reviewsktol

Hip-Hop Reviews - K to L

Please note that the reviews are ordered by Artist first name..

All reviews are opinion, a guide only. Some are short and to the point, others go into more depth. No real reason why other than when the reviews were written! For other fantastic reviews, check out trailblazinministries.com, sphereofhiphop.com, gospelflava.com, hiphopforthesoul.com and jydist.com. Cross Rhythms has some good reviews too, although limited in content.

Please note if you see any of these reviews elsewhere, it is because I have done the reviews for others. These reviews are mostly for Cross Rhythms, although they edit the reviews. The reviews on these pages are my full reviews.

K-Drama – ‘Behind The Glory’| TOP

Top notch crunk and lively 12 track album taking a Biblical look through K-Drama’s eyes. This album explodes with energy. “Wheeewwwww!!!” drops a massive booming Tony Stone beat over a shout out to the goodness of Christ Jesus - always providing and taking care of us. This a theme also taken up “Okhay”, with K-Drama lacing Proverbs 3.5-6 and Matthew 6, about committing our ways to God, over a slow grooving beat and catchy hook. With another piece of Tony Stone freshness, we have “At 7” with K-Drama telling us about struggling to catch a flight, with God saying to him that, ‘everything will be OK’. Some tracks call out, encourage and challenge Christians, such as the bass heavy, “Teeter Totter” looking at wishy-washy Christians, and the slower “Let Freedom Bang” with some quality lyrical patterns from K-Drama. In “Waste Of Time”, K-Drama confronts the pointlessness of Christian dating as opposed to going out, with marriage as a goal. The artist also drops tracks where he speaks honestly, openly and personally, such as “In Trouble With The Law” and the smooth and funky, “Moving On” where K-Drama talks about his life as he became a man (very similar to “All That I Got Is You” by Ghostface Killah). There is the brilliantly fast, funky and bouncy “Behind The Glory” - as K-Drama focuses on his musical and life struggles. We end with the downtempo, “Let’s Luv Em” as K-Drama suggests we love people into the Kingdom of God, not tolerating sin, but bringing the Biblical understanding of love. A faith-filled, Bible-filled album of immense freshness! Run Time - 49.22.

KJ52 - Behind The Musik | TOP

KJ describes this as the hardest and most rewarding record he’s ever made. His purpose was to take the listener behind the music to his life – and to Christ. A nice touch is the album sleeve, designed as a book, with photos from KJ’s life. ‘Are You Real’ drops an almost Linkin Park style. ‘Just rock with it’ is for the bboys with an electro beat (as is the break on ‘Jesus’ and others). Next up is a remix of ‘God’ by / with Rebecca St James – the hook dropping a beefed up beat / heavy guitaring, in contrast to the minimal acoustic verses. ‘Behind the Musik’ delivers a much more contemporary East coast break with some soulful vocals from Pee Wee - KJ drops a smooth flow taking us on a life journey through his history, his past and his testimony. On ‘Thank You’ we have KJ-52 thanking his mom and dad, with Kollins Community Choir (kids) on the hook. A contemporary and tuneful track. ‘Right Here’ featuring its writer, Jeremy Camp, is another deep and moving message with KJ varying up his delivery, a real worshipful track. In ‘Video Games’ we find KJ’s wordplay around the names of video games. A couple tracks do remind of Eminem in some ways – ‘Fivetweezy’ and ‘’Plain White Rapper’ but both really work. ‘Life After Death’ challenges the listener about life after death, over a rock crossover beat. ‘Never Look Away’ is a nice track with soothing vocals from Brynn Sanchez. ‘For The Ladies’ is a powerful message for ladies, with an almost Usher style chorus from Seth Ready. ‘I Can Call on You’ is a truly beautiful r&b rap crossover feat. Donnie Lewis. ‘Cry No More’ takes a serious turn, telling a powerful story of a boy’s healing from sexual abuse by a neighbour over moving strings and piano. ‘One’ sees KJ vary it up, talking about Christ, playing with crescendo in delivery - over a thudding bass and cuts from DJ Morphizz. ‘It still all comes down to one love one God and one way’. Last up is ‘He Is All’ about your Father in heaven being your all – a deep track over acoustic guitar and strings, KJ mixing up rap and vocals. A very uplifting and moving album which is a hip-hop and emotional experience. Run Time - 76.53.

Khul Rhema – What The World Needs Now | TOP

Straight crunk, dancefloor filling tunes with lots of spiritual and societal vocal zing! Khul Rhema produces an album that manages to bring crunk sounds to reach out across the gospel and secular divide and mash up any hip-hop dancefloor, such as “Throw Em Up”. What we have is an album of bouncy, sub bass driven kicks, syncopated hats and rolling, snappy clappy snares. The message of this ‘Souljah for Jehovah’ (“Grindin”) is clear, whether it be a determination to give God his best and keep it real for Christ (“Get Loose”). This is an album that gives props and glory to Christ in every area of life and come against the evil one and his schemes, such as in “Praizin God” which brings a crunk but almost old skool feel. Khul Rhema is not afraid to quote from the Word across the album which brings an extra dimension. Khul Rhema also mixes things up with a poem, “Frienemies” and a spoken word track telling us that “God is love and that’s what the world needs now..” We journey through some spiritual issues such as “Can’t Survive” looking loosely at the Holy Spirit. In “King Solomon” Khul Rhema fires a verbal warning shot across the bows of those who think ‘God ain’t really cool with money but when I read my Bible I see different..’ For one terrible moment, I became worried about prosperity gospel teaching. Balance is restored in the slower “Almighty $’ which warns against money, power, fame and fortune. Amen. Phew! Not a bad album this one, although I'm not a big crunk hip-hop fan. But this represents Christ with quality so props for that. Nice. Run Time - 52.30.

KJ52 - It's Pronounced "Five Two" | TOP

This is the latest album from KJ-52, released in 2003. Another mix and blend of fun, deep, rock and tight delivery and beats produced by the highly talented Todd Collins. 'Dear Slim Part 2' makes a come back, another track talking to Eminem, not to call him out, but to say that he's praying for him. We also learn that the first 'Dear Slim' was given to Eminem backstage at once concert. Whatever happened to that CD? Who knows but KJ still says he's praying for Eminem. In the same vein as '47 emcees' we have a freestyle around '47 popstars' which is more fun. We have a heavy rock crossover almost rapcore song with 'Rock On' featuring Rob Beckley of rockers, Pillar. My favourite track off the album is '#1 Fan' which is basically about how one of KJs tracks so affected the life of one girl that it actually saved her life. Real moving. I also like the track, 'I'm Guilty' in which KJ sets himself into a kind of courtroom promising to tell the whole truth about Jesus and how he shed his blood. KJ confesses this was him and his guilt, his sin that caused Jesus to need to die. It's true and it shows God's love for us through Jesus. Fun tracks hint around 'Your Breath Stinks' and KJs 'addiction' to Mountain Dew. If you wanna hear more from KJ in terms of devotionals, check out his soundclick page. For more, go visit kj52.com. Run Time - 63.11.

KJ52 - Collaborations | TOP

KJ-52 springs up with a fun and very commercial sounding album. Likened to a Christian equivalent Eminem, some Christians have spent time poking fun at KJ for not being 'hip hop' enough. OK, so the album may not reach the hip hop underground depths of Mars Ill but there is a definite place for KJ and his music. In a similar vein to John Reuben, this album gained a reputation for the song aimed at Eminem, with track 6, 'Dear Slim'. This was no hater track, biting Eminem, but rather a heart felt verse to Eminem saying KJ was praying for him. KJ-52 received some negative feedback from Eminem fans for his song (unfairly) but this is the song that nevertheless exacerbated KJs rep as being the 'Christian Eminem'. Other stand-out tracks on the album include the very clever, very dope '5th Element' where KJ develops a track ranging over 5 beats going through the 4 elements of hip hop - breaking - emcees on the mic - turntablism - graffiti - and then the 5th element, God. Then there's '47 Emcees', a shout out to 47 mainstream emcees in a well constructed track. 'Nursery Rhymes' is also a clever track. There's a mick-take of folks just using over the top hip hop lingo. On the outro there's a shout out to commit your life to God. Good delivery. KJ is one emcee who I feel is over-criticised. The fun track? The one about the mullet? Y'all know what I mean if you get the album!

Lampmode Recordings - Grassroots (promotional CD) | TOP

This was a free (shipping / donation only) 7 track sampler that Lampmode Recordings released (1000 copies only) that were snapped up real quickly. This is a properly printed, pressed and shrink wrapped CD that features Shai Linne, Timothy Brindle on the mics with Deejay Essence on turntables - and DJ Essence, DJ Man-e' and DJ Cast One on beats and production. First up we have Grassroots Inchrow which starts up over a rolling beat and scratches repping Christ. As the lyrics go, 'By church I mean people, the steeple's not essential..' Some great rhyming schemes and delivery techniques represent. 'Christ Crucified' lyricises over east coast beats and a trumpet riff, with Shai Linne spitting, 'who's the answer.. Christ crucified..' On track 3, 'Let's Kill Sin', Timothy Brindle steps up to encourage us to be 'militant and diligent' to kill sin, over a musical background of harps and a nicely compressed beats and bass. The incredibly dope and clever 'WorldWideWeb' sees Shai Linne to challenge us about WWW - 'world wide wickedness' with lyrics dropping internet-related words and vignettes. I love the beat on this, with a funky, almost live drum feel. In 'A letter to my friends', Timothy Brindle drops a heartfelt track to his ex-hip hop crews who he felt he had to leave after God saved him. He expresses his heart to them, expresses his feelings and thanks but reps Christ to them fully, 'I was living in darkness.. now every day is bright.. I pray my salvation's a great example, to how Christ can save a crazy raging vandal..' Next up is 'From beginning to end' which is a boom-bap style thumper from deejay essence - with words being read over the top from Romans 3.10-31. Great concept, well delivered. Finally we have 'Holiness of God' feat both Shai Linne and Timothy Brindle. This is a banger with a classical operatic orchestral sample, underlied by a big phat beat, a tune that deserves major heat on dancefloors. This has an almost old skool beat and is an anthem. Very big and very fresh. The hook says it all, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord..' Don't sleep on these guys from Philly.

LA Symphony - Disappear Here | TOP

Having never purchased an LA Symph album before, my only thing to go on was a good review from Sphereofhiphop (as well as Flynn's album, which I quite enjoyed). Well, LA Symhp deliver the goods big time, with some big tunes, memorable hooks. Definitely a big project and by many reviews, their best to date. 'Timeless' is a great hip-hop track with with a stuttering piano type riff, scratches and nice tunes. Nice intro track after the 'Finaland Intro' to the CD, with a live recording of a crowd in Finalnd being led in shouting the LA Symphony name. 'Put Up or Shut Up' reminds me more of tracks off Flynn's album. Synthesized bass, an almost eastern riff with wordplay encouraging us to put up or shut up - give it our best. In the 'Money Song' LA Symphony touch on a serious topic with perceptive and humorous lines. In 'Universal' the crew rhyme over an nicely compressed break - talking about how hip-hop started up and has spread across the world, in its many forms, through many mediums. In 'Dance Like' we have another synthesized and creative track, with some nice samples and syncopated programming, creating an almost eerie effect. Some good calling out of fake rappers too, like it! In 'Funky Music' we have an almost jungle (animal noises) background. Nice effects on vocals - with the crew displaying great vocal agility, with lyrcis delivered in different tones. 'Hold On' encourages people to hold on and hold up, a slower track encouraging perseverence, with instruments matching the overall tone of the track. 'C'est La Vie' is a Latino track, with sung vocals and guitar, piano - a beautiful tune, love this. In 'Grand Piano' a great drum break, piano and vocal noises underpin lyrics that force you to listen carefully and closely. 'Give' is another downtempo song, paying tribute, sounding very similar (to my ears) to the vibe that 'Spooks, Karma Hotel' created - with a touch of Lauryn Hill. Absolute class, with great wordplay smoothly riding the track. 'Pops Song' is another real nice hip-hop roller, giving props to our pops (dads). 'Less Than Zero' is a challenging song, talking about how life doesn't always work out quite like it should. 'Rise' is another clever song, with slow beat / double time hats and guitar. Incredibly smooth lyrics mark out this track, some verses running at double tempo to other verses. A deep track. We end with 'Don't Call Me', a lighter track - very amusing, having friendly digs at each other. Hope this review is useful to you - I've listened to this CD more times than most of my CDs, that's a big recommendation!! Run Time - 50.09.

Lightheaded - Timeless (vinyl) | TOP

Oh my goodness, this EP is outstanding. This is funky, jazzy hip-hop at its best. I stand in awe of crews able to make this level of quality positive hip-hop. Featuring the Lightheaded trio of Ohmega Watts, Othello and Braille, we get funky old skool breaks in a jazzy mould. Impeccable deliveries from all 3 MCs with old skool party shouts and lyrical insight all round, with Muneshine bringing top of the range production & scratch essentials. Boom!

Lightheaded - Wrong Way | TOP

Bought this on vinyl as it's one of very few 'Christian' or positive / conscious albums I could get on vinyl here in the UK. Needless to say it rocks, in a very funky hip-hop way. If I had to point to my favourite crews around, I'd point to Lightheaded. It's incredibly funky, jazzy, fun, musical, uses live instrumentation as well. The 3 MCs together drop some real magic in this album. I cannot recommend this highly enough. I'm even thinking of buying it on CD as well, rather than recording from vinyl to CD. When I get my decks out I'll post up more on individual tracks. If you're a fan of Lightheaded, or the whole boom-bap, funky party shout-out kinds of stuff, or like any of these MCs on their individual projects, GET THIS!! In fact, get it anyway. Run Time - unknown.

Lojique - Process Of Illumination | TOP

I started off a little hesitant with this but by the end was lovin it. Dope riffs, vocal and musical hooks, tight lyrics flowing smoothly with underground beats and sweet production. Good consistent levels across both mastering and mic work. There's also a couple boom bap with some neat scratching and phat breaks. We start off with an amusing flow 'However You Want It' which starts off with someone hating on hip hop, concluding, 'I'd rather be fishing..' However, Lojique have the answer to this, bringing hip hop 'however you want it'. In 'Represent Like This', we hear a mix of Lojique's determination to mix quality - 'Can you perceive the expertise with which I slice fisher price emcees..' combined with the determination to put Christ first and live for eternity. Another favourite is track 4 which drops a remix of the infamous and over-played 'Shine Jesus Shine'. But this really works and makes you worship God, hip hop worship at its absolute illest. The lead track is Adrenaline Rush which drops some unbelievable fast lyrics. What I like about the Lojique Crew style is some of the ill lyrical hooks that they have created like in 'Hermeneutics', 'Strugglin' Strivin' and 'Fools Quest' with quality musical riffs like in 'Afterbirth' and 'Pike Place'. Lyrical flow is clever, with some deep but accessible lyrics, spittin Christ visibly and cleverly like in 'Valley of Decision' and 'Afterbirth'. Sometimes there's an underground flow like in 'God Is My Witness'. Other times it's more accessible like in 'Shine'. This isn't just an album for the backpacker hip hop head. This has both depth and commercial delivery to appeal to a wider market than many independent releases. Made me want to get into the studio! Run Time - 50.24.

LZ7 - Ruckus | TOP

This is more than your typical hip-hop album. From his days with the Tribe, Lindz West has had a passion to see young people in Manchester and the UK impacted relevantly with the Gospel. “Ruckus” is LZ7’s first album - a fusion of hip-hop and heavy rock, with vocals addressing hard-hitting issues (or so the Press Release tells us). More explicitly, think influences of The Tribe, TobyMac, The Bandwithnoname, Linkin Park. For topics, think drugs, sex, life, racism and more. Without doubt this will appeal to many young people across and beyond the urban scene. The hot production must be given a mention too, props to all the varied producers who often don't get enough love and support - big up! Getting into the album we have tracks such as “Start Something” (in which Lindz displays some lyrical agility) and “Worldwide” which bring a rock-rap vibe. “Why” reminds me of TobyMac. “Cross I Carry” is a standout collabo with Blush, which builds up from an ethereal builder to a heavy rock sound. There’s more of a UK grime feel to tracks like “Get Out Ya Seat” and “Come Around”. Awesome downtempo hip-hop track with Myles Dhillon, confronting racism in “Colour”. “Break The Beat” reminds a little of the Tribe’s “Take Back The Beat”. Greenjade guest on “Head Back” about regaining control of your head, asking, “Where’s Your Head At..” (Basement Jaxx anyone..?) Then there’s “We Came Here”, a remix of the Tupac classic, “California Love”, which to be honest, isn't as strong as the original! More importantly though - as LZ7 tours schools, festivals, youth offender institutions and beyond with its show of urban arts - the Gospel message will go out relevantly with quality and clarity, no doubt. Run Time - 41.44.