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.

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."