I'm not a big fan of hardcore music, but I used to like rap. This was a change of pace for me from what I'm used to. However after listening to it for a couple of times it really started to grow on me. ...Southtown has a good rhythm and beat to it and melodic lyrics that flow together really well. What's awesome about the album is the lyrics that are blatantly Christian. They address themes like growing up in Southtown, or the ghetto, which offers cleaner music than Rage Against the Machine, Limp Bizkit and Korn and many other rappers or hard core acts.

Songs like "Southtown," "Freestyle," and "Outkast" all address life in the ghetto. Songs like "Hollywood" and "Follow Me" talk about materialism and how people fill their lives with money, women, and cars instead of Jah. "Lie Down" and "Tribal" are little testimonies of how they grew up from the ghetto, but found Christ. A major theme in all the songs is universal for everyone. They express God's love, grace and redemption and how He can rescue you from any situation even if it seems hopeless.

As for music, it's not as hard as I thought it would be. If you're a fan of R&B, rap, or even the band Stavesacre this would fit your style. They're talented musicians and don't just bang on their instruments. The hardest songs are "Lie Down," "Follow Me" and the others are hard at times, but nothing you can't handle. My favorite songs are "Bullet the Blue Sky" (an old U2 cover), "Southtown" and "Freestyle."

I would suggest this album because it's very smooth. POD is one of the most popular bands on the mainstream and Christian rap core scenes so they must be doing something right. They don't water down the Word, but get harsh at times because they're representing real life. It grew on me a lot and I think it'll grow on you too even if you don't like that style.

- Review date: 4/16/00, written by Kevin Chamberlin