Theology and Worship| Posted February 26, 2014
Lamp Mode Recordings artist God's Servant is out with his latest album, Diadem. The album is a fine mixture of theology, worship and lyricism. It is a rare event when a Christian hip-hop album blends the three elements so clearly. It wouldn't be a Lamp Mode artist without a solid dose of theology and lyricism, but as the album title suggests, in this work, God's Servant is laying down a crown before the King of Kings.
Things kick off with "Make Way," which is a great way to introduce the concept of worship and making way for God in our lives. God is greater than ourselves, greater than anything we could boast in, and because of how great God is, we need to come to an understanding of what real worship is. "The whole duty of man is to fear the Lord and keep His statutes." This song has more depth in regards to true worship than many worship albums, let alone Christian hip-hop.
Theologically the album is sound, however, sonically, the album left me longing for a little more. As deep as a song as "Areopagus" is, and the level of lyricism within the song, the lyrics at times feel forced to get as much theological references into as few as bars as possible and the hook on the song could use more musicality. "Ransomed" has a little more musicality and makes the head bob a little more without losing any impact of the lyrics, however the drops are almost non-existent. "Ransomed," of course, speaks to how Christ was ransomed for our sins.
"For Us" features the vocals of J. Williams on a really nice chorus that allows you to enter into worship. "He laid his life down and He didn't have to do it / I could never go through the pain, I could never go do the same / He went and died for us, He went and died for us / true love, yeah, that's real love." God Servant spits truth in His verses. This song is smooth and delivers the salvation message clearly and concisely.
Before "Look Ye Saints" there is an interesting "Choral Interlude" of "Look, Ye Saints, The Sight Is Glorious." Its is somewhat reminiscent of when Andy Mineo used "Come, Ye Sinners Sick and Needy" at the beginning of "Superhuman." Once again, however, the theme of worship is central, and not only worship but the thought of crowning God with a Diadem.
God's Servant's Lamp Mode brother Json, joins him on "At His Feet." Anytime Json shows up, things go off hard, and this song does just that, but once again, trying to go hard while saying, "'Cast yo crowns at His feet, throw 'em in" just feels forced. "Bring The Diadem" keeps the theme running strong. I am a big fan of thematically consistent albums. It allows me to focus on what the artist wants to say and gives me a glimpse of what they have may been focusing on during a certain season of their lives.
"Holy" starts off with some face-melt action. This one on high may blow your speakers so approach it with caution. Chris Cobbins features on the chorus and his vocals are a welcome balance to the roughness of Servant's verses. This song redeems some of the sonic issues with previous songs. The song is hard but still maintains a musical element. And if Chris Cobbins balancing off God's Servant doesn't fix it, then Benjah's feature on "My God and King" definitely does. This song is solid from beginning to end.
The last song on the album is "His." It is a declaration of all that is in existence, all of creation, is His. It is a great reminder of who is in charge and bookends the album perfectly when paired with "Make Way." I said last song purposely, as the last track, is "John's Prayer." This is simply John Piper praying a powerful prayer for Pastors.
Final Thoughts:
When I first listened to this album, I was underwhelmed with the lack of hard hitting beats and bass drops. In all truth, I couldn't make it through the whole album the first time. On second listen, however, I'm glad I didn't give up on it. The album speaks truth. Pure, redeemed, truth. There is a lull in the middle of the album, but the final third of the album is worth waiting for. If you are a fan of theologically sound albums that make you think while getting your groove on, then this album will meet your needs. If you're looking for a party album for youth group, then you may want to take a pass on this.
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