Devin the Dude

With a vice so central to his catalog that giving it up would nearly empty his set list, Houston's Devin the Dude fools hards into thinking he's anything other than a force for good. Sandwiched between Snoop and Dre on 1999's "Fuck You," he was a relief from their misogyny, speaking to his comically acrobatic lover as an equal, and got size-positive on De La Soul's "Baby Phat." "Fa Sho," off 2002's classic Just Tryin' ta Live, was his sideways endorsement of monogamy, and he's remained as enlightened as he is funny and intricate, with marijuana as his stand-in for zen. A freestyle on last year's Suite 410 even endorses his adult son's non-usage: "I'm glad, I hope it lasts, so he won't be pokin' in my stash." With Coughee Brothaz. (Photo by Zach Garner)
Wed., May 4, 8 p.m., 2011