Kevin Lyttle (2004)

Image credit: Kevin Lyttle: Tibor Bozi/Retna

RIDDIM NATION Can Kevin Lyttle carry dancehall to hip-hop's heights?

Fledgling soca vocalist Kevin Lyttle keeps Caribbean kosher on his self-titled album, Kevin Lyttle. But rather than following in the tradition of lewd, gruff-voiced ''toasters'' like Shabba, Lyttle emulates romantic crooners such as Barrington Levy and Wayne Wonder. His lust is therefore less lurid -- but no less offensive. The St. Vincent native woos in a weak, whiny wavelength that, at its very best moment (''So High''), mocks Al Green's vulnerable texture. Mostly, though, it just hangs in a sickeningly high register over unbearably syrupy karaoke-soca.