The San Francisco Examiner from San Francisco, California • 270

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Martin's talent is not for introspection it's for blowing off steam. As such, his super-joyous music is destined to storm wedding receptions and corporate functions in any corner of the globe he wants to go. fames Sullivan Naughty by Nature Still Pumps Up the Jams NAUGHTY BY NATURE Nineteen Naughty Nine: Nature's Fury Arista, $16.97 Back in '91, Jersey rap trio Naughty by Nature burst onto the scene with "O.P.P.," a rowdy call-and-response anthem with enough throw-your-hands-in-the-air energy to seduce the mainstream. Two years later, "Hip Hop Hooray" delivered the same. Listeners had little choice but to grin, nod their heads and chant along.

The last "ho hey" strains of their early hits may have been replaced by DMX's gravelly growl and Master P's guttural "ugggghhhh," but Naughty isn't ready to duck out of the rap game just yet. The new record, a diverse effort that takes as many cues from soul and as it does from hip-hop past and present, finds the crew as charismatic and enthusiastic as ever. Thankfully, Naughty by Nature isn't married to any one formula or vibe: In one fell swoop, it comes out swingin' uplifts the community Then and woos the ladies Could Do It's open-minded about the all- important hooks, too, from the dance hall-tinged "Ring the Alarm" to the soulful roll of "Live or Die." While producer KayGee throws in samples, lays down some sparkly disco-funk fluff and pops that old-school boom-bap into gear, Vin and Treach mimic Run-DMC's deliberate delivery and navigate today's sped-up style with equal aptitude. When it comes to accessible party jams, Naughty still has little competition. -KathrmVarr Soukous Shout-Outs From Cliff and Co.

JIMMY CUFF Shout for Freedom Milan, $15.98 Jimmy Cliff, the only reggae star of the stature of the late Bob Marley, toured Africa in 1985. While he was in the Congo (then Zaire), he recorded with three of that country's most influential bands TPOK, led by Franco, the Steve Perry's soaring territory. Most audacious is the lead track, "Livin' La Vida Loca," which features a recurrent spy-movie guitar riff, swirling synthesized horns and an alternative-ska scratch rhythm. Amid all the commotion, the song retains its Latin quality with a ceaseless riot of syncopation. Lyrically, Martin doesn't exactly go for poetry.

"Livin" La Vida Loca" makes a clunky rhyme with "her skin's the color mocha." On the Eastern-flavored bunny hop "Shake Your Bon-Bon," Martin pairs "Himalaya" with "I wanna lay ya." Most of the songs were written in part by veteran hired gun Desmond Child All Sleep Alone," "Dude (Looks Like a Session musicians include familiar names such as drummer Kenny Aronoff (John Mel-lencamp, Smashing Pumpkins) and ex-Hooters guitarist Eric Bazilian, who co-wrote "Private Emotion." Another contributor is one Madonna Louise Ciccone, who joined her current co-conspirator, techno artist William Orbit, to write "Be Careful (Cuidado Con Mi Cora-zon)." Madonna glommed onto Martin just after his Grammy knockout; graciously, he let her in on a piece of his white-hot action. The result is this down-tempo tune, on which Martin adopts a hoarse, Peter Gabriel-ish vocal style so as not to upstage his duet partner. CD RATING GUIDE Classic Excellent Good Average Below Average RICKY MARTIN Ricky Martin C2Columbia, $17.97 Mi ost artists who name a record after themselves dp so on their debut. Ricky Martin's self- titled album, in stores Tuesday, is his fourth as a solo act. It's the brown-eyed beefcake star's self-conscious effort to "take it to the next level," to use an awful '90s catchphrase that seems especially appropriate here.

Given the hype suddenly surrounding the young, studly and commercially driven Martin, a former member of Menudo, he might soon find himself rocketing several levels up to where the thin air makes you dizzy. Millions worldwide felt delirious ly short of breath when Martin sang on this year's Grammys telecast. The Puerto Rican-born dynamo's frenetic, leather-pants performance of "La Copa de la Vida" Cup of the official song of the '98 World Cup, thrust him from Latino celebrity to universal pop superstar-dom. From Tito Puente and Perez Pra-do to Gloria Estefan and the Gipsy Kings, Latin music has enjoyed plenty of mass acceptance in the United States. But at the moment -as Latinos are fast gaining on African Americans as the country's biggest minority group Latin music is poised to dominate the pop marketplace as never before.

Martin wants to be the conquering hero. "Ricky Martin" is his first English-language release, and it's full of bold concessions to Western pop styles. "I Am Made of You" is a metal-type ballad with crying guitar; "Private Emotion" might be a true-love Journey tearjerker were Martin able to coax his modest voice into Will 1 ill I III Inl imbbbh '11 'J iU.u a 1 i. i nn.