Heir To The Throne

Prinze David is incredibly talented, but he can't really justify the heft of his first album any more than Jay-Z or Wu-Tang could. Still, most of Heir To The Throne is as impressive as anything he's done in the previous few years. He's still Detroit hip-hop's most compelling and sophisticated lyricist (sorry Eminem, Jigga), and more than a few tracks here burn with his verbal heat–-a flood of phrases and metaphors that inspire imagery as rich as in any movie. Unfortunately, Heir To The Throne is twice as long as it needs to be, especially with insipid fare like "Think About Money" or tired club cuts like "can I Play." You wish Prinze David had forced himself to cut a double album because half of this single-CD is truly hot. --Oliver Wang