker check your pulse to make sure there's still warm blood flowing through those veins.

Back when Earl was still pre-Samoa, he was knocking cats out with his teenage lyricism and cool, calm track domination. "Dat Ass" is barely over a minute long, but the then-budding rapper makes the most of every second. It's a masterclass in sound rhymes, from the opening declarations ("juice box, tank top, tube socks") to the echoing chuckle at the end. All these years later he's still spitting flames, albeit of a colder, meaner type.

Back when Kanye was rocking colors and unbuttoned collared shirts, he went in on Pharrell's synthesized, sultry "Number One."

It's Pharrell's show—the catchy chorus, the crooned verses, and the layered harmonies all recall a little outfit called N.E.R.D., but Skateboard P also does a great job of sharing the spotlight with a still-ascending Kanye West. Pity they didn't do more work together, but I don't know how P would have fit into Yeezus.

Otis Redding is one of many to cover Roosevelt Jamison's 1964 classic, but no other version managed to pack in the raw emotion Otis brought to the table. All the other instruments in the recording seem to recognize as much, staying back in the mix and listening in awe as one of history's great singers goes to town on the soul ballad.

From the first to the last of it, delivery is passionate, and the best alliance in hip-hop left their mark on the world with this one. Mos Def and Talib Kweli are at the top of their game, spitting verses that land like drum rolls, each word and phrase hitting home sonically and rhetorically.

"Definition" is aural motivation. Get up off of that chair and go seize the night, because you only have two days before you have to plop back down.

When Hudson Mohawke premiered "Ryderz" last week during a Rinse FM event, it was as if the clouds had finally parted. He had teased bits of the song during recent gigs, but the final product (or rather, a radio rip of the final project) was worth the wait.

Using a sample from D.J. Rogers' "Watch Out For the Riders" as the foundation, HudMo builds a house of booming drums and cymbal trills to help you ride towards the weekend in a blaze of glory.

The funk is alive and well in Body Language's "Falling Out." The lyrical content may be a bit morose (they had a "falling, falling, falling, falling out"), but the best cure for romantic trauma (or workplace doldrums) is to dance it off.

The three names involved in "Tap Dance" sound like a drunk Mad Libs, and yet: Chance the Rapper, Chilly Gonzales, and Boys Noize got together to create one of the most uplifting songs of the year. The whole Octave Minds album is vastly underrated, but "Tap Dance" is the crown jewel. Starting with some classic Chance ad-libs over Chilly's piano and continuing through the crescendo that seems to keep building and building, this song is a case study in how to cheer up.

Back when ZHU was still user601586061, "Superfriends" was threatening to break the internet with its relentless dance vibes and vocal stylings. He may have a name attached to the track now, but the unmasking hasn't affected its infectious energy.

Released in the aftermath of his breakup with Ciara, "Just Like Bruddas" is Future's ode to those he came up with in Atlanta—and Xanax.

He's "chewin' on them bars" to forget the pain of a broken relationship, and it seems to be working. That piano riff is untouchable, and by the end of the song you'll forget the pain of the previous five days. Onward, to Saturday!

What can we say about "Ignition (Remix)" that hasn't already been said? Everybody can get down with it, from Fat Joe to Michael Jackson.

In fact, when footage of MJ dancing to the song surfaced a few years back, R. Kelly is quoted as saying "I didn't know I had made it until I saw Michael Jackson in the back of that car singing and dancing to my song 'Ignition'. That's when it became official." Revisit the classic and watch the King of Pop do a little backseat freestyle (dance) below.

Toro Y Moi's new material is straight-up lovable folk rock. It's still good stuff, but it's a far cry from the music he was making on 2011's Freaking Out.

That's an album that included funky house classics like "I Can Get Love," the kinds of songs that grab you immediately and refuse let go. Sometimes a little shoulder shake can get the dust of the work week off and help you swan dive into the weekend.