Prime of My Life (1991)

The recipe for Phyllis Hyman's hit single, ''Don't Wanna Change the World,'' is simple: Take one respected and worthy pop/soul veteran who borders on the divaesque, hook her up with some suitably slammin’ and fresh-funky new-jack backbeats, throw in a nondescript sotto voce rap and voila! Aging singer is suddenly hip for a younger audience who might not care or even notice that she can actually sing the pants off any bubble-gum fly girl. Hyman has a smoky, richly mature jazz-inflected voice, yet she sounds out and out lame pouting ''Just wanna be your girl'' and faux-rapping, specially when another cut ''Prime of My Life,'' is a veritable ode to the joys of getting older. Discounting the blatant commercial calculations that guided its creation — seamless production, I-will-survive bravado coupled with why-did-he-leave-this-good-love remorse — Prime of My Life is done with style and flair. But there’s really no discounting all that. If you’ve heard this sort of stuff before (and you have), you needn’t — despite Hyman’s embracingly warm yet concise voice — go back for seconds. C-