Remember when Biggie had just died and Bad Boy Records was scrambling to find another MC to fill the extremely large void he left? Now remember how they gave us the “Whoa”-spitting Black Rob, and we all thought that everything was going to be all right? (It was just before P. Diddy invaded MTV and gave us Da Band.)It has been five years since Black “Bacardi” Rob came through in the crunch with his debut, Life Story. With his latest release, The Black Rob Report, he attempts to save the label again, but this time from Making the Band’s latest incarnation.

Black Rob is a gifted street storyteller. His best comes through on theme tracks like the soulful “Star in Da Hood” on which he raps, “saw a lotta old dudes used to work my block; they on Lennox Ave. now selling T-shirts and socks, pushing everything they own in a shopping cart; so I throw em something cuz deep down it hurt my heart.”

Black Rob continues the tradition of Bad Boy artists, keeping it real by spending his hiatus from the music forefront in front of a judge. He adds a new twist, though he can now add rare kidney disease survivor to his street rsum. He raps about both on Watch Your Movements, and fills his fans in on everything else he has done in the fast five years with the help of hook maestro Akon.

The album is packed with, like anything P. Diddy touches, heavily polished beats that Black Rob’s rough street vocals do not always agree with. He might not be the guy that can pull Bad Boy back to the top of game, but at least he can take attention away from the catty drama of Making the Band 3 or 4 or whatever P. Diddy is wasting his time with now.