Lila Downs

Lila Downs' greatest strength is her ability to craft great, punch-to-the-gut drama -- and judging by the visceral theatricality of her greatest hits album, the woman knows it. Start anywhere on this collection of her most dramatic hits from her eight albums: the heart-in-her-throat sob of "Paloma Negra," the almost-campy "El Venadito," and especially the hip-hopera that is "Tu Recuerdo y Yo." Wherever you jump in, you'll be swept away in enough impeccably crafted melodrama to keep the audiences of two telenovelas (y tu, amigo) rapt for weeks.