When Poor Righteous Teachers' lead rapper, Wise Intelligent, orders, "Full-time teachers take the front/Substitutes play the back," on "Strictly Mash'ion," he isn't joking. Trenton's native sons – Wise, Culture Freedom and DJ Father Shaheed – are back with their sophomore effort, Pure Poverty, ready to school those who thought last year's smash debut, Holy Intellect, was a fluke.

Wise Intelligent's rapid-fire rhythms and lyrics are in effect again, and producer Tony D has molded an album with airtight beats, varied tempos, live instruments and Jamaican dance-hall rhythms. True to the group's allegiance to the strict Islamic tenets of the Five Percent Nation, P.R.T. consistently delivers mind-grabbing messages that offer disciplined solutions to the "pure poverty" of urban American life. The album's first single, "Shakiyla (JRH)," mixes street beats with P.R.T.'s rendition of the chorus from Michael Jackson's "The Girl Is Mine." (JRH stands for "just renewing history"; the track follows up "Shakiyla," from Holy Intellect.) The song is a tribute to black women, and Wise Intelligent comes right out the box, flowing in a style that can best be described as Rhythmic American Poetry. His precisely enunciated, syncopated technique is unique in rap, and it's no coincidence that Wise Intelligent's delivery works so well on reggae-flavored tracks like "Easy Star" and "Each One Teach One."

Innovation is definitely a part of P.R.T.'s program, as demonstrated on "Just Servin' Justice," which runs a synthetic bass line and features hand claps, clever hooks and midphrase tempo shifts. Just as impressive, "I'm Comin' Again" shows off Wise Intelligent's melodic grace, as he raps a cappella: "You lack you lose you lose you lost the knowledge of yourself/And if you don't know who you are you won't know no one else."

While a plethora of righteous rappers has burst on the scene in the past year, few outside of P.R.T. have managed to stand firm on the serious issues, like sex and drugs. These Teachers aren't stuffed-shirt fundamentalists, though: They're about making hip-hop enjoyable and educational. (RS 617)

KEVIN POWELL