A long seven years after the gangsta rap supergroup Westside Connection released Bow Down, one of the definitive West Coast gangsta rap albums of the '90s, they reunited in 2003 for a second go-round, Terrorist Threats. Of course, the state of the rap union had changed a lot since 1996, which was the height of the original gangsta era, back when 2Pac and Biggie were still taunting the world from the streets (rather than doing so from the grave). So it's a little unsettling to hear the trio of veteran gangstas in Westside Connection -- Ice Cube, WC, and Mack 10 -- still trying to rally the "Gangsta Nation" circa 2003, the year of young gunners like 50 Cent and pretty-boy skirt-chasers like Chingy. Yet on the other hand, the old-fashioned gangsta growl of Westside Connection seems all the more poignant as a result -- as if they are ghosts of gangsta past, back to haunt listeners -- especially on songs like "So Many Rappers in Love," where these O.G.s call out their much younger, "21 Question"-asking contemporaries. Not everything on Terrorist Threats is gruff and bitter, though. Standout songs like "Gangsta Nation" and "Lights Out" have plenty of feel-good swerve, especially when the likes of Nate Dogg and Knoc-Turn'al grace the hooks. But besides the P-Funky hooks here, Westside Connection are back to make a point -- not just to make you Crip walk -- and while you may often prefer to Crip walk rather than actually listen up, the overall message is nonetheless clear. In 2003, rappers weren't making gangsta rap like they used to, and if you're indeed nostalgic for the old-school gangsta posturing of the '90s, opposed to the faux-gangsta stunting of the 2000s, Westside Connection came back to keep it real, so recognize.