*1/2 Bahamadia

BB QUEEN

(Good Vibe Recordings)

An unlikely rap subgenre has emerged: a whole generation of MCs and DJs is making laid-back, head-nodding music that owes as much to Wyndham Hill as to Sugar Hill. Call it new-age hip-hop. When it works -- as it does on Common's Like Water for Chocolate (MCA) -- the mixture is unexpectedly compelling. But when new-age hip-hop takes a wrong turn -- as it does on BB Queen, the new EP from Philadelphia rapper Bahamadia -- you end up with an indistinct blur of lite jazz and mumbled vocals.

That's not to say there's nothing to like on BB Queen. "Commonwealth (Cheap Chicks)" is an exuberant tribute to empty pockets ("T.J. Maxx broads/Hold your part down!"), and "One-4-Teen (Funky for You)" features Detroit's new-age hip-hop pioneers, Slum Village. But then there's "Philadelphia," an anemic dose of home-town pride that never gets going, and "Pep Talk," which fuses Bahamadia's vocals to a drum 'n' bass track that sounds half a decade old. There's a fine line between elevating music and elevator music.

-- Kelefa Sanneh