**1/2 Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz

MAKE IT REIGN

(Columbia)

The Bronx hip-hop duo Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz made a splash last year with the independent single "Deja Vu (Uptown Baby)," a tribute to the ol' boogie-down built on a bouncy little sample from Steely Dan's "Black Cow." (For which they've paid dearly -- six figures plus sole writing credit to Steely Dan.) "Deja Vu" got picked up by Columbia, and appearances by Wyclef Jean and Busta Rhymes were promised for the album. Those never materialized; the biggest names to turn up in supporting roles here are Big Punisher and Kurupt. Meanwhile, Tariq and Gunz have already announced their intention to record solo albums.

Pop rap doesn't have too high a profile right now -- catchiness tends to be suspect in hip-hop, so rappers who indulge in hooks have to make up for it by being inhumanly hard. Exhibit A: Make It Reign. Once you get beyond its bombastic endorsements of thug life, the disc is a total pop-hook extravaganza, with blatantly catchy choruses on almost every track. "Party/All night/Fiesta/ Forever" Tariz and Gunz chant on "Fiesta." And you get one guess as to which Michael Jackson song "Startin' Somethin' " samples at length. The combination of gunpowder on the outside and candy in the middle works nicely, even if it does wear a little thin over the album's hour-plus length.

-- Douglas Wolk