Uprok Records LP Covers Love

No music, no musings today; just a sharing of my love for some album covers. With the exception of 'Tunnel Vision' by the Tunnel Rats all of these albums came out on Uprok Records ('Tunnel Vision' came out on Uprok's parent label 'Tooth and Nail') in the noughties. I'd love to see more covers in this vein - surely we can have a revival? Albums in the slideshow are New Breed's 'Stop The Music', Sev Statik's 'SpeakLife', Peace 586's 'Generations', Tunnel Rats' 'Tunnel Vision' and Underground Rise's 'Sunrise/Sunset'.

'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"

'The Blows' - DJ Kurfu & Sintax the Terrific

DJ Kurfu and Sintax the Terrific dropped their 'Prince With A Thousand Enemies' LP this week. The lyrics of the album were inspired by themes from Richard Adams' 'Watership Down' (which I have now begun to read). The album is out on Illect Recordings and can be bought from Sphere of Hip Hop and their Bandcamp page as well as all the usual places. Musically, conceptually and lyrically the album is brilliant. Here are some striking lyrics from a track called 'Blows':

He had no protest political statement

or bumper sticker campaign ticker entertainment
no marketing plan or t-shirt design
like, “Being Hebrew’s Heavenly but Jesus is Divine!”
still they called in the troops, not to keep the peace
but to kill the Prince of it, of a thousand enemies
that gathered in the courtyard to cut Him to His calloused knees
and pour upon His holy head the hate of human history
but in that misery I know He caught the eye
of Rome's lost boys now centurions despised
“I made the beautiful cow from whose side
came the rawhide strips from which your whips are tied
the fingertips that slide into an uncertain grip
like they know that it's the Maker of their narrow bones they hit
I fashioned every implement of My demise be
the timber that you cut into a cross to crucify Me
‘cause when you strike we share a sacred moment
set free with every blow ’cause My blood is your atonement”

'Fathers' - theBREAX

theBREAX "Fathers" by Rapzilla

You come home from work, only to realise your work has only just begun. Welcome to Manhood."

I love this track. I'm not sure I've ever heard truer words spoken about fatherhood and manliness. This is something I've been thinking about a lot over the last couple of years as I've heard stories of irresponsible men who think that to be manly is to do what they feel like (i.e. leave their wives, kids, sleep around, go out, get drunk etc). The other reason I've been musing on this subject is that last August I became a father myself.

Being a man is not about resolving yourself of responsibility, it's about taking responsibility by the horns, running with it and realising that it's infinitely more fulfilling than selfishness.

Although 1 Kings 2 is a difficult passage to tackle (listen to a great sermon on it here), David gives some great advice to Solomon:

“I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go and that the LORD may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’"

David tells his son to man up. What would this manliness look like? Finding out what God wants of him and then doing it - to the last letter! Why? So that he would prosper and so that God may keep his promise.

We too are to embrace manhood (by we, I mean 'we men') and to do this we must look at what God expects of a man and we must look at the examples of Godly men in the bible and Godly men in our lives. We should then reflect this in our own lives. Our lives are a part of God's plan and "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (plan).".

Man up!

Check out this blog for more CHH tracks about fatherhood.

Illect Recordings

Big up to Josh and the guys at Illect Recordings for electing me winner of a little competition they did on their Facebook page. All I had to do was tell them my favourite release from their label (which was easy because I’d only just downloaded and listened to muzeONE’s excellent ‘Cold War’ LP) and they picked me to win some free tunes.

Well, they sent me Sivion’s ‘Butterfly Sessions’, Theory Hazit’s ‘Lord Fire 2’ (don’t understand the title yet but will check it out – I’m sure it makes sense!) and Caramel Skillington’s ‘Legends of the Fall’. No doubt at some point one of these releases will inspire me to post on here.

Thanks Illect Recordings!