Hiphop, Ska/Reggae, African, Calypso

Rating: NNNNN

Hiphop

EVE Eve-Olution (Ruff Ryder/Universal) Rating: NNN

The ruff bitch of the Ruff Ryders navigates the wide chasm between pop diva Beyoncé and freaky Missy Elliott, trying to prove she can look good while rhymin’ and cussin’ like her mainstream male wannabe-gangsta counterparts. She’s qualified for the role, but basically the genre’s mostly mediocre, and like most of the boys, Eve’s rhymes are stale and her beats ain’t much better. She stumbles through raps, clutching at some kind of rhythm and occasionally wandering into Destiny’s Child territory with overwrought R&B numbers. Dre-produced hit Satisfaction is by far the standout track, with rare original rhymes that prove Eve has some talent as a rapper. Still, we all know Salt-N-Pepa did it better back in 1992.SL

EXTRA YARD: THE BOUNCEMENT REVOLUTION

(Big Dada) Rating: NNNN

After years shamelessly aping American stars, the British hiphop revolution continues unabated in the wake of blindingly original sets by the Streets and Roots Manuva. Manuva’s ragga and roots style is all over Extra Yard, a collection of ruff-and-rugged London hiphop. Most of the MCs here sound straight out of the dance hall, freely mixing patois into their rhymes, while the beats seem more inspired by the reggae blips of dancehall dons like Lenky than hiphop producers like Timbaland. As the title suggests, these tracks have real bounce. No foolish gun talk or idle boasting, just a fistful of toughness from largely unknown male and female MCs that puts many of their U.S. counterparts to shame. MG

Freddy FRESH PRESENTS B-Boy Stance (Strut) Rating: NNNN

As the return to old-school hiphop beats in contemporary mainstream rap moves from a production anomaly into a trend, the interest in vintage indie 12-inch singles continues to rise along with dealers’ prices. The UK Strut reissue label has the good sense to hire Freddy Fresh to act as a tour guide to the DIY monuments of ancient illness like JVC Force’s Strong Island, Cool C’s Juice Crew Dis, Disco Three’s Human Beat Box and Big Daddy Kane’s Ain’t No Half Steppin’ while uncovering buried b-boy booty like the Imperial Brothers’ We Come To Rock and Scoopy’s Scoopy Rap. Stoopid fresh.TP

Ja Rule The Last Temptation (Def Jam/Universal) Rating: NN

Having learned nothing from the death of Tupac Shakur, thug rapper Ja Rule continues to front about the many splendours of the murderous gangsta lifestyle he’s no doubt experienced first-hand — from behind the tinted windows of his Bentley. The tracks produced by Irv Gotti and 7 Aurelius are even more wack than the Toto tunes they sample. Even when Ja Rule tries going old-school on the title track, the lame interpolation of Gwen Guthrie’s hackneyed Funky Sensation disco loop makes it all come off a little less hardcore than Ja Rule probably would’ve liked.TP

LL COOL J 10 (Def Jam) Rating: NN

That LL Cool J has managed to release 10 records in a genre where longevity is measured in months is surely worth celebrating, but not with a record like this. The reality is that hiphop stars rarely age well, and beyond a few long-ago cuts and some recent battle records, the last eight of LL’s 10 albums have been terrible. Without the prodding of someone like Canibus or Wyclef, he inevitably resorts to idle boasts or talk of life on the celebrity circuit. On 10, LL resorts to the now-familiar route of turning to the Neptunes to spike up his limp rhymes, but even the freshest beats can’t make songs about pedicures and his grandmother compelling.MG

SPEK Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff (Awesome DKD) Rating: NNNN

What is it about Montreal that lends itself to ambitious, uncategorizable bands? From the Local Rabbits to Bran Van 3000, the city of endless winters motivates musicians to concoct cool, messed-up shit. Montreal-based dreamy rhymer and former Dream Warriors tourmate Spek slips right in with his right-on blend of old-skool De La Soul hiphop, hooky acoustic pop and quirky, jazzy lounge licks. Spek’s rhymes are effortlessly clever and are perfectly complemented by Tina Grace’s sweet backing vocals (Kinnie Starr chimes in on Look Me Up). Call it hippie-hop if you want, but it’s so fresh it sparkles with static electricity.SL

Ska/Reggae

ORANGE COUNTY SUPERTONES Hi-Fi Revival (Tooth and Nail) Rating: NNN

Now, this is fun. Christian ska! Like, really Christian. It’s all about Jesus and the power of the Lord. Hi-Fi Revival is a lot of ska, a little bit OF Elvis Costello, some Joe Jackson and a whole bunch of other stuff including soul and R&B, all about J.C.! Sure, it’s unquestioningly devout and kind of apologetic and defiant in its Christianity, but irony be damned. The horn section is good, and the track Hold On To Jesus is terrific.EB

PRINCE ALLA & JUNIOR ROSS I Can Hear The Children Singing (Blood & Fire) Rating: NNNN

In the three years between 1975 and 78, deejay-turned producer Tappa Zukie unleashed two of the heaviest roots reggae sets of his career, Prince Alla’s classic Heaven Is My Roof and Junior Ross’s Babylon Fall. Both records were two sides of the same coin, built around defiant gospel singing, so it makes perfect sense to package them together. Oddly, Prince Alla and Junior Ross’s earthy Rasta chants get top billing, but I Can Hear Children Singing is unquestionably a showcase for Zukie’s thundering production. Horns surge in the background while an all-star band including Chinna Smith, Robbie Shakespeare and Augustus Pablo wind their way through stately roots rhythms. King Tubby’s mix is predictably enthusiastic, particularly on the extended mixes, but it’s slow-burning rockers like Go To School and Bow Down Babylon, with its dubbed-out trombone, that hit hardest.MG

SEAN PAUL Dutty Rock (VP/Virgin) Rating: NNNN

To his credit, dancehall shouter Sean Paul has tried to break into the American market largely on his own strengths. The predictable collaborations with hiphop stars, in this case Busta Rhymes and Tony Touch, are not smoothed out for mass consumption but ruffed up even further, and patois-free Beenie Man ballads are nowhere to be seen. Instead, Sean Paul sticks with what he knows, bringing in Jamaican production giants like Lenky, Steelie & Clevie, Flabba and King Jammy for a straight-up dancehall throwdown. Even the Neptunes’ typically blinding beat on Bubble, a tabla and flute-driven slink, seems more inspired by the soundsystem than hiphop. Whether Dutty Rock will catapult him into the mainstream remains to be seen, but if it happens, it will clearly be on Sean Paul’s own terms. MG

SNOW Two Hands Clapping (Virgin) Rating: N

After watching his lavishly produced shot at teen pop tank, Snow’s back spouting the dancehall-inspired patter, hoping, perhaps, for another Informer-style crossover hit. Not likely. There’s plenty of Snow’s Ned Flanders-style diddly-diddlies, lots of mush-mouthed patois, a few soft pop ballads and even some classical guitar from Jeff Martin, but most of Two Hands Clapping sounds like a demo recorded on the cheap with bargain-basement synth beats. There’s no energy to these tracks, and nothing you could really call a song either. Neither the dancehall crowd nor the pop world is likely to pay this any mind. MG

AfricanYOUSSOU N’DOUR Nothing’s In Vain (Nonesuch) Rating: NNN

Having spent most of his career in the fusion game, juicing up his mbalax beats with synthesizers and electric drums, Youssou N’Dour’s sudden back-to-his-roots turn is a pleasant, if calculated, one. Nothing pleases Western “world music” fans more than the sound of traditional instruments, and while Nothing’s In Vain is high on the feel-good, retro vibe, it never really kicks into high gear. The disc does feature some of N’Dour’s best singing of late, but he seems insistent on the soft touch, filling out the record with cloying duets and treacly ballads that surely wouldn’t sell back home. The acoustic turn is nice, but N’Dour seems to be playing down to his Western audience.MG

CalypsoCALYPSO: VINTAGE SONGS FROM THE CARIBBEAN

(Putumayo) Rating: NNN

Rather than assembling a definitive look at calypso, the folks at the feel-good world music imprint have focused on the Harry Belafonte definition of the Caribbean music, which means plenty of upbeat novelty rhymes and no slackness. Featuring calypsos by the giants, including Jolly Boys, King Sparrow and Lord Beginner, but oddly omitting Lord Kitchener, the disc covers topics of food, rum and the limbo craze but only rarely captures the wordplay and topical rants that were at the heart of Trinidadian calypso, and only George Symonette’s Don’t Touch Me Tomato hints at the music’s steamier side. It’s a passable introduction to the music, but those truly interested in tracking the real roots of rap would be better off grabbing a copy of the excellent London Is The Place For Me calypso primer.MG