Beats, Rhymes & Christ: Shai Linne & The Collective Reviews

I've merged one of my other blogs (Beats, Rhymes & Christ) with this one as I've decided I'd rather just blog generally about all the things that interest me as they come and go and that seems to go quite well under the 'creator' banner.

Here are links to a couple of reviews I wrote of Christian Hip Hop albums for the website Sphere of  Hip Hop:

Shai Linne - Lyrical Theology
The Collective - The Collective
Sivion - Butterfly Sessions (Remixed by Freddie Bruno)

'American Idolatry' - Jeremiah Bonds (album review)

Another review at SOHH. It's pretty much all I have time for these days, which renders this blog pretty useless (but then I only get about one visit a week), but at least I'm doing something.

Loved this 'Street Album' by Jeremiah Bonds:

"The well-executed concept and the excellent musical selection make this project hard to knock. The serious subject matter is made palatable, no, more than that, entertaining..."

Click here to read the full review and click here to download 'American Idolatry' for free!

In other news: due to the fact that I'm a serial blog starter I have created a new blog, possibly a sister blog to this one, called Clean Cuts. Clean Cuts is dedicated to finding positive Hip Hop music which contains no swearing, derogatory terms or reference to negative themes such as sex, violence and drug use. The URL is:

www.cleancutshiphop.blogspot.com

'T.H.E. O.N.E.S' - N.I.F.T.Y. (review)

Another review, this time of N.I.F.T.Y.'s 'T.H.E. O.N.E.S.' (glad I don't have to type that again for a while!).

Here are a few samples of what I had to say:

"T.H.E. O.N.E.S stands for “Through His Example, Our Numbers Enter Salvation” and it’s an intensely gospel-centered album. N.I.F.T.Y.’s content is encouraging, challenging and true to the word of God."

"N.I.F.T.Y. has an authoritative voice and presence on this record. His vocals hold the strange ability to evoke the sound of Hip Hop legends... he has a mainstream but credible and classic voice."

Anyway, check it out for yourself - this will be one that gets iPod rotations from me, that's if my iPod stops acting a fool.

'Mending' - Paradox & DJ Sean P (review)

My latest review on Sphere of Hip Hop and an album I really enjoyed. The beats are spectacular and Paradox's rhymes never get tired. Check out 'Mending' by Paradox and DJ Sean P.

'He'll Come Back' is a fun reminder of something that believers should be so joyful about - our future hope - Christ's return. It features some of the album's great guests - MotionPlus, Freddie Bruno and Braille.

'Rehab: The Overdose' - Lecrae (review)

As promised, here is my review of Lecrae's 'Rehab: The Overdose'.

Again, despite the fact that I'm not really a fan of the dirty south sound, nor the commercial, poppy sound (which is much less prevalent here), I appreciated this album for the way Lecrae consistently lays truth wide open on the table.

He explores less-covered issues, issues which come from the heart (see 'Anger Management') and are honest and open. In this way, I feel as a listener it was easy to relate to Lecrae as a human being - he is humble and down to earth.

'Rehab' - Lecrae (Review)

My latest review for Sphere of Hip Hop is of Lecrae's 'Rehab' - click here to read it.

Once again the scoring might need explaining and once again I would say the overall score out of 10 is fitting.

We discussed the fact that this is a very commercial sounding release (which has its plus points as I pointed out in the review) and that although topically it's rich in the message of the Gospel, lyrically it is more simplistic than a lot of other Christian Hip Hop releases.

Part of it is probably a preference thing too. This style of Hip Hop is not what I'd choose to listen to (which is why I hadn't picked it up before) but I was blessed, encouraged and reminded of some important truths whilst listening to this album. Also, as I said in the review, some of the songs are very catchy and I still find myself singing them now!

One of the tracks that really caught my attention was 'Used To Do It Too'. The lyrics from the last verse are really relevant to me:

"You see Satan uses guilt to strip away our hope,
He shows us our mistakes and tells us we're a joke,
I used to sit and mope like what's the point in all,
If I'm a Christian how come everyday I seem to fall,
But I ain't know that all my sins were nailed upon the cross,
I found this out in chapter 2 in the Book of Colossians,
See the devil's a liar, yeah he's an accuser,
He tells me I'm worthless, he says I'm a loser,
But now I refuse to let him lead me wrong,
Reading the Word in the morn got me feeling strong,
I found my worth in Christ and I'm pursuing truth,
A living testimony so you can do it too."

My next review will be of Lecrae's follow up album 'Rehab: The Overdose'.

'The Forerunner EP' - Stephen the Levite (Review)

Click the link to read my review of Stephen the Levite's 'The Forerunner EP' over at Sphere of Hip Hop.

Now you've read it, let me explain my ratings. At SOHH releases are given marks out of 5 for both lyrics and production, they are then added to give an overall score out of 10. I gave 4 for production and 3.5 for lyrics. The production score needs no explanation however the lyrics score might seem a little stingy.

I personally did not like the track 'Shrink Me' although I appreciate its sentiment and that it is pretty well written in terms of spoken word poetry. I also don't agree with the pre-trib stand point that Stephen adopts on the track 'Slept In?'. For me, although lyrically both were good, these were things that meant I couldn't give fuller marks in the category of lyrics (obviously the production score remains unscathed as a result of these two points).

An overall score of 7.5 out of 10 I think is a good assessment of the EP because it is pretty good - all the other tracks are very solid in content and style. If I had assessed just the four other tracks I would honestly say that for lyrics I would give 9 or even 10 out of 10.

Going back to the theme of 'Slept In?' Stephen the Levite writes humbly about his views on the track and its content on his blog here.

'TSOL' - Shad (review)

Not here but at Sphere of Hip Hop. Click to read my review of Shad's 'TSOL'.

Keep your eye on that most excellent site for more reviews by yours truly and for general news about all things Christian Hip Hop.

"Music is a great way to heal, And a safe place to feel,

Trapped in this fake world, A gateway to real...

Listenin' to sounds in a space that's vacant, Profound and deep, underground as basements,

And quiet as kept but i found it sacred,

A sage said silence is the sound of patience, Listen"

Sphere of Hip Hop Downloads & Some Thoughts On Listening To Christian Hip Hop

Sphere of Hip Hop is one of the very best resources online for Christian Hip Hop. One of their great features is their daily download. The download can be gotten manually [by clicking here] or if you are an itunes user (and let's face it, most people are) you can schedule it to download as a podcast each day [by clicking here]. To catch up with all previous downloads there is a long list of tracks to choose from. [available by clicking here]

I think one thing that is important to mention is that as a listener you should always test what you are hearing with the Bible. Some of what pupports to be Christian/Holy/Gospel Hip Hop can be as damaging as listening to Hip Hop that only pushes sex, violence and all round immorality. If you hear something you're not sure about - look to the Bible, or someone who knows the Bible well and find out whether what the MC is saying squares with the Scriptures.

Some tracks will teach you new and exciting things about God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit and Christian life - so long as the artists are engaging in study of the Scriptures. Sometimes things may sound radical - but the Bible brings a radical message so don't be too quick to slam an idea - look into it. Use your musical preferences to initiate your own study and meditation.