In Brief

* * * Snow, “12 Inches of Snow,” EastWest. A dancehall reggae album by a young white rapper-singer? It had to happen as this black music genre inches into the mainstream, and this 23-year-old Irishman’s debut album is mostly a credible and authentic-sounding effort.His rapping and vocals could use some fine-tuning, but on most songs, including his catchy hit “Informer,” he adds a nifty dimension to dancehall by smoothly integrating pop textures.

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