Rapzilla.com Review: Trip Lee 'Between Two Worlds'
Posted June 24, 2010
By Rapzilla,
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from Rapzilla.com
In the four short years since his debut album 'If They Only Knew', Trip Lee has became one of he most recognizable artists in Christian Hip Hop. His love of down south beats paired along with his mid west flow, and 116 Clique membership, have made Trip Lee universally accepted. With his last album '20/20', Trip displayed insight on life that betrayed his young age. On his third album 'Between Two Worlds' Trip continues to provide unique insight on the world and it's ills. The album is focused on the believer living in this old fallen world while awaiting the glorious new world that Christ will inaugurate at His return.
The album opens up with "Real Life Music" where Trip Lee contrasts his brand of Hip Hop from what is usually played on the radio. Over a sample driven melody with sharp drums he riddles off lines such as "Too many spit that fake rap most just can't relate to / they don't got no Maybach they don't get to make rules / They ain't tryna make stacks they just tryna make do". This is a great intro and prepares audiences for a very accessible album. Trip more than ever seems to exert himself in communicating gospel truth in terms the average listener can easily grasp. Much of the album focuses on conveying the struggles that come along with living in a fallen world. The issues mentioned are not only things that Christians can identify with but many unsaved people may identify with even more.
Unlike most secular music, Trip does not just merely seek to identify with listeners over common problems, instead he seeks to point them to the common answer found in Christ. A great example of this is "Prognosis" where Trip assumes the true to life role of a person being diagnosed with a terminal illness, namely sin. He masterfully makes striking illustrations of the pervasiveness of this disease. "My heart pumped corruption through every single part of me / it pumped death and deception through my arteries." These parallels are drawn effortlessly and really challenges the listener to question the state of their own heart. Rather than fading out the song after the second verse leaving listeners troubled and confused, Trip recommends the Great Physician who is the only one certified to perform a life saving heart transplant.
The production on this album is a departure from the heavy soul and jazz influenced '20/20'; the sound is fresh and diverse. "Limitations" Is a somber song built on mesmerizing guitar strings, while "I Love Music" implements salsa inspired horns into it's sound. On the latter song Trip, along with Sho Baraka, recount the influence music had on their lives growing up. The album of course also has the mandatory concert favorites "No Worries" and the creative "Snitch" which deals with confessing sins to other believers.
An unfortunate aspect of the album is that amidst a ton of innovative production, there are a couple of songs with typical beats. For example "Bear with Em" is a good topical track that provides practical examples of bearing with your brothers and sisters in love. This song suffers however, from a G-Styles beat that sounds like it was from a batch that didn't make it on the Rhema Soul album.
"Twisted" is clearly the resident banger on B2W. The song is based on ------- and seeks to show listeners that anything they have in life even mildly desirable is a gift from God. This song features tight verses from Lecrae and Thi'sl, and an incredible hook courtesy of PRo.
A recurring theme throughout the album is Jesus stepping into time to redeem lives in this fallen world, and His second coming where He will ultimately set all things right. On "Invade" featuring singer J. Paul, Trip discusses the necessity of Christ coming back to save the day. He encourages believers to keep trusting in Christ and eagerly anticipate His imminent return where everything will be returned to proper order.
With 'Between Two Worlds' Trip Lee does much more than just add another solid album to his catalog. He paints a vivid picture of the fallen world that is, and gives brief foreshadows of the world that awaits us. The album properly ends with "The Invasion (Hero)". This is the climax of the album as Trip revels in what Christ has done and dreams about what he has yet to do. Along with singer Jai, believers can bellow "You already saved the day!" and Christ truly has. With his third release, Trip Lee has given believers everywhere a great album to blast in their speakerbox while we wait for the imminent return of Christ.
Purchase on AmazonMP3 or iTunes
Review by K. Lenon Fenelus
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