Content Doesn’t Rise to Level of Inventiveness

Busta Rhymes may be hip-hop’s reigning merry prankster, but he knows that his slapstick shtick has a very limited shelf life unless he backs it up with inventive grooves. 1997’s “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See” did just that, pitting his seriocomic rant against a minimalist, insidiously funky backdrop.

Rhymes’ third album (in stores Tuesday) finds the dreadlocked rapper still turning verbal somersaults with the proverbial lampshade on his head. He remains one of hip-hop’s most supple-tongued word demons--such tracks as “Just Give It to Me Raw” and “Do It Death” find Rhymes punching out complex vocal phrases with clarity and precision. Rhymes even rips a page from Sean “Puffy” Combs’ rap-meets-metal playbook, snatching Ozzy Osbourne for “This Means War,” a remake of the Black Sabbath classic “Iron Man.”

When it comes to cooking up inventive beats, Rhymes is no slouch--”Extinction” is jampacked with rhythms that skitter and leapfrog over his goofball jive. Ultimately, however, the album is a triumph of form over content, with his apocalyptic jeremiads and booty calls growing wearisome across 19 tracks. Rhymes can still busta move, but his songwriting is somewhat flat-footed.

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* Excerpts from Busta Rhymes’ “Extinction Level Event (The Final World Front)” and other recent releases are available on The Times’ World Wide Web site. Point your browser to:

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