ALBUM REVIEW : ** MAY MAY “The Introduction” <i> Scotti Bros.</i>

Unlike her dad Muhammad Ali, rapper May May does not sting like a bee. A few raps on her inconsistent debut album, though, are lightweight enough to float like butterflies.

One problem is that her messages, while uplifting, are too familiar. May May treads the same old turf well-worn by other female rappers--dissing hard-core male rappers, warning against two-faced men and playboys, and blasting the conditions that create ghettos.

The limitations of the messages would hardly be noticed if they were served up in high-voltage beats. But these jams don’t crackle. The lone exception is “Ya Head Is Dead,” the album’s best track, which rips irresponsible rap messages while niftily blending samples of Curtis Mayfield’s “Freddy’s Dead” and Eddie Kendrick’s “Keep on Truckin’.”

Surprisingly, there’s little humor in her raps. Clever lines do pop up here and there, but not as frequently as you’d expect from someone who’s a former stand-up comic. The album’s big plus is May May’s nimble rapping. She breezes gracefully through high-speed raps, bringing clarity to what might have been a mumbled thicket of verbiage. At times, she even sounds like her famous father, rhyming in his cadence and mimicking his playful tone.

“Ali,” a homage to her father, should have been the high point, particularly since it’s buoyed by taped snippets of his rhymes. Despite her passion, it’s mired in the mundane in both beats and perspective.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four (excellent).