POP MUSIC : SPRING ALBUM ROUNDUP : In Brief

*** Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, “Hypocrisy is the Greatest Luxury,” 4th & Broadway. The debut LP from the San Francisco hip-hop duo elucidates the link between the cool be-bop protest of ‘60s pre-rappers the Last Poets and Public Enemy’s red-hot catharsis of rage. But cerebral rapper Michael Franti is less concerned with styling his anger into marketable attitude than with getting down to informed specifics on matters like gay-bashing, hazardous waste, racial bigotry and moral sloth.

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