Perhaps the most fearsome figure to come out of Gary, Indiana, since Joe Jackson, Freddie Gibbs is a former-freight-train-robber-turned-hardcore-rap-revivalist. He's also poised to become hip-hop's next big thing, having generated serious heat with mixtapes like this 15-track powder keg. Gibbs is a technically gifted MC with a baritone voice and steely flow that suggests a more nimble 50 Cent, and on Str8 Killa he maintains his iron-man mien so thoroughly it's sometimes tough to tell if he's having any fun. But when he jacks the beat to Masta Killa's 'Born 2 Roll' or glides through tongue-twisting rhymes on the Dirty South-style 'In My Hood,' he sounds str8 masterful.

“My President”

Young Jeezy teams up with Nas on this track, in which he compare his own success with the idea of an African-American winning the Democratic Party's nomination in the 2008 presidential election. "When I pulled up in my car, that s--- was unbelievable to people in my neighborhood because they were like, 'We grew up with him. How the hell did he accomplish this?'" he told Rolling Stone. "I feel like it was the same way with Obama. I grew up all this time, but I've never seen a black man this close to running this country."