Record Rack

** 1/2 Trick Daddy, “Thugs Are Us,” Slip-N-Slide/Atlantic. The former Trick Daddy Dollars presents himself as part activist, part pimp and part party animal on his fourth album (in stores Tuesday). The Miami rapper creates above-average, socially aware tracks here--as well as several festive dance songs--but they are overshadowed by a string of empty, sexually slanted selections. Strangely, the bitter, politically charged “Amerika,” one of the best songs from his 2000 album, is also included.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.