GANG STARR”Hard to Earn” Chrysalis* * 1/2Perhaps...

GANG STARR

“Hard to Earn”

Chrysalis

* * 1/2

Perhaps the accolades showered on Gang Starr’s rapper Guru for last year’s inventive side project--the jazz/hip-hop hybrid “Jazzmatazz”--were a bit much for the Brooklyn-based performer. “Hard to Earn,” Gang Starr’s fourth album, seems a conscious effort to undo the “Jazzmatazz” progress and go back to hip-hop’s comfortable old school, with DJ Premier relying more on his scratching skills and a beat box than jazz breaks.

Songs such as “Code of the Streets” and the ominous, anti-gun “Tonz ‘O’ Gunz” remind you that Guru’s intelligent, laconic delivery is one of hip-hop’s most distinctive. At his best, he seems to be strolling down the street with you, putting a comforting arm around your shoulder while offering a detailed guide to urban survival.

Unfortunately, he spends the second half of the 17-track album locked into one aspect of old school that’s getting pretty tired--bragging. Even though boasting one’s skills and slamming “sucka MCs” is as inherent an element of hip-hop as crusty old twice-recorded cassette tapes, Guru is simply wasting our time. With a mind and tongue as nimble as his, you wish he’d spend more time dropping knowledge and less time trumpeting talent we already know he’s got.

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