When you pop a Mozartkugel in your mouth, you can tell if the chocolate and marzipan confection is authentic or not. But is that portrait on the wrapper the real Mozart? Did he actually look like that? Come on, now!

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Usher f/ Beyoncé and Lil Wayne, "Love in This Club, Pt. 2" (LaFace). You could call it a remix, but it is more of an adjustment, even though the original continues to ride high(er). Beyoncé gets thrown into the mix, Jeezy is replaced with Weezy (who is hilarious, despite being a distraction), and the initial mix's bleariness is transformed into a sugared glide; you can never go wrong with the gentle bass boom accented with a little synthetic cowbell. Nothing could make up for Confessions' "Throwback" not being released as a single, but this comes surprisingly close. It's the first single this year to go straight to the Top 20 of the R&B/Hip-Hop chart. (Bizarrely, it has more or less stalled).

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We love 1999 a whole lot, but maybe not quite as much as we love making lists. Each month (or so), until we have covered every year we can remember (unless we get tired), we will take a look at our favorite albums and singles released during a given year. In the year 1999, Basement Jaxx, Eminem, Mos Def, the Flaming Lips, the Dismemberment Plan, the ageless Tom Jones, the mighty LEN, and dozens of others produced nonperishable goods that would've gotten us through a Y2K drought of just about any magnitude.

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