Ice T -- Home Invasion

When Ice T rapped "Ice M.F.T." in Rec Hall last semester, it was an angry anthem that sucked in the crowd. On his latest album, Home Invasion, the song still sounds tough, but not nearly as scary.

In the same way, most of the other tracks on the disc are a let down.

Ice has not become soft -- he's just getting old. That might be a harsh critique, but his last album, O.G. Original Gangster, was comparatively a verbal flamethrower and a rhythmic jackhammer. It would be tough for any rapper to live up to songs like "New Jack Hustler," and "Original Gangster."

Ice has long been a catalyst in the rap industry and can invariably make most other hardcore rappers look silly and contrived -- but the new album is only sort of incendiary.

Ice's commentary and stories of street conflict have a whole new atmosphere after the Los Angeles riots. Whereas people like him and Ice Cube were prophetic before last spring, now they can only say, "We told you so." It makes for much less drama -- drama that an album like Home Invasion could sorely use. Drama that Ice Cube's The Predator has.

Although many of the songs drift by on less-than-intense beats, there are a few gems that stick out: "It's On," added to the disc after he broke away from Warner Bros.; "G Style," street-core, which is as good as anything on O.G.; and "I Ain't New Ta This," a sort of call to young hip-hop artists to respect their elder statesmen. And it has been quite a few years since Ice was in one of those Breakin' movies.

Home Invasion proves Ice T is not ready for the rocking chair --but he is starting to mellow with age.

LL Cool J -- 14 Shots to the Dome

Since LL Cool J brought the music world to its knees on MTV's "Unplugged" with "Mama Said Knock You Out," the rap scene has definitely changed its trip.

Arrested Development, A Tribe Called Quest and Digable Planets established their mellow Afro-centric grooves to chill by. Ice-T's "Cop Killer" controversy proved all rhymes have to pass inspection from the Stacey Koons of the world. Dancehall rap and the word "blunt" became part of rap speak.

Now that LL faces stiffer competition than Hammer, the question remains with LL's latest effort, 14 Shots to the Dome, would his macho act play today?

With the first track, "How I'm Comin' ," he starts out swinging right where he left off. With beats pounding and LL mad as if he never got his royalties for Mama Said Knock You Out, the song is his declaration that he hasn't lost it.

The song also marks a theme --"comin' ."

Talkin' bout ejaculation comes up in this song as well as "Back Seat" and "A Little Somethin' ." Although getting off is certainly part of any LL Cool J record, 14 Shots to the Dome is about the rapper coming home to his roots.

On the best cut, "Funkadelic Relic," horns blare, the bass shakes like Bootsy, and Cool J waxes nostalgic about the time he couldn't live without his radio.

Rap and LL both have changed, but reflecting back to rap's beginnings is the perfect antidote to a scene that seems going in all directions.