Few personalities in hip-hop are as torn as that of Beanie Sigel. A Muslim who spits about gunplay and popping bottles, Beans is a walking contradiction. Hip-hop is his outlet for settling this identity conflict, making it all the more logical that he titled his latest offering The Solution.

To this point, B-Mac's career has been a struggle between irresistible crossover success and gritty, street-friendly jams. None of his previous three albums managed to set the rap world afire, though 2004's The B.Coming was encouraging, with Sigel finding a voice in tortured, introspective self-analysis. Half of The Solution is markedly personal, a return to the jail-cell existentialism Beans has excelled at in the past. The other half plays to the modern hip-hop market with guest spots by R. Kelly, Jay-Z, an inexplicable cameo by James Blunt and production by hit-weavers Cool & Dre and the Runners, etc.

The first single "All of the Above" is indisputably shallow and melodramatic. Kells' chorus is textbook post-G-Unit crossover trash — "I'm a mack! I'm a thug! I'm a pimp! I'm all of the above!" But Beans brings such pent-up aggression, it somehow manages to be pretty listenable. In "'Bout That," a surprisingly colorful, dynamic track by Cool & Dre, Sigel integrates his sheer energy and wit to create another decent single-oriented song. An interesting and previously unexplored pairing with singer Rock City lends "Go Low" an uneasy reggae harmony, floating over Beans' threatening, but clever punchlines ("Death can be your destiny child/ Just say my name").

As with most of his albums, Beans recruits a crew of friends, peers and Ozzy Osbourne. Extraordinary gentleman Styles P turns in a relatively spirited contribution on "You Ain't Ready for Me," though he's easily outshined by the Broad Street Bully. "Gutted," a protest of illegitimate thug posturing, benefits greatly from a cameo by Jay-Z, whose careful cool is a welcome change from Beans' pissed-off shit talk. The unfortunate aspect of this pairing, however, is it recalls how B-Mac has never managed to escape Hov's shadow. A character as complex and bombastic as Beans deserves a spotlight of his own, not the glorified weed-carrier status he's often known for. "Pass the Patron" may have an all-star team of guests (Diddy, Ghostface and Peedi Crakk), but it's disappointingly flat, with all the MCs turning in half-hearted verses over a lifeless beat.

The strongest tracks, "Hustlas, Haze and Highways" and "What They Gon Say to Me," both play to Beans' strengths on the mic. "Hustlas" is glued together with very cheesy saxophone, but Beans drops enough confident quips to make up for it, cocky witticisms piercing the smoky instrumental background like hollow-tipped bullets. "What They Gon Say" bangs, the ideal backdrop for him to double up on his underrated punchline skills ("no disrespect to Pun intended"). The aforementioned head-scratching duets with Osbourne and Blunt actually aren't even that whack. "Judgment Day" with Ozzy circumvents corny rap-rockstar fads successfully, and "Dear Self" is as revelatory and dark as any song Beans has done.

Beanie Sigel needs to make up his mind. A more focused effort, with purist hip-hop production rather than Runners-crossover fodder, could have been his Ready to Die. He's got the wit, the voice and the energy to make a classic, yet he once again falls for tempting missteps. The Solution is a good start for Beans. Unfortunately, it's his fourth studio album, and at 33, he's not getting any younger.

3 stars out of 5