** Busta Rhymes

WHEN DISASTER STRIKES

(Elektra)

With his 1995 solo debut, The Coming, and his smash single "Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check," this former member of the Leaders of the New School established himself as rap's premier wild man, a class clown whose spare, fractured beats, frenetic vocal style, and loony, ribald wordplay were admired by every rap clique from hardcore gangsta to smooth crossover. On When Disaster Strikes, Busta tries to maintain his diverse fan base by pleasing everybody, kicking it to one audience with a misogynist spoken-word intro and doses of millennial doomsaying, to another with party-hearty raves and a duet with R&B chanteuse Erykah Badu. Trying to split the difference, he even ends a two-part gangbanging extravaganza with the threadbare copout "It was only a dream." Whether his efforts are disingenuous or simply confused, the strain of it all is just plain exhausting. Busta's energy seems to give out about two-thirds through the album, but listeners lacking his psychotic fervor will be excused for calling it quits much sooner.

-- Franklin Soults