SUMMER ALBUM ROUNDUP : Bazerk: Original Rap You Can’t Ignore : *** 1/2 SON OF BAZERK “Bazerk Bazerk Bazerk” <i> SOUL/MCA</i>

This record sounds like the soundtrack to a movie that only someone with the sociopolitical smarts of a Spike Lee could direct. Bazerk, who comes across like a hybrid of Iceberg Slim and Public Enemy’s Chuck D, may well be the rap discovery of the year.

Jumping from sexual boasts to Jamaican toasts, from heavy-metal high jinks to a barrier-busting linkup of doo-wop and hard-core hip-hop, this record could have been a true mess in lesser hands. Co-produced by Hank and Keith Shocklee, it is highly listenable and never predictable, an original-sounding effort in a field that fairly demands this type of hard-edged brazenness.

Where Bazerk distinguishes himself is in his willingness to stretch out and experiment. This is his debut album, and it feels like it. There’s no careful pandering to radio programmers, no concessions to playlists or formats. But what is bold today is boring tomorrow in the fickle world of rap, and whether Bazerk and his colleagues No Self Control and the Band can maintain their on-target rebelliousness or go the way of the Beastie Boys and De La Soul remains to be seen.

Despite the fact that this Long Island-reared quintet features one female member, its misogynistic nature rears its irksome little head on tracks like “Are You Wit Me” and “What Could Be Better Bi***.” Bazerk makes this brand of meanness seem matter of fact, an unfortunate trait that he shares with other male rappers too numerous to mention. But that’s Son of Bazerk for you: exasperating, exhilarating and much too crucial to ignore.

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