DJ Official – Entermission

DJ Official
Entermission
Reach Records 2010
www.reachrecords.com

“My mission is to find him and introduce him to saving grace…I grab my Bible and iPod and leave the house.”

This line, from J.A.Z. and Magellan’s “Streets of New York,” is an apt description of the 21st century missionary. To save the errant who run today’s mean streets, one must be fluent body and soul in the most contemporary ways, means and styles. No coward soldiers here.

“Streets of New York” is one of eighteen selections from Entermission, a various artists project released last December by DJ Official. Entermission features a team of Christian hip hop missionaries who bring salvation to the lost (i.e., enter-mission). Like God’s posse, they take to the highways and byways, “spit the truth,” and lure the wayward with rhythm and rhyme. Their view of mission work is not something one does only on Thanksgiving and Christmas but 24/7.

The 24 Christian hip hop artists on Entermission wear their ministry on their sleeve, and sometimes also as clothing and tattoos – “shirt to the shoes, everything for Jehovah” – as Lecrae and Flame explain on “Show Off,” the album’s current single. Artists participating on the project include Lecrae, K-Drama, Sho Baraka, Tedashii, Cam, Stephen the Levite, and Json. They work alone or in groups and, with DJ Official serving as MC, present their “straight outta church” messages that, as the introduction professes, “make Christ known in our daily lives.”

Of special note is JR and Lecrae’s “Without You,” a melodic track that eschews rapid fire rhyme for melodic but muscular power pop. Similarly, Cam’s “Forward Me” veers toward more mainstream urban gospel. Meanwhile, H.G.A. and Tedashii’s “Go” demonstrate an impressive roll of rhymes that move along at Mach Two.

As is commonplace in Christian hip hop, split seconds of humor break the intensity of the rhymes, especially in the use of modern day references as metaphors. Those who enjoy Christian hip hop will already know most, if not all of the participants, and those who haven’t given the style a shot can use Entermission as a way to get some education.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “Without You,” “Show Off.”

Review by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.