In Brief

*** 1/2 Da Lench Mob, “Guerillas in Tha Mist,” Street Knowledge. This debut album by a gangsta rap trio out of South-Central L.A. is superior to nearly everthing else in this controversial genre, sometimes stinging like Ice Cube’s hottest tracks (it’s on his new label). Songs such as “Lost in the System” and “You and Your Heroes” cover familiar territory, boiling over with anger and frustration and gutter lingo--some directed at women and gays. But there’s an overload on the plus side--snarling raps, sharp humor, canny observations and fast, funky beats.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).