Missy Elliot's latest just passes the test

Thank God for Missy Elliot. With her rap career nearing its seven-year anniversary, Missy's latest album, This Is Not A Test, gives fans a chance to remember the joints that kept our summers hot, as well as to appreciate the ever-changing and ever-innovative musical style of Missy.

Missy and her super-producer and other-half Timbaland first teamed up to make hits on Missy's 1997 breakout debut Supa Dupa Fly. Five albums later, the duo have changed the face of hip-hop. They deserve our respect.

However, the team's latest effort is not on the same level as its predecessors. This Is Not a Test seems less about Tim's production and more about Missy's trimmed waistline -- and mostly about Missy's personal explorations.

This album isn't a memoir, but on it Missy does feature herself, her observations on hip-hop and society, and most prominently, her passion for sex.

In this case, the improved content fails to make up for the lost sound. If the album does feel a little jumbled, don't worry. Get out your CD's liner notes, and take note because I'm about to break it down for you:

Missy and Timbaland start out incredibly strong on the first four tracks. "Pass That Dutch" (a reference to Supa Dupa Fly's "Pass Da Blunt") is an instant club hit and a natural first release. While Missy rhymes, Tim laces the beat with Australian aboriginal didgeridoos to craft a whole new sound. Tim's remarkable creativity overflows on the next two tracks.

"Wake Up" teaches the Neptunes what "Grindin'" might sound like underwater, and "Keep It Movin'" seamlessly blends hip-hop with dance hall. Missy uses these strong foundations to kick knowledge with Jay-Z and get people dancing with Elephant Man respectively on theses songs.

New beats and solid collaborations give way to a forgettable middle of the album. The sound changed so much from track 4 to track 5 that I paused my first listening to find out who had taken over the reigns of production. Alarmingly, Missy was responsible. She has done successful production work for other artists in the past but the work she does for herself is average at best.

Her tired R&B beats drag and Missy don't have Timbo's skill for sprinkling the track with the right combination of unfamiliar noises. The Timbaland tracks sandwiched in between Missy's products are hidden during a first listen of the album.

Unfold those liner notes and you'll find a poster of Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliot looking like fellow female rapper Lil' Kim. Yes, Missy looks good. The trouble comes when she goes beyond adopting the sex appeal of Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown to adopt their lyrical style. Missy has always talked about sex, but she has done it in party songs like "One Minute Man" and "Sock it to me." Missy's sex anthems are traded in for slower ballads on This Is Not A Test. On tracks like "Toyz" in which every verse is in praise of a different vibrator Missy is too overt.

The song might have gone over better if Missy hadn't produced it. On the whole, the album does suffer from a lack of fun and messing around we've come to expect from the artist. She does get it right on "Let Me Fix My Weave" where she talks just as much about sex, except this time her lyrics and her flow are on point while the production was left to Timbaland. "Spelling Bee" is also of notable quality.

Missy's albums are all too different to compare, so her latest can't be labeled better or worse than any of her other work. She's always testing the boundaries of what hip-hop will accept. While you can count on Misdemeanor for innovation, unless you're willing to give This Is Not A Test the time and concentration it deserves, grab for a different album.