Our Mardi Gras Phat Tuesday Playlist

1) Jay-Z featuring UGK,"Big Pimpin" (1999) Of course, this had to be No. 1. With the new millennium starting and the music industry at its height, Jay-Z got Def Jam to fund an absurdly expensive video shoot during Trinidad's Carnival celebration, giving us a Hype Williams masterpiece that has been turning boys into men for 13 years now. The sheer excess, gleeful abandon and vivid images capture the true celebration of being alive that Mardi Gras is. After you pour one out for the late Pimp C, bump this one as loud as you can -- and let the bead-throwing begin!

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