Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

In the post-Biggie hip-hop scene of 1997, Ma$e's Harlem World

stood out as an album that not only bore the influence of the Notorious

B.I.G.'s mush-mouthed-yet-hardcore rapping style but pushed it even

further into the pop realm, allowing love songs like "Tell Me What You

Want" and party jams like "Feel So Good" to coexist with street-savvy

songs such as "24 Hours To Live."

Two years and an explosion of Puff Daddy-produced artists later, Ma$e

has returned with The Movement, a too-long debut for his new All

Out label. He executive-produced the album for friends and relations in

the one-woman, five-man crew known as Harlem World (Ma$e shared

executive producing duties with So So Def mastermind Jermaine Dupri).

As a document of where Ma$e and friends (twin sister Baby Stase, Loon,

Meeno, Cardan, Huddy Combs, Blinky Blink and Suga J -- plus an army of

producers for each individual song) stand as artists, The

Movement is worrisome. The defiant, hard-hitting "You Made Me," the

infectious, Debarge and New Edition-style "I Really Like It" and the

playful, battle-of-the-sexes "We Both Frontin'" are the only songs out

of 14 total (plus three interludes) that are at all memorable.

To Ma$e's credit, the songs on this album do not rely on samples from

familiar pop songs to enhance their appeal (although there's a slight

nod to the trend when "One Big Fiesta" bites Lionel Ritchie's "All Night

Long"). The remainder of the tracks slip by as substandard rip-offs of

the Wu-Tang Clan ("Pointing Fingers," "100 Shiesty's"), Big Pun ("Across

The Border"), DMX ("Crew of the Year") and, naturally, Puff Daddy

("Minute Man"). And then there's "Cali Chronic," a song that pays

tribute to the West Coast by employing Ice Cube's "yeah-yeaaah" phrase

and once again sampling the wheezing keyboard from the Ohio Players'

"Funky Worm" -- a sample that hasn't been used by a West Coast artist

since Death Row Records fell into decline. If a group called Harlem

World had released "Cali Chronic" at the height of the Death Row vs. Bad

Boy battle, it would have either been perceived as an insult (because it

sucks) or an olive branch (because the sample is such a West Coast

staple). As it stands now, it just sounds like Harlem World is late

getting to the party.

If you're going to forgo pop hooks, something has to distinguish your

songs. Unfortunately, there aren't any unique samples on The

Movement, few songs that demand a re-listen to make sure all the

lyrics are memorized ("We Both Frontin'" is the lone exception), no DJ

wizardry to marvel over and little chemistry to cover for a lackluster

effort.

Case in point -- since they had to give '70s singer-songwriter Jim Croce

the lone songwriting credit on "You Made Me" because the song makes use

of an Eddie Kendricks cover of "Time In A Bottle," why not just lift the

hook from the original source? "You Made Me" is one of the best songs on

the album as is, but adding a little something to lift it above the fray

could only have helped.

The Movement isn't all bad. Baby Stase, who has a quicker flow

than her brother and seems to be just as sharp a lyricist, is a

wonderful discovery. The album shines whenever she makes an appearance

-- and that's without her going the sexed-out Lil' Kim route or the

money-hungry Foxy Brown route; in this day and age, that's a formidable

accomplishment. And while it seems unnecessary, the gospel cover of the

classic "Change Is Gonna Come" that closes the album is a nice touch --

tellingly, however, not a single member of Harlem World appears on the

song.