June 20, 2008 – You gotta give Nas points for trying. After a year in which he caught flak from Bill O'Reilly for participating in a benefit, saw his nemesis turned label boss Jay-Z leave Def Jam, and shot a failed reality show with his wife Kelis, the 34-year-old Nasir Jones lost his long, contentious struggle to name his ninth album Nigger, replacing the title at the last minute.

November 15, 2007 – In 1993, the Wu-Tang Clan emerged as not just another star within the galaxy of East Coast hip-hop, but as their own universe. The nine-man crew arrived from their home base of Shaolin -- a.k.a. Staten Island -- sui generis, with fully formed myths, beliefs, and a cryptic slanguage that took a glossary to parse. (C.R.E.A.M.? "Cash Rules Everything Around Me," naturally.) Fourteen years later, hip-hop's class of '93 is mostly gone or forgotten: Black Moon, A Tribe Called Quest, Brand Nubian. But the Wu? Still recording. Still relevant. No other hip-hop group comes even close to matching the Wu's prolificacy. By a conservative count, there have been 35 Wu-related albums since 1992; include distantly orbiting Clan satellites like Killarmy, Sunz of Man, and Remedy, and that number blooms to well over 50.

October 16, 2004 – Young BuckStraight Outta CashvilleG Unit/Interscope On "Let Me In," the first single from Nashville rapper Young Buck's debut album, concealed weapons, underage drinking, and brazen flossing are the order of the day. Foes are shouted down; diamond-encrusted burners are waved. Even Buck's G-Unit boss, 50 Cent, goes back to the well, intoning "Go shorty / We back up in this bitch again." As the beat-part J-Kwon's "Tipsy," part the Clipse's "Grindin'"-thumps along, you're thinking, Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Then, out of nowhere, Buck exclaims, "My daddy's a dope fiend / And I don't really miss him / Ain't seen him in ten years!" Then, as punctuation, he drops in a barbaric yawp of an ad-lib: "Fuck him!" Buck, born David Brown, possesses a delivery that's a voodoo stew of Tupac and Screamin' Jay Hawkins, and that unhinged growl powers Straight Outta Cashville.

August 16, 2004 – JadakissKiss of DeathRuff Ryders/Interscope Letthis be known from the jump: Listening to Jadakiss will not stamp yourticket to heaven. His second solo album offers little in the way ofsocial commentary, colorful storytelling, playful humor--all thehallmarks that make albums by your average God's son or college dropoutcompelling. Straight outta Yonkers with a Lox/D-Block membership cardin his wallet, Jada's an East Coast alpha male who deals exclusively inthreats and boasts, shifting gears only to flex a catalog-likeknowledge of guns, ammo, and fine automobiles. That said, he's one ofthe four or five best MCs breathing. He knows it too: "Fuckriding a beat, I parallel-park on the track." With all due respect tothe recently "retired" Jay-Z, Jada is rap's preeminent formalist: It'snot what he says, but how he says it.

August 10, 2004 – The RootsThe Tipping PointGeffen We ask a lot of the Roots. Straddling mainstream gun claps,underground knapsacks, and jam-band woodsheds, they're equally at homebacking Eminem at the Grammys, sharing the mic with Common, or findingthe pocket with Medeski, Martin & Wood. Hip-hop's de facto houseband have never been just a rap group. Philly's finest are the bridgebetween indie artists looking for shine and fat cats looking for cred.And by sharing stages with everyone from Moby to 311, they'venormalized hip-hop for white alt-audiences. There have alsobeen times when the Roots asked a lot of us. They've often sailed theuncharted seas of prog rap, meandering into spoken word, wanky solos,and fusion indulgences. But if their early Native Tongues-tingedoutings--1995's Do You Want More?!!!??!