Tenures at the top are short in hip-hop--short like, say, leprechauns. Native Tongues lose their lucky Africa medallions. Gangstas' colors fade. Those who invented the remix find themselves in reality-show purgatory. But for the better part of a decade, Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter has been a force of nature.

Ted Leo is from Jungleland. It's a place where populism and smarts are not mutually exclusive, where soul and rock mingle. And where guys like John Fogerty, Joe Strummer, Minutemen's D. Boon, and, above all, Bruce Springsteen make sense of a jumbled world by telling their stories--tales of everyday heroism and tragedy--with so much honest humor you realize that they're your stories, too.

Ghostface Killah and M.O.P. both emerged in the mid-'90s, during the same crime-rap renaissance that made icons of Nas, Biggie, andMobb Deep. They both lurked in the shadows of larger crews--Ghostface played the wall with the Wu-Tang Clan, while M.O.P. studied under Gang Starr.