Kris Kross

That backward-pants style never bum-rushed the fashion industry, and their expiration date as stars was as inevitable as the descent of their testicles. But Kris Kross did instigate a strange copycat phenomenon, which occurred once before in 1984 and let's hope will at some point in the aughts: A great hit single called "Jump" spontaneously generates another great hit single with jump in the title. House of Pain's "Jump Around" isn't quite the Pointer Sisters' "Jump (For My Love)." But if you don't think Jermaine Dupri's high-energy mauling of the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" belongs on the same jukebox with Van Halen, then you could get the finger. The middle.

The Atlanta duo's actual followup to "Jump" was "Warm It Up," which echoes "Jump" as surely and delightfully as the Jackson 5's "ABC" does "I Want You Back." Far from a hits-plus-filler package, though, Totally Krossed Out was so much fun you might not realize how cleverly Dupri streamlined Public Enemy's wail-and-screech for your car radio. This music is accommodating without being compromising, and the Chrisses -- Smith and Kelly -- are precocious enough to sneak into a club underage on "Party," average enough to lament "I Missed the Bus."
,br> Da Bomb proved that not every kid rap star grows up to be Will Smith, but at least Mack Daddy and the Daddy Mack avoided the oversexualized panting of tykes like Bow Wow and Lil' Romeo. The "dangerous" in the title of their 1996 disc supposedly indicates they know how to use their minds and pose a threat to the powers that be. Unfortunately, the album's tepid G-funk brings to mind the adage "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." The "Lil Boyz in the Hood" who were haunted by the adult violence they encountered back in 1992 were now toting gats themselves. And that really is whickety-whickety-whickety-wack. (KEITH HARRIS)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide