Chubb Rock's comeback effort The Mind finds the heavyweight rapper returning hard, balancing his cartoonish gangsta rap with fun, funky party tunes.
The problem is, The Mind sounds like it would have been a great record in 1990, not 1997.
Chubb is in fine form, but the music is often predictable and occasionally dated.
At its best, Chubb overcomes such limitations by concentrating on hot beats and crisp, clear production, but it's clear from the record that Chubb hasn't quite assimilated all the innovations of the '90s.