Even though Trip Lee already has three albums under his belt, I still picture the young rapper from Dallas as fresh meat to the ever changing Christian hip-hop scene. Since the environment is always evolving, artists must stay hungry in order to keep releasing good new material. Trip Lee does just that with Between Two Worlds, offering nice rap tunes with slight changes that have yet to be heard while listening to prior Trip releases.

The disc opens with "Real Life Music," a track that brings current Trip Lee fans exactly what they have come to expect: hot beats, straightforward Christ-centered lyrics like "Hanging on the coat tail of Christ who designed me," and a slight dis to secular rap. Maybe the fact that secular artists Eminem and Chamillionaire are also dropping albums the same day as Between Two Worlds, has something to do with that? One does wonder. Up next is "Snitch," a song about confession and "Invade" which showcases some softer singing and violin, two examples of those slight aforementioned changes. Other songs that also feature a fresh sound are "I Love Music," "Limitations," and "Yours To Own." Each song either displays unique background music or the vocal talents of guest artists that I haven't heard Trip work with before.

Other stand-out tracks would be "Prognosis," a great story-telling track and "My Lord," which displays bold lyrics like, "the only way to make it is Christ as my Lord." Perhaps the best tune listed would be "Twisted," featuring Lecrae as well as a few other artists. The beats are superb and with lyrics like "God did it, done it, got it, good" spit so fast, it makes for an amazing hip-hop joint. Another prominent aspect of this release would be the message that the artist is trying to send home. There are multiple tracks laid over beautiful beats that focus on topics ranging from giving all thanks to God to working hard to stay pure until Christ's triumphant return to rule this world. But all is not necessarily good here, however. On some tracks, Trip and the guest singer don't blend very well and every once in a while the production comes off a bit on the weak side.

All in all, Between Two Worlds is a very good hip hop album. There is definitely more of an R&B touch, but it is still a rap album first and foremost. It may not be Trip Lee's best work to date, but it is still better than most out there, and worth picking up the day that it comes out.

- Review date: 6/16/10, written by Kevin Hoskins of Jesusfreakhideout.com