Jay-Z

After spending the better part of his 2006 "comeback" album Kingdom Come talking about the trials and tribulations of upper crust domestic life, Jigga returns to what he knows best: wrapping tales of the trife life inside larger critiques of society. His flow and wordplay here are on par with his best work, and the line connecting the '80s drug trade with Ollie North and Ronny Reagan are vintage Jigga. Still, this doesn't bang as much as it jerks, and the Neptune's quirky production work may throw some off.