Darius Rucker

"Tupac is taking the message to black kids and a lot of white kids, going "This shit's happening on the streets." Well, I'm from a different part of the black community. Why is Orleans Woods in Charleston, South Carolina, less "valid" than Compton?"

"Rucker sings of loss and despair as if they've left him shell-shocked. But Hootie -- born at frat parties and still a bar band at heart -- know how to deliver beers-and-tears material, and the occasional anti-racist slam, with a smile. The same sly grin crept into songs of frustration -- country writer Radney Foster's "A Fine Line" and the Who's "I Can't Explain." But Rucker is no more Charley Pride than Bryan is Pete Townshend."