Black Rob's been in trouble. Trouble with the law, kidney trouble, trouble getting himself together enough to record the tracks that make up The Black Rob Report -- the Spanish Harlem-born emcee's first album in five years. But when Rob, entered the booth to spit what comes out in the Report, he must have known that it would be worth the trouble at last.

The Black Rob Report is one of the best above-ground hip-hop records of the last 10 years and a completely deserved re-emergence of the embattled emcee, who'd all but been forgotten in his absence. If The Black Rob Report catches on, he's going to be remembered for a long time.

As a lyricist, Rob's heavy and heady; he discusses crime like a scholar and throws off wild references and well-placed rhyme scheme switch-ups.

He manages to be funny and frightening at the same time, sort of like Nas or the best of Wu-Tang. And the beats he's been given for Black Rob Report, all from little-known producers, stick to the street-level knowledge that Rob himself is so famous for kicking.

There are no highlights; Report just goes and goes, taking hold from the first track and never dipping in quality.

Rob's lyrics hold the songs up. And these are the kind of beats that they would've given Biggie a decade ago. Rob, even five years on, deserves them.

If you've been starving for another NYC gutter-rap classic, your savior has arrived.

-- Reviewed by Paul Thompson