City High
City High's two-guys-and-a-girl combination will strike  inevitable comparisons to their predecessors in the hip-hop neo- soulster sweepstakes, namelyDigable Planetsandthe Fugees. But  their perimeters have been adjusted to fit the post-millennial tension  that urban radio is currently experiencing. Bypassing all sorts of  obvious "conscious" hipsterisms, the trio's music strikes a fine  balance between self-realization and street-level realness. The fact  that they chose to address such basic concerns as low-income single  motherhood (on "What Would You Do") and the perils of creeping with  jailbait ("15 Will Get You 20"), immediately sets them apart from both  theMissy Elliottsand  theLucy Pearlsof  the world. Stylistically, the record is surprisingly heavy on the  smoothed-out R&B; tip, and singer Claudette Ortiz is unquestionably moreDestiny's ChildthanL-Boogie.  But the production, handled by executive producerWyclef Jean, DJ  Clark Kent, and others, subverts the classic Quiet Storm formula and  serves as an interesting counterpoint to the group's capable vocals.City Highis a keeper.--Rebecca Levine