"2009 is shaping up to be the year of the Grown-Ass Man, says New York's Josh Eels, discussing the notion of the middle-aged rap star. With a host of still-viable MCs approaching 40 (and, considering the showbiz tradition of shaving years off bios, it's safe to assume that some of them are already past the mark), the piece looks at the different tactics they employ to try to remain relevant. Jay-Z, of course, gets top billing. But as is so often the case, Ghostface Killah steals the show. "I wanted to take it to a more mature level," says the 37-year-old Wu-Tang Clansman, who's forthcoming album, The Wizard of Poetry, leans heavily toward love-song R&B stylings. "It's like having the same piece of pussy for twenty years. Sometimes you just need to change it up."

Ever the romantic, Ghost. His is one definition of maturity. Another can be found-and maybe it should be emulated-on a track recorded back in 1994: "Pop's Rap," the first in a series of songs Chicago's Common has included on his albums throughout the years wherein he passes the mic to his dad, former professional basketball Lonnie "Pops" Lynn. Born in 1943, Pops makes it clear that that an elderly gentleman can shoot the gift smoother that cats half his age. And that rapping, in fact, predates rap. "They used to call me 'No Sense,'" he says. "Now they say I got plenty of sense. 'Bout six thousand years of it."