Sandtown is a group of kids from West Baltimore's Sandtown Community. No professional training here, just what they've learned from their local church program. Though, this hardly seems raw. They play straight-up gospel with strands of hip-hop, and it comes across quite nicely. This most definitely won't be everyone's cup of tea; but anyone into gospel should most certainly look into Sandtown's first and, perhaps, only release Based on a True Story.

Guests abound on this gospel offering. tobyMac, Michael W. Smith, Lisa Kimmey of Out of Eden, The Katinas, and Israel round out the list of guest vocalists. All do very impressive jobs on their respective tracks, Smitty being my personal favorite guest.

Most of Based on a True Story is comprised of all the kids singing in unison. Though, at times, one of the youth will sing a solo. The young lady who gets the most time on solos is quite impressive. As is the young man who gets a rap solo on "Destiny."

This is an interesting change in the world of Christian music, a risk that was worth taking. Applause to the people at Gottee Records as well as the kids of Sandtown themselves for a superb job. Again, this isn't something that will be appealing to a lot of people; but if you're looking for something different- really different- Sandtown may be for you.

- Review date: 10/4/03, written by Josh Taylor