Coolio Stays the Line and Comes Out Fine

A clever skit on the Grammy-winning South-Central rapper’s third album summarizes the dilemma of every artist who reaches crossover success: how to maintain your identity while trying to please the world. In the sketch, one voice urges Coolio to make hard-core gangsta records while another demands that he do more for the black community. Another wants him to do a positive, uplifting song for black women, and still another requests a follow-up to last year’s radio smash “1,2,3,4 (Sumpthin’ New).” It’s a final, older voice that gets him, telling him to rap about what’s in his heart, and in that way salvage the soul of his music.

Preserving integrity is the one thing Coolio easily achieves here. Many of the songs prove that despite his success, he cares deeply about his position as a rapper and a spokesman. As always, he finds ways to tell compelling stories, but still has the ability to shake his groove thang.

The record gets off to an impressive start with “2:21 Minutes of Funk,” with Coolio freestyling with fury and pushing off his naysayers. The best songs are those where Coolio takes the mask from different sides of society and takes a look inside. Whether it’s displaying a hustler’s guilt and paranoia in “Knight Falls” or an all-encompassing hope for peace, compassion, and a better life with “C U When You Get There,” Coolio proves himself an artist who’s still worth listening too.

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

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* Excerpts from these albums and other recent releases are available on The Times’ World Wide Web site. Point your browser to: http://netblogpro.com/soundclips