Socalled

Montreal's hottest Yiddish hip-hopper proved he could camp and revamp Jewish cultural institutions on his first two albums. On No. 3, Socalled gets serious -- sort of. His wittiness is intact, as is his tendency toward kitsch, thanks to eccentric vintage samples and, well, the odd coupling of hip-hop with klezmer, among other strange birds. (Where else can you find cameos from Fred Wesley, C Rayz Walz and David Krakauer?) But what truly defines Ghettoblaster is its earnestness -- its creator's sincere desire to pay tribute to (rather than just schtick up) all the music that he loves.