cd reviews hip-hop

G-Unit, "T.O.S.: Terminate on Sight" (Interscope)

50 Cent's ruthless streak has been well documented. He's had several very public spats with rappers (Ja Rule, Fat Joe, the Game) and actresses (Vivica Fox). And he's even booted former protégé Young Buck from the actual G-Unit group -- now officially just 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo. That back story gives much-needed context to the hard-core, synth-heavy beats of "T.O.S.," G-Unit's second group album.

The disc is just as angry and aggressive as 50 Cent seems these days. Over the muddy bass line of disc opener "Straight Outta Southside," he barks his guntalk: "I'm Charles Bronson, Dirty Harry with the cannon/ you shooting blanks, you ain't hit/ ... I'm still standing." Meanwhile, throughout the disc, Banks and Yayo contribute equally cocky boasts.

At 18 tracks of testosterone-charged bombast, the disc gets tiresome for all but the G-Unit loyalist. Yet 50 Cent is savvy. He adds slight variety to the mix -- dancehall star Mavado on the reggae-tinged "Let It Go" and requisite thug love jams ("I Like The Way She Do It," "Close To Me," "Kitty Kat"). And even Young Buck is featured on a few mediocre cameos despite the beef. 50 Cent's merely covering his bases by placing business before personal concerns, as the closing song title states: "Money Make the World Go Round."

BRETT JOHNSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS

G. Love and Special Sauce, "Superhero Brother" (Brushfire)

In his quest to find his place within hip-hop, Garrett Dutton III -- G. Love -- has alternated between solo crooning as an MC and playing with Special Sauce, the pals with whom he started his career in music. G. uses his signature mix of rapier raps and drawling vocals. But while the solo efforts are gently countrified affairs, the Sauce (drummer Jeffrey Clemens, bassist Jimi Prescott) bring out the sass in Dutton.

With its stumbling rhythms and honky-tonk piano, "Communication" could be a lost Stones track circa "Exile on Main Street." The same goes for the playful "City Livin'," with its jabbering brass and needling guitars.

The Special Sauce cooks best as a combination of hastened hip-hop and dirty funk. So, it makes a muddy mess of "Wiggle Worm" and a soulful stew of "Peace, Love and Happiness."

A.D. AMOROSI,

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER