Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

You've undoubtedly heard the single. "Me, Myself, and I" borrows from the classic Pete Townsend riff on "Can't Explain," plows a different acreage of the same fertile ground that DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince did on "Parents Just Don't Understand," and keeps running through your head in spite of yourself. The CD, named after the breakout single, is jammed with more of the same: instant radio friendly tracks, full of memorable hooks (many of them borrowed from excellent sources), with equal parts rap and singing, and aimed straight up the wazoo of his target audience, which is 14 to 18 year old males and those who wish they were.

"Superteen" builds from Cheap Trick's She's Tight," taking Rick Neilsen's classic chord progression and building it into a heads-on, complaint-laden tale of teen angst. While anyone over 25 will want to reach through the speakers and smack him, anyone under 20 who's saving up to move out from under Mom and Dad will readily identify with what's going on. Jones demonstrates the ability to borrow well, along the way showing his influences both old and new: tracks like "Money Shot" (Sly Stone and Spencer Davis Group), "Now You're On It" (J-Lo, Sir Mix-A-Lot), and "Christy Kiss" (Townsend and The Who again, with "Substitute").

But, as with the best artists, it is the melding of music and subject matter that separate the one-hit wonders from those with perennial staying power. Using that criteria, Jones, I think, is gonna be around for awhile. "Best Friend's Girl" is about a teen love triangle, but not, I think, in quite the way you might think. The topics continue in rapid-fire succession. Jones deals with unrequited love on "She," or at least what passes for love these days. He is also equally adept in dealing with alienation baggage that the teenage passage often brings with it. Maybe the most interesting track on here, believe it or not, is "Suck It," the hiphop version, I guess, of Toby Keith's "How Do You Like Me Now," and a scatological invitation to all of those who second-guessed on his career choice and urged him to pursue moreconventional avenues. "Home," however, is the serious side to this issue. One of the CD's two ballads, it is almost painful to listen to; Jones bares the pain of being disowned for mistakes he's made. He apparently did not have the blessing of unconditional love.

Jones' biggest problem may be narrow radio programming that can't decidewhether he is a rapper or vocalist; he is equal parts of both and equally talented in both genres. There is certainly crossover potential to Top 40 here as well. If he comes off as a bit conceited, he certainly has the chops to back his braggadocio up. And if his arrangements are borrowed, he certainly knows which cupboard has the best stuff. This guy is hot. 2002 may be the Year of Jive Jones.