With few exceptions, most of today's East Coast rappers seem stuck in neutral, writing flavorless rhymes about the same ol' same ol'. But rap superspaz Busta Rhymes is here to save the day.

Since Leaders of the New School went on hiatus three years ago, Busta Rhymes has turned up on a few all-star posse cuts, including Craig Mack's "Flava in Ya Ear" remix in '94. Although Busta generally embodies Chuck D's "rhymin' for the sake of riddlin'" dis on Busta's debut album, The Coming, Chuck may have never envisioned an MC so damn good at it. Busta manifests a sort of hip-hop existentialism: "I rap, therefore I am." Like most of today's rappers, he's not political, but he sure is a whole lotta fun, rhyming about everything and everyone in sight, from Olivia Newton-John to "dat nigga Howard Stern."

In the disappointing trend of mid-'90s East Coast rap, the mixes are simple, droopy and slow, lacking the funky underbelly of the West Coast's more laid-back stuff. Dragging with loopy, uninspired bass lines, spinning with fewer BPMs than Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and adding the occasional spacey keyboard texture, cuts like "Everything Remains Raw" and "Ill Vibe" sag. Thankfully, Busta's quavering rips and verbal acrobatics liven up the joint. He hurdles beats and measures in a single bound, leaping over and sliding under the unintrusive pump and grind of the first single, "Woohah!! Got You All in Check," featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard, and the album's standout cut, "Do My Thing."

Despite his musical shortcomings, Busta Rhymes is a master MC and one of hip-hop's most jovial and vivid personalities, whose creativity on the mike may give rap a much needed shot in the arm. (RS 733)

ERIC BERMAN