Kingston, Jamaica, dancehall reggae gangster Mavado opens his second album reciting the "23rd Psalm" over church piano, and closes with a version of "We Shall Overcome" for President Barack Obama. In between, Mavado gets ambitious, undulating his lionesque howl toward Zion, mourning lost loved ones, and braving the shadow of death as gunshots and goth–rock belfry bells and skidding electro–beats ring out. Sometimes on Mr. Brooks . . . A Better Tomorrow, he toasts so hard he winds up squeaking in tongues. Harsh and frequently impenetrable, opting for emotion over hooks, Mavado's patois risks getting monotonous over the long haul. But you never doubt his commitment to life's struggle.