** C-BO, “Til My Casket Drops,” AWOL/Noo Trybe.

Rapper C-BO’s story is so sensational, it’s almost as if it could have been lifted from one of the inner-city nightmare scenarios on his new album. The irony, of course, is that it’s precisely those songs that have now landed him in jail.

Ordered not to promote a gang lifestyle upon his release from prison last year, C-BO (whose real name is Shawn Thomas) was arrested this week when it was determined that the lyrical content of these songs was in violation of his parole. C-BO’s lyrics are certainly inflammatory; he advocates the shooting of cops, among other things. But the rapper’s shock tactics are merely a decoy designed to distract from the fact that he has very little to say.

C-BO is the hip-hop equivalent of a Quentin Tarantino wannabe; he equates empty posturing with real passion. “Til My Casket Drops” runs through the usual litany of gangsta rap themes--guns, women, money and more money--over shrill, unimaginative grooves.

It’s too bad because there is a spark of potential on a few tracks. As a rapper, C-BO has impressive flow, and some of his arrangements are ambitious, particularly the keyboard string section that floats through “Major Pain & Mister Bossalini.” If C-BO ever gets the notion to break free of gangsta rap’s ever-narrowing limitations, he could be a contender.