Chasing Destiny
Posted July 17, 2014
By DwayneLacy_NRT, Staff Reviewer
Hip hop/rap is one art form that was once unkind and unwelcoming to those who did not fit the mold of what a hip hop artist should look like, in both race and place of origin. Thankfully, over time artists like Arrested Development, Third Bass, Eminem, Digable Planets, Kanye West, Bubba Sparxx and others helped break that mold. Christian music was always more accepting with artists like The Tunnel Rats, KJ-52, dcTalk, Sev Statik and now Andy Mineo. It is still cool to hear that a country boy from Alabama, B. Cooper, is the latest to keep breaking the mold in the Christian hip hop world.
B. Cooper is signed with RMG, and released a free album, Spare Change earlier this year. The Tennessee transplant is staying on the grind with While the City Sleeps, produced by his partner and friend Dirty Rice. This album is very deliberate focused on jumpstarting those who have given up on their dreams.
The title song starts with J.C. singing over piano until the beat kicks in. Danika Jean adds strings to give the song a more dramatic effect. B. Coop spits about fulfilling his dreams while others are basically just resting on their past achievements. "Nightmare" continues in the same vein of going after his calling. He basically uses the failures (or nightmares) as motivation to keep moving forward.
Whenever J. Givens is featured on a song, my excitement level shoots up because he is such a clever lyricist. He doesn't disappoint on "Better Day," and it is cool how he fades his bars in towards the end of B. Coop's bars. Dirty Rice's production is simple, with more a chill drum beat coupled with Joseph Prielozny's slight strumming of the guitar. This is a song of encouragement when life gets you down.
On "1994" Foure's voice gets a pitch change (think DJ. Screw without the slowed down track) on his first verse and he also sings the hook. B. Coop then hits on how he fell in love with hip hop and how he gets his start as an emcee. B. Cooper's love for R&B laced hooks is very evident when listening to his albums. Listen to how Steve Means adds his butter vocals to go along with Corey Paul's passionate flow on the chilled out "1 Love."
Closing Thoughts:
B. Cooper shows that he will go after what he is called to do and he will not be one to look back with the regret of "I should have" or "What if I had done…". "While The City Sleeps" is a blazing autobiographical look into his life and it will surely challenge others to not allow their dreams to lay dormant.
Song to Download Now:
"1 Love" (Get it on iTunes here.) View All Music And Book Reviews By DwayneLacy_NRT | View DwayneLacy_NRT's Profile
|
