Album Review: 'Firestarr'

As a member of '90s gangsta rap group Onyx, Starr backed up his bark with bite, unleashing a torrential stream of vituperative ghetto manifestos that made N.W.A sound like compassionate conservatives. On his solo debut, the part-time actor (Save the Last Dance, Moesha) rips a few pages from the No Limit playbook, wielding his blunt-as-a-billy-club raps over Dirty South synthesized arrangements. It's suitably brash but curiously listless, like a WWF wrestler who flexes his muscles but pulls his punches. B-