REVIEW : Slick Rick, Behind Bars (Def Jam/Island)

- Martin Bate

Old-school rapper Slick Rick returns with his first album in a while, recorded as the title suggests, behind bars. Famous during hip-hop's formative years of the mid-eighties his humorous story-telling based style and sing-song flow are acknowledged as being major influences on many of today's rappers, most notably Snoop Doggy Dogg.

The title track is by far the best thing here - a skillful, mean and witty relation of life in prison set to a meaty bass-heavy beat. It later closes the album as an incredible Warren G remix, all slick xylophone and trademark Warren G chorus. Its almost worth the price of admission alone.

Elsewhere, nothing quite reaches those heights but there is enough to make this a solid enough album. The mellow midnight groove of "All Alone" relates a genuinely touching tale of a young single mother; "Sitting In My Car" sees Rick rejoined by old-school sparring partner and human beatbox, Doug E Fresh, on a piano-led jaunt; and the self-produced "A Love That's True" bounces along on an endearingly amateurish dance-hall beat.

There's a dip in the middle where the beats become a little unimaginative and throughout the album the overlaying of vocals can be distracting, making his flow sound false and unnatural. My other gripe would be over-use of the word 'bitch' which mars his witty and skillful tales of love and relationships by lending them an unnecessary misogynistic air.

But, overall, this is a fine album showing that some of the old schoolers still have a lot to offer in a genre with a high turnover of artists.