This Houston godfather is one of rap's great narrators, giving credence to hip-hop by fusing the personal and political along the lines of storytellers like Ice Cube and Slick Rick. Too $hort's “The Ghetto” foreshadows Face's love of moody soul samples as much as his sociopolitical themes, and while Suicidal Tendencies' “Institutionalized” might be a departure in sound, it explores the same dark labyrinth of the mind.