By Young Jeezy, 2006

No matter what is being supplied, a hustler is only as good as his word. With Atlanta serving up some of the hottest product in the rap game, native son Young Jeezy stands as one of the most exciting merchants of cool to emerge in years. The Inspiration is the newest album by this Def Jam rapper, featuring singles such as "I Luv It" and "Child of God."Wander through the coke-lined lyrics of Young Jeezy's Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 and now The Inspiration, its keep-it-entirely-real follow-up, and you may never look at a snowman or a box of baking soda the same way again.

But what you lose in the way of crack-trade innocence you gain in a clear picture of why few rappers in the game get Jeeps to rattling as reliably: Jeezy--never mind the hopped-up hustler bluster--is a hugely magnetic figure, a ghetto go-getter capable not only of laying down the kind of loosey-goosey lyrics that make you want to clap him on the back for untangling street-wiseness from seriousness but of inspiring some kind of out-there superhero comic book series, too. Other rappers drip on the ATL drawl, but none as winningly (check the Timbaland-produced "3 A.M."). And other rappers spit trademark phrases a la James Brown's "Good God!," but few as adroitly (Jeezy's "ha ha" sticks).

Friends help--something divine issues from the pipes of Keyshia Cole on "Dreamin,'" and DJ Toomp puts the T.I. treatment on "I Luv It"--but at the end of a long day of trappin' and playin' this is Jeezy's party. --Tammy La Gorce

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