As his former bandmates climbed the charts, Pras-- known to the masses as "that other Fugee"-- must have felt some pressure from the record label (and his peers) to release his own solo album. Sadly, the final product is-- at best-- a bit shoddy. The first sign of trouble comes with the opening track, "Hallelujah," which is, of course, a cover of the Catholic cathedral classic. The problem is, it's played on a hockey arena organ rather than what seems like a much more obvious choice: the pipe organ.

Ghetto Supastar does have its moments: the title track (and hit single) kicks it like anything off Wyclef Jean's solo debut; "Can't Stop The Shining" is a rock/rap hybrid (a la Puffy and Jimmy Page's "Come With Me") with Lenny Kravitz on guitar and Canibus guesting; "For The Love Of This" comes off strong with minimalist bass and guitar lines and great lyrics; the reggae- tinged "Lowriders" is downright smooth. But for every good track, there's a disappointment like the Backstreet Boys- influenced "What'cha Wanna Do," the happy harmony of "Get Your Groove On" and the fucking irritating "Blue Angels," a half- assed reworking of Frankie Valli's already intolerable "Grease" theme song.

Throughout Ghetto Supastar, we're also faced with Pras' inane between- song filler like the aforementioned "Hallelujah," his four "Phone Interludes" which are simply answering machine messages left to Pras by various famous people (to prove his cred, of course), and the boring cover of "Amazing Grace."

The record sounds generic enough to spawn several Top 10 hits-- my guess is you won't be able to escape "Blue Angels" once it hits MTV. But compared to Wyclef Jean's The Carnival and Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Ghetto Supastar falls on its dumb ass.

-Ryan Schreiber

"Blue Angels"

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