Rai

When my friend Lisa (who put the “T” in “trip”) came to visit many years ago, she found a pop-rai compliation I had and spent the next two weeks listening to “Ma-Nsal” nonstop. Because she is awesome. (Also awesome: This World Is Africa post on Khaled, the king of rai.)

Rai AllMusic page

Ragtime

This list is dedicated to Mark’s friend Carmen, who—in addition to also being the adopted child of a single parent, because, of course—played a mean ragtime. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen an 11-year-old Asian girl busting out some Scott Joplin.

Ragtime AllMusic page