Astounding Faith Found in Rough Waters Posted February 22, 2024 By JoshuaGalla_NRT, Staff Reviewer
What You Need to Know Hip-hop artist Steven Malcolm’s relative, powerful messages and lyrics push toward redemption derived from his own life experiences. Raised in western Michigan and coastal Florida, Malcolm has always searched heavily for stability. His father, who immigrated from Montego Bay in Jamaica, was deported back to his homeland shortly after Malcolm’s ninth birthday. Also, his father passed away before the two could reunite.
Malcolm’s mother struggled immensely as a single mother and left his side while attending college. His young life lacked direction and foundation until he accepted a friend’s church invitation, which incorporated hip-hop, dance, and worship. Edge Urban Fellowship in Grand Rapids, Michigan, changed Malcolm’s life. His home church provided the first sense of community Malcolm had ever experienced. The church helped birth Malcolm’s passion to create music with a divine purpose. After garnering underground success, Malcolm signed with 4 Against 5, an imprint of Curb/Word Entertainment.
Malcolm has released his fourth studio album, BOATS (Based on a True Story). He shares, “BOATS will take listeners on a journey to Away, an oasis built for the chosen and run by the redeemed. Imagine a place where you become what you’ve longed to become. A place where your gifts pave the way. A place where the beauty reflects the ones who protect it. The foundation is held together by the stories of the broken. Welcome to Away.”
His 2022 album, Tree, detailed his musical legacy and the importance of family, especially fatherhood. The album was nominated for a Dove Award, marking Malcolm’s seventh nomination. Malcolm’s catalog has amassed over 70 million streams throughout his seven-year career in Cristian hip-hop. Being his most personal and introspective project yet, BOATS sets sail to shatter records in the coming months.
What It Sounds Like Above all, Malcolm is a dynamic, spirited storyteller. His art incorporates an eclectic range of creative influence and musical styling. The music reverberates like a Sunday morning sermon smothered in Bible truths, yet with the energy of a weekend joy ride. The handful of times Malcolm and I have spoken, we joke how his phenomenal wordplay, cadence, and overall skill are widely overlooked as lyricism takes a back seat to production-led sound genius. Speaking of beats and production, producers Dayme and Scootie handcrafted an immaculate collection of sonic beauty throughout.
A few favorite tracks include “Ten On Eleven,” “Story Of A Rider,” and the latest single, “Nothing Into Something.” However, throughout the 16-track collection, Malcolm provided enough variety to please the masses, whether reggae, hip-hop, soul, or a combination of several genres. Like a boat needs to remain steady and afloat, balance is an echoing theme of the album. Malcolm has a handful of straight bangers, a collection of slow-paced “thinkers,” and another bucket incorporating harmony between the two tempos.
Thankfully, the overall soundscape is abundant in contributions. It’s not restricted to solely trap, boom-bap, or drill-based deliveries. Listeners will hear live instrumentation, melodies, and Caribbean flavor seasoned with many pounding bass.
Spiritual Highlights Malcolm’s faith has never been excluded from his music. His personal testimony, struggles, trials, victories, and everything in between have been laid out within the content. Malcolm attributes such transparency to bridging other listeners to hope who may share the same mountains and valleys.
From the first track, “Truth Story,” Malcolm holds little back. It represents a worship song through rhymes as he details how good God has been to him and his family. In “40,” he explains how Jesus was tested for 40 days and nights and can relate to Christ's own walk. The last track, “Not Alone,” returns to the worship vibe, detailing how God is there regardless of the struggle or situation, as believers are never to feel alone. His presence is never void.
Best Song My favorite track from BOATS may surprise a few. It’s one of the deeper cuts. “Paper Plane” gains my attention as a standout from the rest. At first, I thought it would remain a chill reggae-infused sleeper as the track starts with spicy Caribbean sauce. Malcolm rapidly transitions into "GO" mode and spits out intense verses that reflect his growth as an artist, husband, and new father, much like how the wind can alter the course of a handmade paper airplane. Like how Malcolm finds a way to fine-tune his emcee skills with every project, the song highlights what God did and continues to accomplish daily through faithfulness. The change in tempos, cadence, and overall flow is pristine. This one will remain on blast (and repeat) for months.
Final Word Growth remains a constant reminder throughout Malcolm's catalog. He pulls everything collectively to the forefront, recapping his life experiences smothered in the guidance, love, protection, and direction of our God, Lord Almighty. Hence, the acronym for the minorest project is “Based On A True Story.”
Malcolm hints at all facets of life, the good, bad, and ugly, and how God impacted each. Sonically, the album embraced near-perfect status. Content travels through transparency over the open waters through storms, sunsets, still waters, and the calmness of it all. Hopefully, listeners will finally be attuned to Malcolm’s lyrical prowess as his wordplay aligns with a few others sticking atop most. Enjoy Malcolm’s gift of an inward presentation of the Christian life and what God’s capable of if trusted in His mighty hands only.
