Mystikal is a man of the street. Unlike his contemporaries in the hip-hop world, he’s not concerned with bemoaning or celebrating his lifestyle, just living it. He’s also less worried than most about establishing his credentials as a player, prophet, or even an MC—he just wants his women and his weed, thank you. He keeps it real by example.

So perhaps it’s only fitting that he’s created the first (and, so far, best) direct musical commentary on 9/11 and its aftermath with this CD’s first cut, “Bouncin’ Back (Bumpin’ Me Against The Wall).” Free of mindless patriotism, bloodlust, or treacly portent, it somehow strikes just the right note, defiant and resolved yet almost Zen in its determination to file the tragedy away and keep moving on. And, thanks in part to rap’s finest production team, the Neptunes, it’s also the finest blend yet of hip-hop and traditional New Orleans street marching jazz. It’s been done before, by Mystikal and others, but this track peels the production back to clarinet, sax, Mardi Gras beats, and straight-R&B backup vocals, giving Mystikal’s signature bulldog growl the feel of real street preaching. It’s a combination song—jazz funeral for the dead of that tragic day, and personal battle song for the new Era of Bad Feelings.

The fact that nothing else on Tarantula comes close to “Bouncin’ Back” is not a huge problem—it’s a peak that would be hard to sustain—but there are new developments, because Mystikal is starting to show signs of blending his early No Limit sound with the big-budget sound that finally scored him a national hit with “Shake Ya Ass.” Roughly half of these 14 tracks were recorded in Baton Rouge, the other half in New York, but you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference. (Example: The excellent “P***y Crook” is a Louisiana track that sounds like latter-day Gotham.) Surrounded by rap’s hottest production teams (Rockwilder, Scott Storch, and the aforementioned Neptunes) he keeps polishing the chrome on his signature styles: “That’s That S**t” and “Paper Stack” are pure Dirty South Louisiana with a big budget, “Go ’Head” capitalizes on his James-Brown-of-rap image better than any previous attempt, and “Smoke One” is the finest entry yet in his series of string-laden Cadillac-funk odes to getting high.

He’s got friends at the party, too. “I Get It Started” is a Redman/Method Man/Mystikal freestyle summit meeting that’s way too brief, and “Settle The Score” is a long-overdue tag team assault with Juvenile that refuses to playa hate, despite the title. Tarantula might not surprise you much after the opener, but if nothing else, Mystikal proves on the rest of the album that he’s still a real man of the people—and still worth keeping an eye on.