Ready Writer - Conduit

I had my reservations with this one. I'll be honest.. I hesitated on this CD. I was purposefully waiting for everyone else to get theirs so I could hear about how it was before I considered buying it. I'll say this... Brinson does not know how to leave me alone, and I'm glad he didn't. As CEO and spokesman of Godchaserz Ent., he does an EXCELLENT job putting out notice of upcoming events and CD releases of his artists. You can tell he has a love for God and what he does concerning his ministry. I had reservations for many reasons, most of them because of my own narrow mindedness. For those who don't know me, I've been pretty picky about the theology of the music that I digest. After being convicted recently about my own pride and prejudices I held against brothers of different theological views, I began to let my guard down a bit. This CD was the killing blow that destroyed my theology wall. Even though I may not agree with some of the theology on this album, none of my beefs involve core element of Christ's death, resurrection, deity, or any other topic I would classify as VITAL to true Christianity. That being said... I'll just pray for my brothers out of Christ love (LOL, I'm kidding!). Seriously, with that being said, let's look at "Conduit" by Ready Writer off of the Godchaserz Ent. label.

With closed eyes, and bracing my ears for the unexpected I pressed the "play" button and began my audio journey down the road that is "Conduit" from Ready Writer, and I was very pleasantly surprised. As the sample blared, the kick and snare slammed against my ear drums, the gritty rhyme schemes from the brilliant mind that is Readywriter began to pour out of my headphones. Immediately I was caught up by this young mans strength of character behind a mic. Not only was the delivery of punchlines timed perfectly with the track, but for whatever reasons I found myself pretending to hold a mic myself and following along with his words. This album is lyrically intense for the most part, you'll find a few places among the pile of words and instruments to rest and just nod your head without thinking too hard, but for the most part you'll be nodding viciously while your mind races trying to keep pace with the verbal triathlon that runs the length of the CD. Adding to the verbal melee were label mate Jovan Mackenzy, Brinson, Young Fitz, and Disciple. There were a few low points for me, a couple of tracks will find the "skip" button a place of residence more often than not. While I can appreciate the message behind both "Woman's Love" and "Get Clean", for me the production just didn't match the quality of the lyricism and ultimately watered both songs down. But overall this was very solid offering from the God Chaserz crew. Favorites include "God's Plan", "Emails", and "War of Mind's". That's not to say that there aren't other tracks that won't make you want to either grab your Bible and try to keep up, or get up and dance. While not being counted among my favorite tracks, the single "This is Jesus Christ" is at least the catchiest tune on the album.

When pausing from the mental workout being given by our trainer, Ready Writer, to look at the production on the album, you notice the wide variety of styles being offered on this one disc. With tunes crafted by the likes of Brinson, Teddy P, recently reviewed Lesun, J. Pierre, and a host of other producers, Conduit lays out a spread fit to give listeners of every musical taste a sample of his lyrical prowess. As stated before, this is a lyrically intense album, so even if some tracks didn't catch my fancy production wise, that doesn't necessarily mean that the MC didn't.

After listening to this album from cover to credits, top to bottom and in between all of the crevices, I find myself unsatisfied. Allow me to clarify. When discussing this album with Brinson, he mentioned that sometimes he has to go back and listen again to some of the things said and even days later he'll finally understand a punchline or hook. I'm definitely finding that to be the case. I keep saying it and I'll repeat once more, this is a lyrically intense album. One of the things I find so intriguing about Ready Writer's style is that he doesn't make everything plain. A lot of the meat of what he's saying is hidden behind some of the metaphors and similes he uses. I had to listen to the first few bars of "God's Plan" just to get what he was talking about. Honestly, I just got it while listening and writing this review! So when I say unsatisfied, I mean "the theme park just closed, and I know that I missed a couple of the roller coasters"! Fortunately, I own the album and am free to glean to my hearts content. Overall the album started off very strong for me and kind of tapered off a bit for me because of some of the production, however lyrically the MC stayed on point in delivery and style for the most part. Over all, this is a very decent effort from Ready Writer and crew. Cop it and keep it. This ones a good listen.

Lesun - The KISS Album (Keep It Short & Sweet)

Ok... since this is the first OFFICIAL album review I'm just going to go over some of the basics here. There's a visual version, and i Kept It Short and Sweet (pun intended this time... how appropriate). Click the thumbnail to get a visual song by song rating, complete track listing, a rating and a quick blurb about the album with my overall opinion. Then there's the extra something for those of you who like to read. A full length, in depth review. I don't rate Intros, Interludes, or Outros unless they make an extreme positive or negative effect on the album. In this case none of them were musical so they weren't rated. On to the review!!!!


Ok.... I'm a humorous fellow, so I appreciate when artists take the time and spend the effort to make me laugh, entertain, and feed my spirit all at once. This is certainly the case with this album. Right out of the gate Lesun offers his heart to us by sharing what a long road it's been and thanking those who had helped him along the way... but then he's distracted... check the album out to hear it for yourself. It's unexpected and hilarious. The KISS album (Keep it Short and Sweet) is a GREAT display of lyrical talent and vocal ability all submitted for the glory of God, while having a good time in the process.

Moving into the music you're immediately greeted with a bevy of BANGERS! Check the first 4 rated songs on the thumbnail.... those are some of my favorites on the album. I have to say that Lesun did an EXCELLENT job picking his beats on this project. Thankfully, he had the lyrical chops to keep pace and handle the tracks like an experienced MC. His tone and delivery did a lot to make the listening enjoyable, and you can tell he felt comfortable with what he was doing at all times. He even smoothes it out a couple of times and puts on his "crooner" hat to seranade the listener a few times. A very welcome change of pace! Normally when you have an artist that tries to both sing and rhyme, you end up with very little talent on both sides supplemented by an overload of pride. He doesn't overkill the vocals like most church choir solo artists do, opting to keep the tunes mellow and even featuring OTHER vocal artists on some of the same tracks he sings on top off, pumping out a plethora of voices to please the audio pallete. It wasn't all high points for me however. "Something You Don't See Everyday" just didn't seem to fit on this album to me. Taking into account the over all feel of the album, the southern flavor of that track seemed a little out of place. But you could appreciate the effort though.

As I keep mentioning, I was impressed thouroughly by the quality of the production. With contributions from production powerhouses like Tony Stone, Theory Hazit, Lesun himself, G.P., Tone, Duan Wade, and Roc Beats, K.I.S.S offeres a WIDE range of musical styles that cross a wide range of genres. There's plenty of ear candy to keep that neck going with bobblehead action.

Although I didn't rate them, I really enjoyed the interludes as well. It gave a lot of insight into his personality, led smoothly from song to song, and gave opportunities to laugh along with him, feel for him, and just generally get to know him. It's always nice to feel like you know the artist at the end of listening to an album. The constant interuptions from the "KISS" clip from an artist everyone should know, kept the mood light and the album on its heels. A very comfortable album from top to bottom.

This isn't a theology album. It's definitely not one of those albums you'd turn to for help to exegete a passage of scripture, or to prepare for a sermon. That doesn't mean that this album doesn't edify or build you up spritually. As a matter of fact that's QUITE the case. I'm finding that I start my day with "BPM's" stuck in my brain every morning which encourages me to draw closer to God on the daily, helping me by reminding me of where I came from, and where I am now. This isn't an album you'll put in and wonder if the artist is saved or not, this is DEFINITELY CHRISTIAN Hip Hop here. He tastefully manages a balance of content that SCREAMS JESUS while at the same time is just good music.

The bottom line man, this is definitely one of the best Holy Hip Hop albums I've heard in a while. I'll be recommending this album to all of my friends and family, especially those that aren't currently in the faith. So obviously.. my recommendation to you...

GO COP THAT JOIN SON!!!! Currently available at 3hmp3.com and from his website, www.BruceLesun.com