“Press On” Da T.R.U.T.H. & Isaac Carree From the Bad Things Happen In Philadelphia soundtrack album Shanachie Entertainment (release date: December 1, 2023) By Robert M. Marovich It’s gratifying to see contemporary gospel artists like Isaac Carree and Christian rapper Da T.R.U.T.H. featured on the same soundtrack as top R&B artists like Jill Scott. That’s what’s happening on the soundtrack for Bad Things Happen In Philadelphia, producer/director Kyra Knox’s award-winning documentary film about gun violence in Philadelphia and how Gary Mills’s organization Shoot Baskets Not People is ..read more

“Already Won” Norris J feat. La’Kea Stokes INJ Music (release date: August 4, 2023) By Robert M. Marovich Fort Worth, Texas-based Christian hip hop artist Norris J and La’Kea Stokes take no prisoners on “Already Won.” The tag team spits hard on this driving staccato track that reminds listeners life isn’t a race, because Jesus already “paid the toll” and you’ve already won. “We don’t fight for victory,” the duo rhymes, “We fight from it.” They mix contemporary references like TikTok and Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars with traditional imagery like journeying from field work to a k ..read more

Elohin El3vate CF Entertainment (release date: September 12, 2023) By Robert M. Marovich “I hope you all ready for this one.” That’s how Elohin (pronounced EL-oh-in) introduces his album, El3vate. And it’s no idle threat, because the Detroit-based Christian rapper (aka Lon Harris) has a great deal to say. In a battering-ram delivery, he mixes social commentary with spiritual messages. The batch of bite-sized selections features incisive rhymes, understated but insistent beats, and a haunting atmospheric backdrop. The album’s main theme is reaching higher levels of humanness. As if to hammer ..read more

The Flatline Movement Gotta Die Independent (release date: June 15, 2023) By Robert M. Marovich Gotta Die is the ten-song debut album by The Flatline Movement, a ministry of Flatline Church at Chisholm in Montgomery, Alabama. Founded by Pastor Dewayne Rembert of Flatline Church at Chisholm, the group consists of DeAndre Burns, a few of his family members, and several others. The Flatline Movement—the church explains that the name is based on how “people are dead in their sin until God brings them to new life”—aims to engage youth through Christian hip hop. If the four singles from Gotta Die ..read more

Ray Curenton Believer, a.k.a. The Last Shall Be the First Imagination Fury Arts (release date: June 2, 2023) By Robert M. Marovich If you haven’t experienced the music of Nashville, Tennnessee, singer-songwriter Ray Curenton, you owe it to yourself to do so. Believer, Curenton’s third studio album, is his finest to date. It gave this listener the same eye-opening reaction that I had hearing for the first time J Moss’s V2 and Aaron Sledge’s Da Light, both released back in 2007. Expertly produced by Curenton and Brandon Adams with executive production that includes another excellent singer, Ti ..read more

Lawrence Hancock Waiting For You Independent / Symphonic Distribution (release date: May 19, 2023) By Robert M. Marovich On his ninth album, Waiting For You, Bishop Lawrence Hancock continues to ride in his own distinctive lane of Christian hip hop. As with most of his recent releases, Hancock’s analog vocal entreaties whirl in a digital galaxy of urgent, repetitive, and minimalist music. Like summaries of previously-preached sermons, Hancock’s free form statements are fundamental messages for dealing with a complex world through faith in God. The songs move with the insistence of ticking cloc ..read more

TKE3 The Maker & III (A Drill Tape) GTG Entertainment (2022) By Robert M. Marovich Nigerian-born and UK-raised Victor Atuonwu is a producer and rapper known as TKE3. The Maker & III is his first release since 2020’s EP Amen. The sixteen-minute drill tape is a chill electronic mélange of rhymes that ruminate on the life-giving riches of salvation and modern-day discipleship. For example, “Good for Me Right?” positions TKE3 as a prayer warrior who pledges fidelity to God. On the relaxed “Alelu,” TKE3 lofts praises upward amidst crisp flourishes of gently-plucked guitar. The guitar, the p ..read more

Da’ T.R.U.T.H. Emanuel Mixed Bag Entertainment (release date: January 27, 2013) By Robert M. Marovich Now in his mid-forties, influential Christian hip hop artist Da’ T.R.U.T.H. is acknowledging, through a rebranding effort, the dignity of maturity and the wisdom gained along the way. Henceforth using his Christian name instead of his stage name, Da’ T.R.U.T.H. gathered an all-star crew of veteran and current gospel stars—from Fred Hammond and Yolanda Adams to Dante Bowe and Maranda Curtis—to assist on his self-titled Emanuel. This bildungsroman of a Christian hip hop album is life according t ..read more

Jarred AllStar The Gift and the Calling 3 Humble Brag Music (release date: December 25, 2022) By Robert M. Marovich The Gift and the Calling 3 is the finale of Christian hip hop artist Jarred AllStar’s The Gift and the Calling Series, which began in 2020. Turns out that the finale’s opener, “Real Big Big God,” is the project’s most infectious selection. It’s a catchy contemplation on not sweating the small stuff in life and paying no attention to the world’s dirty laundry. Autobiographical, the song describes in rhyme how Jarred’s acceptance of Christ is why he is where he is today. To a buzzi ..read more

Adia Hold It All Together Limitless Entertainment (release date: December 30, 2022) By Robert M. Marovich On her latest solo album, Hold It All Together, Destiny Adia Andrews, known as Adia, sings in a tranquil voice, as if holding a prayer meeting with a few friends in a tiny room with the lights out. Light waves of ambient hip hop wash over this sumptuous sacred atmosphere. But if the music is candlelit, there’s nothing easygoing about the transparent lyrics. The liquid title track tackles the feeling that when everything is crumbling down around you, it’s a blessing to know God is there to ..read more