27 | Arcade Fire
Indie rockers bum-rush the big stage with epic sound and new rules
WHAT THEY'RE CHANGING: The Montreal septet broke from the insular world of indie rock with unabashedly anthemic songs, earning a wider audience — but on their own terms. "They came up through the Internet, and through connecting with people," says James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, "which has nothing to do with how the industry usually creates success."
FRIENDS SAY: David Bowie gave copies of the band's Funeral to his friends.
ENEMIES SAY: "They have good tunes, but they're pricks, so **** 'em," says Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips.
25 | Mark Zuckerberg
24-year-old Facebook chief steers the disposable hours of a generation
WHAT HE'S CHANGING: Everything Facebook does affects the social lives of its users — who totaled 175 million as of February. In March, he answered rivals at Twitter by making over Facebook with expanded real-time updates — "a continuous stream of information," he calls it.
ENEMIES SAY: "Facebook probably at least has to consider a more experienced CEO in planning for an IPO," says author Kara Swisher, who once called him a toddler.
SIGNATURE MOVE: Doubling down. Zuckerberg has parted with only 1.6 percent of his company — sold to Microsoft for $240 million.
19 | Lil Wayne
For the greatest rapper alive, too much is
never enough
WHAT HE'S CHANGING: The idea that you can ever be overexposed. After years of giving his music away for free on a series of brilliant mixtapes, the New Orleans hip-hop star proved his fans would also pay with last year's awesome Tha Carter III. The album became the best seller of 2008, officially making the tattooed, syrup-swigging, perpetually stoned 26-year-old the weirdest pop superstar since Michael Jackson — and the most prolific since Prince. (For his upcoming album, he has already turned in more than 30 songs and told his label to pick its favorites.)
SIGNATURE MOVES: Accidentally shot himself in the chest when he was 12 — while imitating Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver, in front of a mirror.
NEXT FIGHT: His guitar-heavy "rock" album, Rebirth, is due out in May.
CHANCE OF SUCCESS: 50 percent. Rebirth's first single, "Prom Queen," isn't great — but last spring, Wayne out-T-Pained T-Pain with "Lollipop," so don't count him out.
KEY QUOTE: "I will stand up for marijuana any day," he told Katie Couric this year. "I'm a rapper . . . and I am a gangster, and I do what I want."