This Kid Has Gotten a Little Too Cocky

* * KID ROCK “Cocky” Lava/Atlantic

About 36 minutes into this album, a guy interrupts Rock’s raspy wailing and exasperatedly says to the star, “There’s more to life than just you!” The Detroit rap-rocker gets points for including that wink, but not enough to compensate for the previous 36 minutes that made it necessary--or for the fact that when he does stop talking about himself, he’s got little to say.

Where his 1998 breakthrough hits “Bawitdaba” and “Cowboy” were noteworthy exercises in mythmaking (stupid, but smart stupid), this time the man seems to think he’s mythic enough himself.

That leaves his braggadocio (the title song), defensiveness (“I’m Wrong, but You Ain’t Right”) and sanctimony (“Lonely Road of Faith”) pretty vapid. And several dips into country-rooted sentimentality suffer from cliche overload and Rock’s uninvolving singing--the rudimentary heartbreaker “Picture” is carried by duet partner Sheryl Crow.

Musically, there are tons of spot-the-’70s-references fun (a “Free Bird” guitar quote, a Marshall Tucker-like ballad, several AC/DC cops), with the Kid (handling several instruments) and his Twisted Brown Trucker crew all accomplished mimics. But it never meshes with the rap-metal into the distinctive trailer-park concoctions of the past hits.

Although a few more knowing winks earn goodwill (David Spade makes a cameo wisecrack as a ballad starts to drag), it’s undone by the closing, X-rated battle of “wits” between Kid and Snoop Dogg.

Stupid is on its own here.

Steve Hochman

* * 1/2 CYPRESS HILL “Stoned Raiders” Columbia

Sure, Cypress Hill has endured as a hip-hop act, its beats-and-weed ethos having never really gone out of style. And OK, the group is to be commended for hanging on at a time when even a sure thing can curdle into irrelevance faster than you can say Sisqo. But is that enough? On its sixth studio album (due in stores Tuesday), L.A.’s granddaddies of rap stick to a conservative game plan, giving the thirtysomething stoners what they want while throwing in a few borrowed rap-metal moves to appease the young ‘uns.

Cypress Hill is grappling here with the conundrum of the established rap act: trying to act oppressed and victimized when its audience knows otherwise. The trio’s identity is closely tied to Latino gang culture--the lyrics on “Stoned Raiders” limn a nasty underworld of guns, drugs and blood lust.

But Cypress protests too much, and “keeping it real” spills over into desultory posturing on such tracks as “Southland Killers” and “Psychodelic Vision.” What saves the record from turning into a limp gangsta move is the evocative flow of Sen Dog’s gruff bark and B-Real’s sardonic snarl. These two signature rap voices transform tired rants into something genial and ebullient.

Marc Weingarten

* * 1/2 NATE DOGG “Music and Me” Elektra

Although Death Row Records is best known for pushing gangster rap toward mainstream acceptance in the early 1990s, one of its alumni demonstrated that soulful crooning could be a respectable component of hard-core hip-hop songs. Nate Dogg’s sinister singing on cuts with Snoop Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound became legendary, as he delivered chilling vocals with the same venom as his rap friends. After making scores of guest appearances during the last several years with everyone from 2Pac to Eminem to Mariah Carey to Brian McKnight, Nate Dogg finally returns with his second major-label album (due Tuesday).

The Long Beach artist has shown that he works well with other artists, a fact again on full display. When he teams with such pals as Ludacris (“Real Pimp”) or Dr. Dre (“Your Wife”), he sings about his bachelor lifestyle with a sense of urgency virtually absent when he’s riding solo. In fact, when he’s the sole vocalist, he too often settles into a relaxed groove, hardly varying his pitch or delivery and, in effect, abandoning the qualities that made his side work so entertaining. Nate is a top hip-hop dog, but he’s no lone wolf.

Soren Baker * * 1/2 NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS “51 Phantom” Tone-Cool

With its second album, this trio faces the task of making its own songs resonate as deeply as the classic hill-country blues by such genre icons as R.L. Burnside, which it effortlessly updated on last year’s Grammy-nominated debut, “Shake Hands With Shorty.”

It helps that deep-voiced guitarist Luther Dickinson, his excellent drummer brother, Cody, and bassist Chris Chew have been steeped in blues, rock and gospel since childhood. The collection (in stores Tuesday) gains further authority from the siblings’ notable dad, Jim Dickinson, who produces and plays keyboards. But while always adept, this 11-track collection sometimes lacks the easy fire of “Shorty.”

Which isn’t entirely unexpected, because the group ambitiously seeks to pull together its threads of blues-rock, Southern boogie and near-Grateful Dead country jams while simultaneously moving forward and paying homage to its roots.

Such tunes as “Snakes in My Bushes” and “Lord Have Mercy” cross Zeppelin heaviness with Hendrix-esque agility. The pensive “Storm” broadens the mood and showcases the raspy-reedy harmonizing of Luther and Chew, who does some testifying himself on the Staple Singers’ “Freedom Highway.”

Still, there’s something less joyously freewheeling about Luther’s sprawling solos, a hallmark of the Allstars’ stellar live shows. “51 Phantom” accurately captures the band’s progress, but a concert remains the best way to appreciate its considerable skills.

Natalie Nichols

* * * DUNGEON FAMILY “Even In Darkness” Arista

Even though OutKast’s commercial cachet exploded last year with its fourth album, “Stankonia,” longtime fans knew that the Atlanta duo and the Dungeon Family hip-hop collective to which it belongs have been releasing the most progressive, innovative and striking brand of hip-hop since debuting in 1993. Partially because they’re from the South, partially because they’re so ahead of the curve, this visionary crew--which also includes Goodie Mob, Organized Noize and Cool Breeze, among others--rarely gets mentioned when the best hip-hop movements are discussed, hence their place in the “darkness” of the title.

With the long-awaited Dungeon Family album, the Georgia torchbearers again stretch the boundaries of hip-hop with daring production and equally provocative lyrics. Despite its strength, it isn’t as much of a breakthrough as the best work of OutKast and Goodie Mob. Nonetheless, the brassy, party-starting “Crooked Booty” is one of the funkiest songs this side of Bootsy Collins, and Andre 3000 (of OutKast), Cee-Lo and Big Rube participate in the pointed philosophizing they’re known for on the soulful “Rollin’.”

S.B.

In Brief

* * 1/2 Dave Matthews Band, “Live In Chicago 12.19.98,” RCA. Recorded well before Matthews paired up with hit producer Glen Ballard for last year’s “Everyday” album, this two-CD set captures the band in its stretched-out, jam-minded prime. The faithful will revel in a sharply executed rock-funk-jazz melange that’s nominally exotic without ever turning seriously challenging, and lyrically oblique enough to leave lots of room for interpretation. The unpersuaded will continue to wonder, “What’s the fuss?”

Randy Lewis

* * Kittie, “Oracle,” Artemis. What makes a girl wanna scream like a man? For Canadian teenage nu-metaler Morgan Lander, it’s classic yowling-from-the-abyss themes of betrayal and alienation. On Kittie’s nerve-blistering sophomore collection, Lander mostly roars like Ms. Cookie Monster over slashing guitars and sister Mercedes’ jackhammer drum beats. But on the few less ferocious tunes, her melodious singing imparts a gothic lushness. Blending Silverchair, Pantera and early Hole, this extremely aggressive album becomes a tedious blur to all but the faithful. It might make parents wonder what young women could be so angry about. But the little girls will understand.

N.N.

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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.