The Wonderful World Of Cease
Hip-hop sidekicks are all the rage. Everyone's got a crew, and now that rap entrepreneurs are burning through cash like they're Silicon Alley venture capitalists, anyone can get a chance at the show. Lil' Cease, former front-puppy forBiggie SmallsprotégéJunior M.A.F.I.A., has finally got his shot, some five years after "Player's Anthem" introduced him to the world. Familiar hooks abound onThe Wonderful World of Cease A Leo--BDP's "Super Hoe" on "Mr.Nasty," andKraftwerk's "Trans-Europe Express" on "4 My Niggaz," most notably. As an MC, Cease borrowed little from Biggie apart from a jones for weed and sex: his storytelling is sloppy and crude, a second-rate flow that wouldn't have seen the light of day when BDP originally released "Super Hoe." But in the hip-hop-as-dance category, Lil Cease's wonderful world is filled with guilty, thought-free pleasures.--Jon Caramanica