A year ago, Philadelphia native Beanie Sigel was just another hungry voice in the crowd. However, after an impromptu verse on the Roots' Adrenaline, he caught the attention of Jay-Z, who quickly inked the young MC to a deal with his Roc-A-Fella empire. While the momentum of a few dazzling collaborations catapulted his meteoric rise up the hip-hop ranks, more importantly it showed an MC who was on the cusp of greatness. Beanie's debut, The Truth, is the culmination of that promise. While Beanie's monosyllabic flow is methodical and offers little variation, his lyrics are remarkably detailed. "What Ya Life Like" is such a frightening depiction of incarceration that it warrants inclusion in any Scared Straight documentary. Also, Beanie ingeniously parallels the life of a drug dealer to that of video-game characters on "Mac Man." Although Beanie is not ready to supplant his esteemed mentor, Jay-Z, he is one of the most intriguing lyricists to emerge in the post-2Pac era. [Truth was also released in a "clean" edition, containing no profanities or vulgarities.] ~ Matt Conaway