JUVENILE Juve the Great (Cash Money/Universal)
On 1998's 400 Degreez, Juvenile sported a fabulous N'awlins drawl -- his raps were a beguiling soup of mumbles and groans, producing some of hip-hop's weirdest-sounding rhymes. Here, he cleans up his flow, leaving nothing to distract us from his mundane drugs-guns-and-ho's laundry lists. The tuneless, skimpy beats sure don't. There is one fine moment, though: On ''Head in Advance,'' mariachi licks and digital pops buoy Juvenile's booty lust. Otherwise, he sounds outcrunked by the South's newer stars.
