Jazzy Jeff, Fresh Prince Deliver Cinematic Clarity : DJ JAZZY JEFF & THE FRESH PRINCE “And in This Corner . . . ,” Jive ***

Clean-cut and middle-class are not words typically used to describe most young rappers, but this duo has been saddled with them, thanks to last year’s crossover smash “Parents Just Don’t Understand,” a comical, adventure-packed tale about joy-riding in Daddy’s Porsche.

The two are back with a slightly more profanity-laced perspective, but their descriptive powers have the same cinematic clarity--and something about the Fresh Prince’s rap style still suggests that he was one of those joke-telling, motor-mouthed kids in high school capable of forcing a teacher into early retirement.

Whereas most rappers fall into the LL Cool J / Kool Moe Dee mode of proclaiming how big, bad and infallible they are, Jeff and Prince are just as likely to come across as a hapless duo who attract bad luck (“All That Glitters”), odd encounters (“Twilight Zone”) and Gucci-clad gold diggers (“You Got It”). Their saving grace is the wiseacre sense of humor that infuses cuts such as “I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson” and “The Men of Your Dreams,” in which the Fresh Prince attempts to woo an older woman by proclaiming, “Any man can look and see where the curves are / It takes a real man to find where the nerves are.”

With “Too Damn Hype,” the team closes the album on a dance-oriented, down ‘n’ dirty (well, down ‘n’ slightly disheveled) note. Not a heavyweight effort, but a smart and funny one.

Albums are rated on a scale of one (poor) to five (a classic) stars.