Pop

With his Fugees partners Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill releasing critically acclaimed, million-selling solo albums, it was only a matter of time before Pras entered the fray.

While the albums from Jean and Hill expanded their makers’ musical range and artistic ambition, “Ghetto Supastar” sounds as if Pras cobbled together borrowed musical ideas instead of creating a distinctive statement of his own. Rap thrives on authenticity, but Pras’ songs come across as thin attempts to piggyback on today’s hottest hip-hop sounds.

Four interludes featuring messages left on his telephone answering machine, including congratulatory ramblings from celebrities such as Sting and Donald Trump, disrupt any sense of momentum. Pras should have spent more time at his craft and less playing phone tag.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.