Mystikal

Master P turned out a lot of filler during the late-'90s prime of his label, No Limit, but Mystikal stands a cut above his labelmates. Although the croaky-voiced former military man was a local hero in New Orleans before hooking up with P, he didn't find his voice until he joined No Limit. Unpredictable lives up to its title -- it's more than an hour of manic fury from the Incredible Hulk of hip-hop. Mystikal is genuinely scary when he threatens to off the thugs who murdered his sister, while explosives detonate ominously in the song's background. Maybe he even intimidated No Limit's production hacks, Beats by the Pound, because they had never crafted such a wide range of beats for any other MC. But though he's a force of nature, Mystikal's also a weirdo. "I'm on Fire" (from Ghetto Fabulous) finds the rapper running frantically and uncontrollably through his neighborhood, on flames. "I'm blind," he exclaims at one point, before realizing, "Oh, I had my eyes closed."

When Mystikal leaped out of the No Limit tank, he left behind most of the tired gangstaisms he'd nursed on P's label. It was a new era, and there was no longer any shame in a street MC making a crowd dance -- especially with a hip production crew like the Neptunes. His growl, which could have been custom designed for their grimy retro-funk, was exploited for its soulful side. "Shake Your Ass" sounded like a great, lost James Brown track. Mystikal still sounds feral, a reminder that, back in the day, R&B most certainly did not mean watered-down. (KEITH HARRIS)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide