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 for Biggie Smalls protégé Junior 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 on The Wonderful World of Cease A Leo--BDP's "Super Hoe" on "Mr.Nasty," and Kraftwerk'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