Leslie Pidgin, aka Freeway, was another product of the Jay-Z/Dame Philly Sweep, and like Beanie, he was a knotty, emotionally intense character. Decidedly unlike Beanie, or anyone else on the planet, for that matter, Pidgin was blessed with one of the most distinctive voices in rap — a blood-freezing screech pitched somewhere between Ghostface at his most panicked and AC/DC's Bon Scott. He makes the most of this incredible instrument, rapping in thick tangles and drawing out end syllables with a shuddering, vein-straining wheeze, delivering every line like a man who had just arrived on foot from a murder scene. On his Roc-A-Fella debut, he was paired with Just Blaze, the house producer whose way with a soul sample could seemingly bring down the heavens, and the resulting album still rings with urgency seven years later.