Tongue Twisted

More than a decade ago, Twista made his rap debut with Do or Die, a gangsta rap group from his home city of Chicago, on the underground Midwest classic “Po Pimp.” His solo debut, 1997’s “Adrenaline Rush,” introduced Twista to the rap industry in what can still be considered a  good-if-not-great record.

 Despite commercial success with the Kanye West-infused “Kamikaze” in 2004, the man dubbed “the world’s fastest rapper” has seen his career suffer as hip-hop heads across the nation wonder if Twista is still “Legit Ballin’” or if they have simply “Overdosed” on the rapper’s novelty speed-rapping appeal.

Is “Category F5,” released on Twista’s new label, Get Money Gang, the record that will revive his stagnating career?

No.

With guest appearances from the likes of R. Kelly, Gucci Mane and old pals Do or Die, “F5” has the ingredients to be a commercial (if not street) success. And Twista’s rapid-fire lyrical delivery harks back to the rapper’s heyday of the late 1990s. It’s just unfortunate that a tongue so talented has nothing of importance to say.

Though gangsta rap as a genre has become a parody of itself and is packaged as entertainment much like the WWE, clever artists (UGK, The Clipse) still find new ways to redefine what exactly it is to be “gangsta.” On “F5,” Twista trots out worn themes (weed smokin’, gun totin’, ho gettin’) that sound staler than you might expect in 2009.

In “Yellow Light,” Twista delivers these uninspired, albeit deftly rapped, lyrics: “I try to call it / Like green too fast / Red too slow / She want it in the middle so I gotta / Yellow light.”

Even for Twista completists, “F5” only offers two or three songs that are worthy of a Twista mixtape. Perhaps Twista should concentrate on lending his novelty voice to guest spots and cameos on other artists’ work.