Padded Room

Editors’ Notes After years of fumbling by Def Jam, Joe Budden broke free to release his music independently. The Jersey City MC is too aware of his own failings be dragged down by them, and he celebrates his humble triumphs with the guitar-driven rock of "Adrenaline" and "The Future," where he packs in punchlines over a skittering beat abetted by The Game’s husky flow. "Blood on the Wall" might be the album's hardest track, Budden cutting down haters and fakers over a militant snare courtesy of MoSS.