Atlanta's T.I. found himself on the wrong side of jailhouse bars for a few months this year, thanks to a variety of probation violations. When he got out recently, rather than laying low, he promptly launched into a high-friction war of words with Houston's Lil' Flip. On Legend, T.I. claims victory but is still looking over his shoulder. The tension is audible in the generally joyless production, which is all ponderous drum machines and terror synths. Still, T.I. is a top lyricist: He makes the against-all-odds love rap "Freak Though" credible and is utterly menacing on "ASAP," warning, "I'm only gonna ask you to 'find the exit' once politely."

“He Will Break Your Heart”

A lightly swinging Latin-influenced, almost cha-cha groove and close harmonies decorated Jerry Butler's early soul hit "He Will Break Your Heart," delivering a stately warning that his rival would never love his girl like he did. The melody came to Butler as he was driving on the highway from Atlantic City, New Jersey, to Philadelphia with Curtis Mayfield, and as Butler told Rolling Stone, "I just sang the melody and Curtis put the chords to it." The song's premise, Butler added, "was something that I'd lived ...The lyric was an experience rather than a revelation. Whereas music is usually a revelation."