01:00 AM EST on Sunday, March 19, 2006

Wicked Wisdom

Wicked Wisdom (100% Womon)

Bet you didn't know Will Smith's wife is a Joan Jett-style rocker. Fronting nu-metal outfit Wicked Wisdom, actress Jada Pinkett Smith is so convincing, she could get the Fresh Prince bounced out of Bel-Air.

This self-titled 10-song debut is highlighted by the radio-ready "Something Inside of Me," a hard, funky slab of metal boasting a message of female empowerment, expletives not deleted. Opening cut "Yesterday Don't Mean," meanwhile, captures the energy and musicianship of this L.A. club band, and remaining cuts showcase a fusion of funk, punk and thrash-metal's heavier-than-thou guitar and drums.

If the acting gigs ever dry up, Smith has a nice sideline in demented screaming.

-- JOHN WAREHAM

Los Angeles Daily News

Wicked Wisdom is at the Webster Theater, 31 Webster St., Hartford, at 6 p.m. March 29, with Sevendust, Nonpoint and Socialburn. Tickets are $22. Call (800) 477-6849 or go to www.tickets.com.

Kid Rock

Live Trucker (Atlantic/WEA)

More than just a bunch of concert tracks, Kid Rock's first live album shows why this colorful Detroit rap-rocker is a steady draw throughout the country.

The 13-track set captures hard-driving arena fare such as "Devil Without a Cause," "Cowboy" and "Bawitdaba," and sturdy ballads "Picture" (done here with Gretchen Wilson) and "Only God Knows Why," delivered with the Kid's usual full-throttle swagger, backed by the high-octane Twisted Brown Trucker Band.

Even without being able to witness the pyro, go-go girls and ghetto-fab furs used in the stage act, there's plenty of macho bluster all around. Ultimately, though, Live Trucker, whose cover art is an homage to fellow Wolverine State rocker Bob Seger, should've been a DVD.

-- FRED SHUSTER

Los Angeles Daily News

Kid Rock is at Boston University's Agganis Arena, 925 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, at 7:30 p.m. March 30. Tickets are $35. Call (401) 331-2211 or go to www.ticketmaster.com.

Cesaria Evora

Rogamar (RCA Victor)

Cesaria Evora's Rogamar, recorded in Paris, Rio de Janeiro and her native Cape Verde, doesn't offer fans of the barefoot diva anything they haven't heard before. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Rogamar stays true to Evora's signature sound: a thick but gentle storyteller's voice guiding wistful melodies that move to and fro on a wave of guitar and bass strings. The album's distinctive qualities are found in new instrumental touches: strings and flutes arranged by Brazilian Jaques Morelenbaum, accordion work by Malagasy's Regis Gizavo on "Sao Tome," and a duet with Senegalese vocalist Ismael Lo on "Africa Nossa." They make Evora's sound more lush, but the overall picture is still the same.

Mornas, the Cape Verdean amalgamation of French, Latin and West African musical styles, are Evora's specialty. Her delivery of these haunting songs has earned her a faithful legion of followers.

This album will earn a space among their collections, but there's nothing about this, Evora's 10th studio album, to tantalize new listeners or inspire the older ones.

-- AIMEE MAUDE SIMS

Associated Press

Cesaria Evora is at the Orpheum Theatre, 1 Hamilton Place, Boston, at 8 p.m. March 31. Tickets are $30 to $50. Call (401) 331-2211 or go to www.ticketmaster.com.

Arctic Monkeys

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (Domino)

The hype machine behind the Arctic Monkeys is louder than the British band itself. While not even the reincarnation of John Lennon is worth that kind of praise, the Monkeys still made a great rock record with Whatever People Say I Am.

At times, the four-piece band sounds like a six-piece version of LCD Soundsystem. Alex Turner's obvious accent is the only thing that sets apart his incredibly self-aware, half-spoken ramblings from those of LCD's James Murphy in tracks like "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" or "Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong but . . . ."

But at the end of the 13 songs, you simply have a great rock record and a challenging debut. The rock is brassy and loud, like a truer, more legit Louis XIV. But the rock 'n' roll second coming it's not.

-- RICARDO BACA

The Denver Post

Ne-Yo

In My Own Words (Def Jam)

Somewhere between the salaciousness of R. Kelly and the heartsick romanticism of Stevie Wonder you'll find a most soulful Ne-Yo. At 23, the bump-'n'-grinding but mindful crooner has written hits for Mario, B2K and Musiq, but he has saved the bedroom-smooth best for himself.

Sure, songs such as "Stay" (featuring Peedi Crack), the snarkishly charming and coy "When You're Mad," and heated tracks such as "Mirror" make getting it on a spectator sport. But an O'Jays-sampled "Get Down Like That" and the spare, slick lament that is "So Sick" take monogamy beyond the call of duty. So much so that when love goes awry, Ne-Yo's made ill, on "Sick," by every love song on the radio.

Bet he wouldn't be so nauseated if he heard one of his own.

-- A.D. AMOROSI

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Juvenile

Reality Check (UTP/Atlantic)

With occasional references to po' boys and FEMA checks, as well as relentless descriptions of life as a hustler, this growling New Orleans rapper's booming new disc represents the perpetual struggles and celebrations of life in the Crescent City.

Hustling is ingrained in this town, which built its economy selling musical, sexual and gastronomical fantasies. Reality Check sells itself as an antidote, painting an uncomfortable picture of real street life in New Orleans. Of course, rappers have long sold the urban struggle as its own kind of fantasy, which makes Reality Check all the more complicated.

In some ways, Hurricane Katrina has changed everything. And in others, this record suggests, it has changed nothing at all.

-- NICK MARINO

Atlanta Journal-Constitution