Afroman

Having split a spliff with the irreverent Joseph Foreman, aka Afroman, we can attest to his wit and wisdom. More class cutup than comic buffoon, his note-perfect take on stoner indolence, "Because I Got High," was an obvious and admitted bit of autobiography. In fact, the song's success produced a world-class case of pot-induced paranoia in the Compton resident.

"There's some kind of investigation going on. There's binoculars on you. You're under surveillance. You're in your dope house/crack spot, whatever you call it, and you make a song that blows up," Foreman said last year. "I felt like a weed criminal running in for a touchdown in my imagination, with the cops all behind me with nightsticks and squad cars, and everyone in the crowd is cheering me on. I was supposed to be happy, but it was a really tormented time for me." Before you could say "big butts," Foreman was on the label's back burner, and he asked to be released from his deal. Back on his own again, Foreman is clever and talented (his mother is a music teacher, and he can really sing, when not playing the fool), so there's hope that he'll overcome his novelty-hit status.