Recyclables

MYSTIKAL
Prince of the South . . . The Hits
Jive/Zomba

OL' DIRTY BASTARD
The Definitive Ol' Dirty Bastard Story
Elektra/Rhino

Convicted sexual batterer and sole actually talented No Limit rapper Mystikal remains at his fiercest on 1997's Unpredictable, issued by No Limit/Jive. Hence the corporate provenance of his best-of, easily the most desirable CD to feature the timelessly timely Pharrell Williams collab "Bouncin' Back (Bumpin' Me Against the Wall)," which captured how it might feel to shake your a** at the terrorist threat. The master of the hip-pop guttural, however, is obviously still Mr. Big Baby Jesus, whose posthumous best-of supplants the 2001 stopgap The Dirty Story: The Best of ODB and will stand until the next best-of as the most convenient way to access his charming collabs with Mariah, Kelis, and Lil' Mo. On the other hand, Return to the 36 Chambers and N***a Please are a lot crazier, and with Ol' Dirty, crazy is of the essence.

Village Voice, Sept. 13, 2005

Aug. 9, 2005

Oct. 11, 2005