Back at the beginning of the decade, bad boys Buju Banton and Capleton would have been low on the list of dance-hall/reggae DJs likely to reinvent themselves as born-again Rasta prophets. Three years ago, however, the ragga stars both publicly converted to the "conscious" life. And Banton's and Capleton's latest albums continue their soaring flights from the gun-and-punaany salutes of dance-hall slackness.

Capleton's holy-bingiman spiels haven't changed much since his last album, 1995's Prophecy: Chanting down Babylon, repatriating Ethiopia, worshiping Haile Selassie and denouncing "politricks" are all themes that continue to dominate his lyrics. But while hip-hop production was an afterthought on Prophecy (three hip-hop remixes, including Method Man's cameo on "Wings of the Morning," were tacked on at the end), I-Testament puts smoothed-out, familiar beats at the center of many of its musical sermons. Capleton, assisted by co-producers Sly and Robbie and Ian Allen, smothers "East Coast to the West Coast" in G-funk keyboards and builds "Original Man" around the eternally recycled loops of "Walk on the Wild Side" (complete with an introductory blessing from Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest).

The gruff-voiced Banton blazes a wider – and far more colorful – social and stylistic path on Inna Heights than he did on 1995's 'Til Shiloh. He delivers uplifting prayers to Jah ("Hills and Valleys"), unexpected tributes to single mothers ("Single Parent") and chilling a cappella dramas ("Circumstances") while alternating swatches of shuffling ska with slow-grinding lovers' rock and, in the case of "Love Dem Bad," (his scorching chat session with Red Rat) bare-backed, dance-hall rhythm riding. The brazen, homophobic teenager who beat down "batty boys" on 1992's "Boom Bye Bye" seems safely buried in the past. "May the realms of Zion fill my spiritual cup," Banton now sings. "Wisdom overstanding can never be too much."

Though nothing here is as musically tide-changing as 'Til Shiloh's "Untold Stories" or "Murderer," Inna Heights goes a long way toward further establishing Banton as a ghetto messenger of peace and social justice – a role few expected he would ever be grown-up enough to play. (RS 781)

JOSH KUN