Already a major player in the cutthroat realm of dance-hall reggae, Bounty Killer (a.k.a. Rodney Basil Price) raises the stakes on his fourth domestic release, Next Millennium, as he seeks to increase his audience. The proven means to this end – collaborating with U.S. hip-hop artists – works well for the Killer here: He employs hardcore sensation Noreaga (on the booming title track), as well as Queens roughnecks Mobb Deep ("Deadly Zone") and Brooklyn's Killah Priest ("No Supastar"). Obvious nods to radio like the Wyclef-produced "It's a Party" – which borrows the hook from Rufus and Chaka Khan's "Ain't Nobody" – sink into a commercial morass, but Bounty Killer always comes up with ragamuffin tracks like "Eagle and Di Hawk" and "Can't Believe Mi Eye" to fall back on. (RS 800)

S.H. FERNANDO JR.