Amazon.com When roots vocalist Paul Elliott is crooning away in the Glen Washington mold, the results are awe inspiring (check out his sleeper debut Save Me Oh Jah). Since early 1999, however, most credible lovers, rocks, and roots maestros sadly want to be like Beenie Man, so they chat lyrics rather than croon and tinker around with soulless digitized dancehall beats. On the title track, "Hype a Lot," and "Girls Girls," Elliott falls into this trap by ignoring his trademark smoky delivery in favor of dancehall scats. Certainly both "Nuffa Dem a Blaspheme" and the Buju Banton-esque "Import Corruption"--a song that suggests that Western civilization may be responsible for the decline of most other civilizations--flaunt Elliott's smart lyrics of social awareness over danceable backing tracks. And like any studious up-and-comer, Elliott has assembled the right cast of musicians to make this a classic (Dean Frazer on horns, Fluxy on drums, the ubiquitous Sly and Robbie, etc.). But strangely, Elliott's wanton straying off of his beaten-roots-reggae path renders this full-length album more middling than magnificent. --Dalton Higgins