Jim Jones

Jim Jones still has a thin, strained voice, and a flow that is slow and monotonous (particularly when contrasted with the colorful deliveries of his fellow Dipset peers), but the Harlem "Capo" turns weaknesses into strengths. His "real talk" approach projects a street authenticity that other rappers, burdened by artifice, can't match. "So Harlem" and "Reppin' Time" are quintessential Jones: sluggish dispatches from a dealer who mingles braggadocio with paranoia. There's also the elephant in the room -- the monstrous club hit "We Fly High" -- that made Jones one of 2006's most successful rappers.