This week's hip-hop CDs reviewed

K-THE-I???

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow Big Dada***

It's not just mainstream hip-hop that needs a kick up the back of the baggy jeans. The underground needs a wake-up call as well, with too many MCs content to find a formula and hold onto it. While you'd be hard pushed to call Yesterday, Today Tomorrowa game-changer, big man on campus Kiki Ceac does at least throw some different, more abstract and creative shapes to his peer's parade of lacklustre, pedestrian jams. Unlike his debut, Broke Love Letter, where Ceac concentrated on doomed love stories, Yesterday swings from raps about the state of the hip-hop union to how he's adjusting to life in his new hang in LA. There are splendid beats from Thavius Beck (who brings some of that Niggy Tardust star power) and a bunch of fine lines from guests including Busdriver and Subtitle. But the real thriller here is the burly dude with the megaphone on the album sleeve. www.myspace. com/kthei

Download tracks: Trading Places, Stylin'