Hip Hope 2009 - Various Artists

01. One World (Liquid Remix) - tobyMac feat Siti Monroe & KJ-52
02. Reminds Me - GRITS
03. I Call Him G.O.D. - Canton Jones
04. When It Feels Right - Speech (of Arrested Development)
05. What You Want - KJ-52 feat. Bonafide of GRITS
06. Calculator Watch - Pigeon John
07. Future - Verbs
08. Come Back To Me - Washington Projects
09. Be Myself - Jade feat. Coffee of GRITS
10. Walking Loud - Braille
11. Gimme Dapp - Pettidee
12. Avert - Shonlock feat. Canton Jones & V3
13. Bottom of the 9th - Knine feat. B. Reith
14. Higher - Stefan the Scientist
15. Feel It Now - Flynn Adam
16. Cut Me - J Remy
17. MY - Proxy feat. Verbs & Stefan the Scientist
18. Chimpanzee (Digital Bonus) - Rootbeer

REVIEW:

The Hip Hope compilation series released annually over the past 5 years has largely failed to do its job. To showcase the best (or in their words, "hottest") of Christian Hip-Hop. Instead, all it has done is bring together a mediocre selection of music that does more to put Christian hip-hop to shame than bring out its best. Release after release of these bland titles have been extensively promoted by the well-known Gotee Records label and in so have caught the eye of various secular critics only to be looked down upon as yet another title to prove that Christians just can't do hip-hop like the big boys.

What is so heartbreaking about this is that Christian hip-hop can do so much better than what has been showcased for the most part on the Hip Hope series so far. There is a lot of talent to be heard from the genre, but it seems like so far Hip Hope has either been unaware of this or simply ignored it in favour of dumbed-down, crowd-pleasing "hits" for better sales.

Well I'm proud to say that with the 2009 volume, the Hip Hope series has made a dramatic change for the better. In fact, after my first playthrough I was left pleasantly suprised at the unexpected difference that had been made, even after looking at the playlist, which is interesting in itself.

The first thing you notice is that this edition feels much more free-spirited than the previous ones. In a good way, that is. A lot of the tracks have a fresh experimental sound to them and flavors of music seem more diverse with not just hip-hop, but also some R&B, Electronica, Dance, and reggae thrown into the mix. This may seem contradictory at first, but nevertheless, for the most part the tracks have an urban/hip-hop vibe to them.

Hip Hope 2009's artist selection this time round is as diverse as it is musically. The Hip Hope series has always had a reasonably well-spread list of artists, but never as diverse and as large as this. The usual big names you'd expect are still there. Such as KJ-52, tobymac, GRITS, Pigeon John, Canton Jones and Pettidee. But there are a bunch of newcomers such as Jade, V Three, Stefan the Scientist and Proxy as well as more underground or lesser-known artists like Braiile, Verbs, The Washington Projects, B. Reith, Knine, Flynn and Rootbeer (on the digital download version only).

This isn't even including the multiple underground and up-and-coming artists that make appearances in short hidden tracks between some of the songs. These include Pro, Braille, Othello, Freddie Bruno and Propaganda which was very suprising. These small snippets are done well and manage to show off the artists talents adequatly even in the short amount of time they are done in.

Overall the song selection, unlike the rest of the series, is actually quite good. In fact, 12 of the 17 songs are exlusives, which is another big suprise. The non-exclusives include the experimental "Reminds Me" off the largely exprimental album, Reiterate, by GRITS. The mellow, soulfull "Future" off the Groundwork Theory which is an excellent piece and one of Verbs' best. Then there's "Bottom of the 9th" from the UnderDogg album by Knine featuring B. Reith where the latter shows off not only his lyrical skill but his singing talent, evident in the backing vocals throughout and towards the end of the song. ("Bottom of the 9th" is marked as an exlusive on the album but it actually isn't. I'm guessing the only reason it was marked exclusive is because of the slight reworking of the drums and vocals, which make little difference anyway).

As well as non-exclusive there are also never-before-heard (apparently not exclusives, but this is the first time they have been released) tracks. Such as "Be Myself" by Jade which could have been incredible, and for the most part it was great, had not it been for the overly short feature by Bonafide of GRITS and the overall shortness of the entire track. It's one of those tracks that feels like it could have been so good but just missed the mark. There's the reggae song by Stefan the Scientist, "Higher", which includes a beautiful chorus with breezy backing vocals over an incredibly catchy reggae beat. After one listen to this song you will know that Stefan the Scientist is an artist to look out for in the near future. I have high hopes for his upcoming work.

But, for the most part, the exclusives are where the compilation really shines. "I Call Him G.O.D." is an R&B club-banger that, while it does feature the overly-used Autotune software every now and then, is hard to resist getting up and vibing to. The hardcore street heads out there don't miss out this time with Speech's (from two-time Grammy Award-winning hip-hop group Arrested Development) "When it Feels Right". Pigeon John steps in to represent the lighter side of Christian Hip Hop with the hilarious "Calculation Watch". Pigeon John is a genius on the mic, and he never fails in the comedic area either. "Come Back To Me" is yet another R&B-infused experimental hip-hop single from The Washington Projects, but hey, I don't think anyone's going to be tiring of them anytime soon. It features a message on the forgiveness and redemptive quality of God. "Walking Loud" by Braille talks about living a "loud" life as Christians and to put our passiveness behind, accompanied by an apt loud and rowdy beat. Pettidee brings in something for the Dirty South on "Gimme Dapp". "Cut Me" by Jean-Luc Remy comes with a powerful message but is so graphic it's cringe-worthy, for those strong enough to handle it it's ok, but others may want to skip the track. Especially since the song is written to a very specific audience.

Reggae gets more exposure than ever before in the Hip Hope series with two songs. "Higher" being one, and the other entitled "My". The latter features Stefan the Scientist and another newcomer named Proxy, as well as Verbs. It's nicely constructed with an evangelistic message over a mixture of reggae and hip-hop. Then comes one of the most interesting songs on the album, "Avert". It starts off as a thumping party track and then, just over 1 minute in, completely switches into a rock-infused anthem for the rest of the track. All the while there is so much musical detail happening throughout with multiple effects and sounds while Canton Jones and Shonlock swap mics. The mixture of Canton Jones' smooth vocals and Shonlock's rapid fire spitting is very, very nice and adds to the overall diversity and depth of the entire song. It's really quite amazing how much was packed into it. Avert's message is one of repentance and turning away, or averting from sin. And really, it couldn't be conveyed any better.

Out of the entire compilation the only big problems I had were the two tracks that featured KJ-52. Yes, I said it. Stone me.

But seriously now. Despite the fact that the "One World" remix is not incredibly different from the original, the addition of KJ-52 was a bad idea. On both "One World" and "What You Want" KJ-52 is as boring as he has been as of late. Honestly, I'm tiring of his lyrcally-lacking and basic stye he has sunken into. Hip Hope should be showcasing the best of Christian Hip-Hop and while KJ-52 might be quite popular, he certainly is far from the best, especially in comparison to just about all the other artists featured on the compilation. Then again, I can imagine the outcry from his hoards of fans if he was ever excluded from a Hip Hope CD.

To sum it all up, I must say, DJ Maj has finally compiled something worthwhile this time around on Hip Hope 2009. I applaud his effort. There is a diverse selection both in the artists and musically. The content is, for the most part, of a higher quality than ever before in the series and actually does a good job towards showcasing good Christian Hip-Hop. Don't get me wrong though. This isn't the best compilation HHH album out there (check out DJ Morphiziz - International) but it is a big improvement and step foward for the Hip Hope series. If Hip Hope continues to move foward in the fashion it has here and, even improve on it, the series will be at the very least a respectable one.