It's an interesting phenomenon in the 21st century that we have access to a world of music at our fingertips and can still be so limited in our mind as to what constitutes the kind of music we might like. With streaming services offering us a window into music all around the world, the possibilities for a music fan are endless, but first we have to unpack a new kind of listening skill, a new sort of mindfulness for approaching the kind of music that we might connect with. Often this takes a "tour guide" of sorts to introduce us to a new genre and walk us around the "neighborhood" of that sound and its distinctive features.

Parallel this with the common bond we, as followers of Christ, have with fellow believers around the world. There exist believers on every continent celebrating their faith in artistic ways, and the old conversation in western Christian music circles as to what constitutes "Christian music" becomes a tired one indeed. Faith knows no genre, and it is a worthwhile exercise (especially for Christ followers) to look beyond the boundaries of radio and retail.

Take K-pop (short for "Korean pop") music, and the steady inroads this buoyant and throbbing pop music is making here in the west. K-pop bands and solo artists have been quietly amassing fans and influence in North America for more than twenty years now, and K-pop music sections have been popping up at retailers, such as Target and Walmart, for a while now. (They are the groups and artists with the oversized album packages and photo books that diehard fans love to collect.) K-pop has been a globally dominant sound for decades now, and artists like NCT, BTS and BLACKPINK regularly sell millions of albums and sell out tours across the world. And like any music scene, Christians are present and active in creating art that reflects their faith and the long journey of life that faith can sustain you along the way.

K-pop rapper Mark Lee (who goes simply by the stage name "MARK") of the group NCT (a musical collective with a whopping 25-plus members) is one such believer, and his first solo release, The Firstfruit (a terrific Biblical reference) is an album worth giving your time to -- to both discover a fiery brand of global hip hop / dance music that will liven your day, and the sort of lyrical introspection that shows that the journey of faith is the same all around the world. MARK narrates his journey from his native Toronto, Canada to his musical K-pop tryouts in Vancouver, all the way through life in New York City and then on the various K-pop reality competition shows that dominate Korean television. All along the way, MARK both credits and celebrates his faith and his family as the sustaining forces in his life, and this journey is documented in a unique way on The Firstfruit.

Opening with an interesting bit of spoken word narration set against a mellow R&B background in "Toronto's Window," MARK recounts how, while looking back on the beginning of his global journey, he sees how his faith "helps him see his path through a new set of eyes." This interesting bit of storytelling sets the thesis statement of the album and unpacks the Biblical idea of "first fruits" (the Old Testament idea of offering to the Lord the best of what you have as a thanksgiving tithe), against a modern pop / hip hop background. Then opening with a bang, "1999" celebrates the rapper's birth year with an international swagger and celebration of life that is infectious: "Today, I feel so new / feels like ninety-nine." The following "Flight To NYC" traces both MARK's artistic and spiritual journey farther along the path in a nice interlude. The next track, the hard-hitting statement of purpose "Righteous," drops the bass and finds MARK declaring his faith and intentions: "Yeah, two bands I represent / but I serve only one God / hol' up One thing for sure / I be a man of God."

"Raincouver" (a word play on how rainy the Canadian city of Vancouver is) finds MARK reflecting on that particular stop on his journey and how faith followed him even there: "I'll wait for you, I thought of you, Vancouver / I'm waiting for you who turned into rain today / Innocence became my umbrella." This track's mellow backbeat matches the rainy lyrical theme nicely.

After a few more high-energy club tracks (+82 Pressin', "Fraktsiya"), and a few more dreamy, mellow numbers ("Watching TV", "200"), the album ends on the pensive "Journey Mercies" (a switch up of the traditional Irish blessing "may the Lord give you traveling mercies"), which finds MARK reflecting on how the Lord was with him on every stop of the way: "My life is in pieces but you could always put it back / Together with your fragments / I want you to be my everything / Make sure that I'm broken if you leave / My heart is deficient / Or maybe I should try to be a little more specific / I need you to be my everything."

The Firstfruit is a wonderful, vibrant (and truly tuneful and listenable) statement of faith from a young artist with a built-in fan base who could have released any kind of album he wanted to, and chose to reflect on his faith and on the Lord who is truly with us everywhere we go. With lyrics in both English and Korean, The Firstfruit shows that faith transcends background and nationality (it always has), and that feeling far from home is a universal experience.

- Review date: 8/1/25, written by Alex Caldwell of Jesusfreakhideout.com

Record Label: SM Entertainment
Album length: 13 tracks: 36 minutes, 17 seconds
Street Date: April 7, 2025
Buy It: Amazon Music

1. Toronto's Window (1:36)
2. 1999 (3:25)
3. Flight to NYC (1:29)
4. Righteous (2:58)
5. 프락치 (Fraktsiya) (Ft. Lee Young Ji (이영지)) (3:12)
6. Raincouver (2:39)
7. Loser (2:50)
8. Watching TV (Ft. Crush (크러쉬)) (3:06)
9. +82 Pressin' (Ft. HAECHAN (해찬)) (3:22)
10. 200 (2:44)
11. Journey Mercies (3:45)
12. Mom's Interlude (1:35)
13. Too Much (3:34)

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