Julox

Because he spent a good portion of his life between Texas and Louisiana, you'd expect Julox to adopt the Southern-fried hip-hop funk of Cash Money Records or the Screwed Up Click in Houston. He certainly has the voice and persona to fit in that circle. But he's forged his own sound, applying his Southern accent to keyboard-driven funk like "Midwest Coast II" and "I Done Swung," which recalls early Rap-A-Lot, something from the Geto Boys or Scarface. Julox is hardly the violent type, though; he gets sentimental on the '70s-influenced "1981 (Mommaz Song)," expresses hometown pride on "My City Iz Yo City" and makes music for the hoopties on the Sanford and Son-sampled "Bucket Music." The result is a laid-back album made for cruising and smoking weed.