Kickin' It For The Kube -- Station's Birthday Bash Features Some Of Hip-Hop's Freshest Faces

----------------------------------------------------------------- Concert preview

"KUBE 93 Birthday Party" with D'Angelo, the Tony Rich Project, Groove Theory, Diana King, 3T, Yvette Michelle, Immature, Jon B. and Deborah Cox, 7 p.m. tomorrow, Mercer Arena; $22.50, 628-0888. -----------------------------------------------------------------

Looks like Jacksons are going to be with us well into the next century.

3T, made up of Michael and Janet's nephews, the sons of Tito of the Jackson 5, has a hit with the smooth, romantic "Anything," from "Brotherhood," the trio's impressive debut album (produced by Michael).

They sound enough like Uncle Mike to be easily identified as Jacksons, but also have enough of their own style to distance themselves from the family and become stars on their own. Unlike Michael, they're athletic and masculine; all were top high school jocks, especially in baseball. And they're not hard-edge and raunchy, like Aunt Janet.

The three are handsome, clean-cut young men, with enough of an age spread to attract pre-teens through adults. Taj, 21, Taryll, 20 and T.J., 17, display velvety harmonies and strong individual voices on "Brotherhood," and they can write, too - "Anything" was a group effort, and they wrote or co-wrote most of the songs on their debut album.

3T is just one of the promising new R&B acts featured in KUBE 93's 15th birthday party tomorrow at Mercer Arena. The pop-music powerhouse, long the No. 1 music station in town, has assembled an impressive lineup of future stars.

Tony Rich? Ya better recognize

Remember the name Tony Rich. This guy is going to be huge, like Bobby Brown (only with a longer career). The multi-talented Rich is at the forefront of a new trend toward smooth, romantic R&B, a reaction to the past decade's angry, garish rap and smutty hip-hop.

He has a major hit with "Nobody Knows," a beautiful, aching ballad of loneliness and private pain, based on the tough guy's creed of never showing emotion. The video for it, a favorite on MTV, has made Rich, 24, the latest pop sex symbol, as he poses in a see-through mesh shirt, wearing a porkpie hat at just the right angle. The bubble bath scene alone has made him a heartthrob.

But he's more than just a sex symbol who can sing. The Tony Rich Project's debut album, "Words," is a tour de force, produced, written, arranged and performed by Rich. He plays most of the instruments, aided by additional musicians on some cuts. It's a richly varied album, with upbeat dance numbers and jazzy ballads along with romantic songs. It will probably yield several more hits in the coming months.

D'Angelo is all that, too

D'Angelo is another promising exponent of the R&B/soul music revival. The slow dance-party grind of "Brown Sugar," with its jazzy overtones and smoldering, sexy vocal, marks him as a '90s version of Marvin Gaye and Al Green. His debut album of the same name is earthier than Rich's, but D'Angelo's voice is so smooth he even makes obscenities seem soft and beautiful. The 21-year-old's warm-hearted ballad "Lady," a tribute to a beautiful soul sister, is in marked contrast to all the degrading, misogynist rap songs about "bitches" and "ho's."

Groove Theory - vocalist Amel Larrieux and keyboardist Bryce Wilson - also is on the R&B revival tip, although its mid-tempo dance-floor hit, "Keep Tryin'," borrows its rumbling bass overload from hip-hop.

Diana King's impressive "Tougher Than Love" debut LP, released almost a year ago, is bulging with great material. "Love Triangle," with its hypnotic hook "have you ever been in love with a man, and another man?" is smart and sensual, and her cover of Rufus & Chaka Khan's "Ain't Nobody" is irresistibly danceable. King is a classic R&B vocalist with an updated sound influenced by reggae and marked by contemporary, frank lyrics.

Immature is a young male trio a la 3T but without the wholesomeness. Their tight harmonies and rhythmic beats make their music danceable. Jon B. offers a richer palette of lush, romantic and dance-oriented songs, often with raunchy language.

Yvette Michele has just emerged with "Every Day & Every Night," a love song to a dance-club DJ. Deborah Cox, the latest find of Clive Davis (who discovered Whitney Houston), also has a dance-floor hit with "Who Do U Love." The well-sung, mid-tempo R&B song is available in several mixes, including the pulsating disco "Morales mix."