Chatting's the number one prerequisite for a dancehall DJ, and there are plenty who don't stop just because they're offstage. But surprisingly, Spragga Benz isn't one of them.

Sure, he's electrified the mic with a boatload of stars, from Beenie Man to Ben. E. King, and sure, he tosses teasing X-rated ragga toasts at the beaucoup ladies who come to his shows. Pull him away from that world, however, and the Benz slows his motor considerably. He's humble, even shy, and very serious about keeping his fans and the press happy.

Hey, when's the last time you heard of a musician -- any musician -- concluding an interview by politely saying "I hope I gave sufficent answers to your questions"? Yeah, I thought so.

Anyway, the former Carlton Grant is certainly giving sufficient tunes to his listeners. The superstar who rocked the dancehall with the international hit "Jack It Up" returned this year with his long-awaited third album, Fully Loaded, on VP Records, featuring a boatload of hot new reggae riddims and hip-hop cameos (Foxy Brown, Pras, Noreaga, etc.).

Spragga's a veteran of the American/Jamaican musical connection that continues to blur the lines between reggae and hip-hop, having also worked with Busta Rhymes and the Fugees' Wyclef Jean. But like several other DJs who don't want to see dancehall completely co-opted by hip-hop's funky beats, he likes the idea of keeping a little distance between the two.

"I listen to rappers, but I try not to be influenced by them. My t'ing is different from theirs," says the soft-spoken Spragga, via phone from his pad in Jamaica.

"When a rapper tries to put a Jamaican flavor into a track, good for him. I can't rap, so I don't even try. I DJ. That's mi own style," he adds. "When I get on a track, I just do what I do."

That seems plenty good enough on Fully Loaded, which augments some of Spragga's recent Jamaican singles with brand new tracks. Versioning some of the island's most popular rhythms -- he turns Danny Brown's guitar-grinding "Heavy Metal" rhythm into the sharp "Some Bwoy," and flips Dave Kelly's "Showtime" rhythm on "We Nuh Say," he also keeps up a steady flow of slackness. On "Backshot," he horndogs it with Lady Saw, who's no slouch at bedroom boasts herself. And Foxy Brown and Spragga crank the sex games up yet another notch on the here's-what-I-could-do-to-you "Too Stoosh."

It's a lot easier reconciling the gentle Benz persona with the handful of conscious tracks, like "Call Upon Jah Name." And he seems a lot more comfortable talking about them, and about his continuing studies of Rastafarian religion.

"The Rasta lifestyle, for the most part, it seems right. Like the way they eat, the diet, not eatin' meat and eatin' vegetables. The natural t'ing. And (Haile) Selassie is King of all Kings, and the Lord of all Lords. He's the Big Man, as we say in Jamaica. He gets much respect," says Benz.

But Benz says he "needs to study more" before he could think about growing dreads and become a full-fledged Rastaman.

"I've nothin' against it, yunno? But I don't think it's for everybody," he says. "Mi hair's in cornrows now. It's growin', but it's not dreaded. That could change one day, if I get the full understandin' of everything."

As for the dilemma he and other DJs face -- how to reconcile the sacred and the profane in their toasts -- Benz says the key is balance.

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