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Da Brat - Unrestricted

One and a half stars

Since her debut with 1994's Funkdafied, Da Brat has been rightfully accused of imitating other rappers. Her G-funk leanings are blatantly derivative of Dr. Dre (as is most modern rap) and her flow is similar, at times, to both Snoop Dogg's faster moments and Busta Rhymes.

Perhaps nothing more original can be expected of a rapper who began her career in a freestyling contest at a Kriss Kross show.

Da Brat is still not a musical innovator. On Unrestricted - her first album in four years - Da Brat unveils the latest evolution of her sonic vision, and it is not very different from the last. In fact, the album sounds eerily like a product of the mid-1990s, full of G-funk synths, female chorus vocals and a blunted, celebratory feel.

Da Brat's raps are remarkably vacuous. She is a fast emcee, with a spitting, staccato delivery, but her themes mostly concern her readiness to "kick it" and her desirability to every male she meets.

The production - primarily by Jermaine Dupri - falls into many hip-hop clichˇs, including that most despicable - the classical-guitar solo. The drum loops and funk touches on the album are nothing new, and are not even particularly well-done. None of the songs fall into a convincing groove.

Da Brat has found considerable commercial success by piggybacking on the innovations of other rappers. With this disc, it seems, sadly, that she is not departing from this exploitative formula.