Top Pop, One Song at a Time

Rock and rap are the pop fields reflecting the most consistent artistic ambition and vision in the ‘90s, but this look at the some of the most inviting singles and hit album tracks of the past six months underscores the healthy diversity of contemporary music:

Rock: Elastica, “Connection” and “Stutter” (DGC). It’s a testimony to the seductive swirl of Elastica’s mix of Pretenders-like new wave vitality and ‘90s wry sensibilities that the co-ed British quartet gave rock radio its two brightest moments.

Rap: 2Pac, “Dear Mama” (Interscope). If 2Pac’s album is the “What’s Going On” of ‘90s rap, this single stands as the ‘90s rap equivalent of Merle Haggard’s classic “Mama Tried.” This open letter of appreciation from a troubled son to his mother is the most disarming offering from a hard-core rapper since Ice Cube’s “It Was a Good Day.”

Country: Alison Krauss & Union Station, “When You Say Nothing at All” (BNA). In the heartwarming tradition of Garth Brooks’ “Unanswered Prayers,” Krauss sings this Don Schlitz-Paul Overstreet ballad with the intimacy of early Dolly Parton.

Dance/Club: Moby, “Everytime You Touch Me” (Elektra). The master stroke here is that production whiz Moby retraces the umpteen-beats-per-second world of old-style disco but replaces what was often mechanical and cold with a theme that is liberating and personal.

Pop: Dionne Farris, “I Know” (Columbia). If you’ve grown tired of the radio version of this stylish romantic declaration of independence, try the edgier “NY Reprise Mix” on the CD single and get hooked all over again.

R&B;: TLC, “Waterfalls” (LaFace). You’d think the heavy echoes of Prince, circa “Purple Rain,” would distract, but they only add to the lure of this look at an urban mother’s concerns for her son--the flip side of 2Pac.

Wild Card: Jill Sobule, “I Kissed a Girl” (Lava/Atlantic). Who can resist this good-hearted tale of gender-bending romantic infatuation?