Left Behind has released another movie, named for their second book, Tribulation Force. Along with the movie, they released several soundtracks, specifically this one entitled Left Behind II: Tribulation Force Urban Hip Hop," featuring such artists as Playdough, tobyMac, DJ Maj, KJ-52, Crossmovement, and P.O.D. Stylistically, the CD varies from pop-like hip hop to solid sounding rap to grunge.
The album launches with Soul Purpose's "Don't Stop," with a female-backed chorus, and some nice raps on the verses. "Seeds of Abraham" by Playdough is next on the album, and I was amazed to find a white rapper with some tight rhyming skills. Next on the album comes "Beautiful" by Anointed, a slower song with an R&B feel to it. This is followed up by Antonio Phelon's "If You," a slightly faster song, but still very melodic with the vocals and music a beautiful blend. Out of Eden follows this act with "Paradise," from their 2002 release This Is Your Life, with a blend of pop and hip hop, with a solid beat backdrop, but with vocals a little too similar to pop artists like Destiny's Child. True Vibe's "Extended Love" follows, featuring a slow beat and a beautiful blend of vocal harmonies. Melody Chambers's "You," a slow track which feels like it doesn't quite fit with her voice. DJ Maj follows with "The Real," which quickly became one of my favorite songs on the album. Featuring T. Cleaze and Quick Mickey Flanigan, "The Real" offers great raps, a tight loop, and great turntables tastefully placed by DJ Maj. Nikki Leonti follows with "Everytime," another combination of pop and hip hop, but with a faster beat than the others. tobyMac then brings "In The Air," one of his songs from Momentum, his debut solo project. "In The Air" displays a nice loop, and a catchy chorus. The lyrics cry for Christians to minister to their friends, not just to hang out with them. Crossmovement follows this act with "Cry No More," which sounds very much like a Dr. Dre loop, and sings of when we will not be subject to pain, suffering, and evil. KJ-52 then brings "Right Now" to the album, a song that seems to use the name of nearly every band on the Christian scene in the lyrics. "Selah," by P.O.D. starts out with a very nice guitar riff with drums and bass, not sounding at all like hip hop, but then explodes into grunge. This song was one of my favorites, as I'm a big fan of P.O.D., but also because I spent several late nights working with this song keeping me awake. The style on this song is more of P.O.D.'s older albums, as it originally appeared on their 1996 project, Brown and is a lot more raw than their current work on Satellite.
All in all, I thought this was a tight CD. I liked the solid rap stuff most, and thought that the album offered a large variety of hip hop and rap that probably shows very well the range of Christian hip hop. I enjoyed Playdough, DJ Maj, Crossmovement, and P.O.D. most, but the other artists have much talent as well. This album was a good assortment of Christian hip hop, and it intrigued me. I'll be interested in listening to these artists more in the future.
- Review date: 12/31/02, written by Colin Ake
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