He's a little bit hip hop, he's a little bit dance 'n' hall ...

This could easily be the theme song for latter day BDP member Mad Lion, a brother with a voice that sounds like thunder and a face that could have been made for girls to go "awwwwwwww!" to. Perhaps it comes from standing so close to hip hop's sun, KRS-ONE, and the awesome gravity of that presence, but the Lion was unable to remain unaffected. You see, there's only about 50% dancehall and no reggae on this project, even though the Caribbean influence on him is clear. Mad Lion comes with less chatting riddims and more East Coast rhymin' and changes from a fairly remarkable dancehall artist into an average regular rapper, albeit one with some very solid lyrical phrasing and severe presentation.

In our continuing pursuit of truth in hip hop reporting, Rap Pages took this album amongst numerous Afrakans of Caribbean descent to get reactions, and it confirmed what most listeners will find in this album. The violence, sex and stylee of your basic dancehall artist will always have an audience amongst the Caribbean peoples of the world, and there's nothing wrong with that. Lion is at his best on cuts like "New York" or "Carpenter," where he is strictly dancehall, even when the music isn't. The simple patterns and familiar phrases of the genre are well suited to Lion's general performing voice, which sounds a lot like Barry White gargling a gang of marbles.

However, on cuts like the strained "Hardcore" (which, with its sample of the Police's "Wrapped Around Your Finger" proves that the 80s sampling wave is here to stay) or the frankly embarrassing Levert collusion "You Got It Coming," ("thinking of dis, an iced tea with a twist/ honey, as we lay, how you like your Grand Marniere?/ like Cal I'm gone, let me take you away/ to Jamaica, Montego Bay, all day") or even the much more rap sounding "Mad Contacts" (which should have Nine wondering where his style got to), it's clear that familiar jungles are where this Lion is best suited.

There's also no breakout singles like the phenomenally successful "Take it Easy" on this album, or even fun "Jamaican bite" songs like the first album's "Real Lover," which directly lifted the MJB classic. KRS scores some hits on production, with "Carpenter" again and "Hip Hoppers," but the general production was too "laid back" for our Caribbean survey group. Ghetto Gold, Platinum Respect is solidly okay and makes a solid companion to its predecessor Real Ting, but it will only be a must-have to true, died in the wool Mad Lion fans.