Rah Digga digs up tight new record

Rapper Rah Digga more than answers the question of "Do The Ladies Run This... ," a song from her debut compact disc, with a resounding yes.

Born Rashia Fisher, the Newark, New Jersey master of ceremonies confidently cuts her throaty voice through the energetic "Dirty Harriet," recently released on Elektra.

A member of Busta Rhymes' Flipmode Squad, Rah Digga was featured on the group's gold-certified "Imperial" album. Primarily employing a catchy punchline flow, her lyrics cover a wide variety of topics .

" ... F---- with their heads like Kahlua milk and vodka/then tell their punk a?? to move on like Silkk The Shocker/who bombs harder?/We out to get the paper like Inga and Shawn Carter"  she rhymes over "Curtains," which uses a simple but effective synthesizer and drum backdrop.
 

"Dirty Harriet" is a solid album. While no material is truly spectacular, Rah Digga consistently delivers interesting, colorful lyrics and aggressive, head bobbing instrumentals. She relies too much on punchlines, but much like Redman or Busta Rhymes, she makes the style work. She can tell an interesting story, as evidenced in "Lessons of Today."

In the fictitious song, Rah Digga describes how her three problem-riddled brothers try to make it though society. She could have used more of this material to balance out the release.

Some of the more interesting selections include "Break Fool" which has a thunderous bass line and hectic yet infectious synthesizer. The hook's call and response technique is very effective.

"Tight" is a winner with its eerie sound effects and drum noises. Entertaining symphonic strings dominate "Straight Spittin' Part II" and the catchy mid-tempo "What's Up Wit That." Even Busta Rhymes' Flipmode Squad, who usually hit and miss with their lyrical attempts, comes through on "Just For You."

A misstep is the single with Busta Rhymes, "Imperial," which sounds as if the engineer used the first available drum track, started pounding on a keyboard and told Rah Digga to think of a hook. The Pete Rock produced "What They Call Me" features a poorly delivered hook by Rah Digga, using the same rhyme scheme as Boogie Down Productions' "Jimmy."

The biggest problem with "Dirty Harriet" is the instrumentals, which start to sound a little too repetitive toward the end. At least "Lessons of Today" breaks up the monotony. Rah Digga uses her loud, bragging voice to its fullest. She simply overpowers the tracks with her vocal influence. Her creative lyrics are to the point and full of humor.