702 - 702

When Missy Elliott wants to pretend that she's a one-woman Holland/Dozier/Holland writing and producing hits for the Supremes, she hooks up with 702, the female R&B trio named after the area code for their hometown of Las Vegas. Elliott crafted four songs for 702's 1996 debut, No Doubt, including the hit "Steelo." For this overdue follow-up, Elliott has come up with two more, including the Top 10 pop smash, "Where My Girls At." The single boasts an irresistible push-and-pull rhythm that intersects cleverly with the sing-along chorus, and 702 gives this warning to would-be man stealers a youthful vulnerability that the tougher Elliott could never have managed herself. Elliott's two tracks are the highlights, but Kameelah Williams and sisters Irish and Lemisha Grinstead have made a successful transition from high-school-age prodigies to college-age pros. They don't have overpowering voices, but do display a sure sense of pitch, a surer sense of rhythm, and a seductive sweetness on the catchy new-jack tunes created for them by Whitney Houston cohorts Soulshock and Karlin, Dru Hill's Warren "Smiley" Campbell, and Rick "Dutch" Cousin of Ice Cube fame. --Geoffrey Himes