A Full Spectrum of Rap : (***) LIGHTER SHADE OF BROWN, “Layin’ in the Cut” (<i> Mercury</i> )

Further doing its bit to put Latino rap on the map, Lighter Shade of Brown is back with a sharply attitudinal album that’s as commercially accessible as “Sunday Afternoon,” the duo’s 1990 debut hit single.

Perhaps too lightweight for some, LSOB makes no apologies for being slightly less than hard-core--and light in this case still doesn’t stand for white bread. The full spectrum of West Coast rap, ranging from the gangsta lean of Snoop Doggy Dogg to the razor-tongued feminine perspective of Yo Yo, has some room for the barrio-based, bangin’ rhymes of LSOB. Regional considerations aside, the pair wryly notes on one track: It’s not where ya from . . . it’s where ya at. Robert Guttierez and Bobby Ramirez sample a taste of everyone from Marvin Gaye and Cameo to Malcolm McLaren to arrive at their own beat-laden tableau.

The most serious they get is on “I Like It” and “Things Ain’t the Same,” funk-flavored tracks that report on life in the age of drive-bys and Smith-and-Wesson logic. It’s just another day in rap’s ever-expanding neighborhood, and LSOB has one of the best-informed voices on the block.

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