Oh, Manchester, So Much To Answer For

About time, too: Lil’ Mo, former protégé of Missy, now adrift in an endless sea of mediocre R&B, has finally made a record commensurate with her talents. And it’s an answer record – “21 Answers,” actually. Mo cuts herself at long last loose of all those horrible collaborations with Fabolous (surely one of the worst major-label rappers out there, all wasted talent with nothing to show; “Can’t Let You Go” is one of ‘03’s worst singles) and flips 50’s “Questions” into “Answers,” less an answer record than a response (there’s a difference – she’s not refuting 50’s points, she’s agreeing with him, she’s his lieutenant, his backup). She’s his thug missus (“like Cleo from Set It Off, you know I’ll ride,” she tells her man), ready to roll, down for whateva. You can’t hate on her.