Third Strike

Personnel: Tinchy Stryder (vocals).
Recording information: The Music Shed, London, England.
Photographer: Dean Chalkley.
On the sequel to his gold-selling album Catch 22, Tinchy Stryder uses the same formula of electro beats, pop-rap rhymes, and smooth divas for the hook, and the results are no different. Uneven as anything in his early catalog, Third Strike lives and dies by its singles, which are as slick and infectious as U.K. pop-rap should be, especially when superstar hitmaker Taio Cruz shows up for "Second Chance." "Gangsta?" comes with a believable strut if you don't take Tinchy's thug claims too seriously, while "Game Over" is an ace combination of futurism and the dubstep genre gone pop. Taken as a whole, the album throws so much polish at the listener that the sheen is blinding, but when it comes to short bursts of well-dressed swagger, Third Strike provides Flo Rida-sized results. ~ David Jeffries