Penicillin on Wax (1991)

Gimmicks, gimmicks. This summer, Tim Dog cause a stir (and eventually shot to the top of the Billboard rap-singles chart) with a little ditty called ''F--- Compton,'' his diatribe against L.A. gangsta rappers N.W.A. (Compton, of course, is the gang-ridden city near Los Angeles that N.W.A. comes from.) A vicious but humorous single with a commanding beat lightly punctuated with a touch of trembling treble, it gave New York exactly what the beleaguered cradle hip-hop needed: a reassertion of its resolve in the face of a slew of upstart (and wildly successful) California artists. But enough is enough: Too much of Penicillin on Wax chases N.W.A. around, nipping at the group’s heels — on the album intro Dog takes one of N.W.A.’s signature beats and claims. ''I…made it better.'' He didn’t. His voice, deep and ominous, has its attention-grabbing moments, but those moments are few and far between, and — perhaps more fatal — the beats hold no surprises. Yes, ''dissing'' is a proud rap tradition, but such one-note obsession gets pretty boring. Move on, Tim Dog, move on. C+