DJ Kelechi : Christian DJ » CD Reviews

Kirk Franklin – The Fight of my Life

DJ Kelechi — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:08:08 +0000

Artist Title: Kirk Franklin – The Fight of my life

Label: Fo Yo Soul/Zomba

Genre: Gospel

Verdict

Kirk Franklin has produced another masterpiece. Following the same formula he used to great effect in his last full release ‘Hero’, Kirk brings a similar mix of banging RnB anthems and beautiful heartfelt ballads. There is a real sense of honesty as Kirk owns up to the fact (like with many of us) his biggest fight is the battle against himself.

Young people dealing with trails that challenge their faith will connect with the excellent ‘Help me Believe’ whilst the slightly older generation will appreciate being taken back to church when Rance Allen helps out on ‘Little Boy’. Indeed, the lyrics on this track show that Kirk has manoeuvred himself into a position where he can be as ‘real’ (read ‘raw’) as he wants and still be warmly embraced by the church as a whole. The once bad boy is well and truly the golden (read ‘platinum’) boy and I for one continue to welcome each Kirk Franklin release with open arms.

Dancefloor Fillers

I Like Me: There ain’t much more than beat box, hand claps and drums on this beat but it is still a guaranteed club smash. Add rapping from Kirk and the ever eloquent Da TRUTH into the mix and you’ve gone clear!

Still in Love: This is just like ‘Looking for You’, only better. Throwbacks to the 70s / 80s disco funk sound with a sweet vocal arrangement just make it feel like summer.

Praise & Worship Gems

He will Supply: Proper good ‘ol fashioned gospel

Still: Use this one when there’s lots of stuff going on in your life and it’s all getting a bit too much.

Other Standout Tracks

I am God: Toby Mac gets in on the act in this rock enthused screamer of a track.

Little Boy: Stunning vocal performance from guests Rance Allen and Isaac Carree. Also the cheekiest line on the album ‘Let him see yo’ mind, not the crack of your behind!’

Israel & New Breed – A Deeper Level

DJ Kelechi — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:01:57 +0000

Artist – Title: Israel & New Breed – A Deeper Level

Label: Integrity/Provident

Genre: Gospel/Pop

Verdict

There are very few worship outfits with music can transcend cultural barriers and appeal to both the white and black sectors of the church.

With A Deeper Level, Israel does this effortlessly. There is no doubt that this album will top the charts worldwide and further reinforce his position as one of the leading international praise and worship leaders of our time.

Throughout this live recording you will hear songs which have been crafted with Israel’s trademark combination of simple catchy hooks and excellent instrumentation.

This formula is applied excellently to tracts like the rock enthused ‘We Have Overcome’, the anthemic ‘I Know Who I Am’ and the dancehall/reggaeton flavoured ‘With Long Life’. But it will be worship songs like ‘I Will Search’ and ‘Deeper’ which will no doubt find their way into the praise and worship sessions of many a church service worldwide.

Dancefloor Fillers

With Long Life: The verdict is still out in T-bones rap but this is still a huge party track.

Praise & Worship Gems

Deeper: Perfect balance of acoustic guitar, electric guitar and piano combine and you will find yourself crying out ‘God, give us your heart!’

I will search: A worship song of epic proportions. Beautifully written. This one had me and my wife in worship mode for ages on a long drive home recently. It’s one that is designed to usher you into God’s presence.

Other Standout Tracks:

I Know Who I Am: Sing along rock anthem feat Chris Tomlin

Identity: African influenced toe taper/hand clapper

Various – The New Sound of Gospel

DJ Kelechi — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 21:55:28 +0000

SonyBMG/Integrity
The Gospel music market is not short of compilations, ‘Gotta Have Gospel’ and ‘WOW Gospel’ are both very well established, so this offering needed to come with something different to be worthy of any type of success.
The first question I asked myself was, ‘Does this collection really live up to its name?’ Well… not with the inclusion of Shackles, Mary Mary’s hit of 5 years ago! What’s new about that! But to be fair, I have to say that SONY BMG and Integrity put in a decent effort and I commend their attempt at highlighting the more progressive side of the genre.
Kiki Sheard’s ‘You Don’t Know’, Trin-I-Tee 5:7’s ‘Holla’ and Martha Munizzi’s ‘Glorious’ have remained firm favourites over the past couple of years. There are some of the biggest current hits included like Mary Mary’s ‘Believer’, Israel’s ‘Not Forgotten’ and not to mention the huge Kirk Franklin dance-floor filler, ‘Looking For You’.
The most exciting thing about this compilation is the excellent selection of new previously unreleased material from the US and the UK. (Yes, I did say the UK!). There is a new piano led ‘Darkchild produced dance track from Virtue. The UK offers up an intimate acoustic neo-soul ballad Four Kornerz, lyrically brilliant slow jam from Nu Life, and an infectious new groover from Raymond and Co.
There’s even more UK bashment style pressure from Shadrach, but my favourite by far has to be Ekklesia’s foot stomping R’n’B anthem ‘Blessed’.
The overall buzz about this album is one of optimism, and we as consumers in the UK should support it and prove that we have an emerging and vibrant scene here.

T-Bone – Bone-a-fide

DJ Kelechi — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 21:45:12 +0000

Boneyard/Flicker Records
Bone-a-fide is a release worthy of a rapper who has paid his dues and “been ripping mikes since [the days of] tape decks”. Only the most enduring Holy Hip-Hop fans would know that the MC who is now probably best known for his role as the latino rapper in Beyonce & Cuba’s ‘Fighting Temptations’ movie has actually been in the ‘game’ for 12 years. And with this album he makes a power play with a textbook perfect approach to putting a modern day rap album together.
Few would deny T-Bone the credit of being one of the best MCs in the game, with his bi-lingual lyrics, which often shoot out with the speed and ferocity of a high calibre automatic firearm. But this time he has supplemented his wordplay with top quality production from an arsenal of Gospels top producers.
Reporting for production duty are Fred Jerkins of Darkchild, Warryn ‘Baby Dubb’ Campbell, and Teak & Dee Underdone. Teak and Dee combine to create a track that is sinister and bouncy on ‘Let That Thang Go’. Uncle Freddie is ably assisted by the high- pitched vocals of LeSawn Daniels on the excellent ‘Can I Live’. Whilst ‘I Been Looking Around’ borrows a vocal sample from Patti LaBelle to great effect in true Kanye West fashion, ‘Follow T’ is three verses of braggadocios baradoccio ego rap over a banging beat. Simple. That is the essence of hip-hop. How it was always meant to be.

Fruits – First Fruits

DJ Kelechi — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 21:24:20 +0000

Fruits Productions

That is the question posed on track 3 of this album from Birmingham based rap duo Fruits. Your answer better be “Really Real” because these rough diamonds of the underground Gospel Rap scene bring the message raw and uncut. Whilst the production style of Friksun is at times often as dark as a dungeon at midnight, the deep, gritty vocals of HMD bellow out truths with a ferocity that scares my two- year old daughter!
However, the greatest asset of a rough diamond is its purity, and ‘First Fruits’ is a debut album full of hip-hop psalms delivered with a candidness and purity of heart that is quite endearing.
This all goes together to make for some surprisingly powerful tracks, namely ‘Who’s Crackers’, ‘What is Your God?’ and my favourite, ‘God’s Children’.
My fear is that this album will not get the exposure it needs to reach out and touch the hearts of those whom HMD & Fushkin have meant it for. That is exactly what will happen if industry folk take one look at where they are coming from and their style of music without giving the lyrical content a fair hearing.
Don’t sleep on this one. Make sure you check it out for yourselves!

Karl Nova & Folashade as Double Portion – Redeemed Beats Mixtape Vol 1

DJ Kelechi — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 21:29:27 +0000

Set Apart Records
G. C. Lewis, with his ‘Truth Behind Hip-Hop’ teachings, and all who follow his doctrine are creating an anti-hip-hop/anti-secular agenda that seems to be growing ever more ferocious.
That is why I must commend the bravery of Karl Nova (of G.K.Real) for putting this mix CD out on the street in this current climate. And this is a street mix-tape for real, with all the ingredients that you would expect, from someone on the secular underground scene: rap lyrics, over the most popular hip-hop and R’n’B instrumentals, DJ jingles, guest appearances and interludes.
However, what makes this different is the lyrical content, which clearly illustrates the mission, which is to preach the Gospel. Karl Nova is, at times preacher, at times teacher, sometimes comical, always honest. Like on the autobiographical ‘Intro’ where he talks about his walk, his musical ambitions and his struggle for acceptance from both the church and the world.
With a grand total of 28 tracks, there are some numbers that weren’t as good as the rest, but I found more than enough heavy tunes to keep me happy. Standout tracks include ‘Revelation’ and ‘Finished Work’ which are both rap remixes of tracks from the G.K.Real ‘Its All About You’ album. Other favourites of mine include ‘Praise Him Cos’ He’s God’ and the excellent anti-violence anthem ‘Put Down Your Guns’.
Double Portion also provides a platform for new female MC Folashade to introduce herself on a few tracks, of which ‘Folashade’s Flow (One)’ and the African influenced ‘Imela’ are the best.
Nova knows that he is in danger of receiving criticism from some parts of the Church, but this album is aimed at those OUTSIDE the Church, those on street level… and for them, he’s speaking the right language.
Keep doing your thing!

Papa San – Real & Personal

DJ Kelechi — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 21:49:57 +0000

Gospocentric/ZombaThis is easily one of the most eagerly awaited releases of the year. His last album ‘God & I’ put Papa San in league of his own with such enduring hits as ‘Pop Style’ and ‘Step Pon Di Enemy’. ‘Real & Personal’, his third Gospel reggae album and (second CD on Gospocentric) picks up exactly where the previous album left off.
A wide variety of musical influences ensure that Papa San will continue to enjoy support from a fan base which reaches out much further than the reggae dancehall scene. Having said that, I feel that it’s not too commercial to lose the support of the streets. DJs lucky enough to get their hands on promo copies of the lead single, ‘More Life’, have already bared witness to the tracks dance floor filling powers. ‘Just Seh Di Word’ is another club banger with Papa San’s quick fire word wizardry over sirens and a catchy drum pattern.
Another thing that characterises a Papa San release is the high production values. Producers Eddie Perez and Maurice Gregory ensure that each track is more considered than just ‘one-DJ-over-a-riddim’. The best examples of this are the worshipful ‘Oh Zion’, ‘For You Lord’ and the Psalm 23 inspired ‘It’s All About You’.
On the whole, I’m not sure whether ‘Real & Personal’ surpasses the great heights of his last album. But I am 100% sure that this will be one of the best releases in this genre for 2006 and it will deservedly dominate the charts for months to come.

Byron Cage – An Invitation to Worship

DJ Kelechi — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 21:18:00 +0000

Gospocentric/Zomba
It seems as though everyone and anyone in black Gospel is recording live worship albums and Byron Cage chooses to follow fashion with his latest offering. Produced by PAJAM, this album gets off to a great start with the high energy ‘Bless the Lord’. It gets even better with the next track, ‘We Love You’ a duet with J. Moss (complete with his trademark background vocals). Great vocal arrangements and a highly contagious melody make this the best song on this album by some distance.
Another highlight (of which there aren’t too many) is ‘Worship the King’. It’s an up tempo sing-a-long chorus with a hugely infectious bouncy baseline that compels you to dance.
In contrast, the down tempo worship tracks lack originality and generally fail to really hit the mark. The best is ‘Broken But I’m Healed’ which has lyrics that will minister to a lot of people.
On the whole, this is a worthwhile addition to your collection, but I doubt if ‘An Invitation to Worship’ will enjoy the same success of his self-titled Gospocentric debut.

Various – Gift Rap

DJ Kelechi — Sun, 30 Jan 2005 21:16:17 +0000

Cross Movement Records

I thought that rap was one of the last remaining genres that had kept itself free from the commercialism and cheesiness associated with ‘Christmas’ albums. Especially coming from Cross Movement Records, who have earned a reputation for hard hitting, no compromise, evangelistic focused underground rap.
I take a look at the CD and begin to feel a bit uneasy.
I press play. Track 1. ‘Tell You Why’ by Da T.R.U.T.H, doesn’t reassure me at all. Full of Christmas clichés like unwrapping presents, auntie & uncle under the mistletoe, warming up by the fireplace, etcetera.
I listen on. The compilation steadily improves with nice offerings from J-Silas, J.R., and Phanatick.

Now I’m really feeling it. The album reaches its peak with South London’s M.O.D. spitting some seriously mighty metaphors on ‘Kings Speech’ which is followed by Flame dropping some serious sermon on ‘Invasion Day’. Worth checking out for just these two tracks.
Thankfully, the clichés were kept to a minimum, and it has enough in it not to sound too strange if played outside of the Christmas season.