Let’s Worship – Elohin

Elohin
Let’s Worship
CF Entertainment (release date: May 19, 2024)

By Robert M. Marovich

The URL of Elohin’s website spells out the phrase “not your average rapper,” and that’s about right. He demonstrates his differentness on the eight-song album Let’s Worship.

Born and raised in Detroit, Lon Harris, aka Elohin (pronounced EL-oh-in) is a strong singer, a rapid-fire rhymer, and an earnest evangelist. His penetrating beats incorporate contemporary hip hop elements such as samples and sped-up voices. But rather than falling into a groove as so many Christian hip hop projects tend to do, Elohin mixes things up while staying true to the album’s core messages of praise, worship, and the need for personal and communal authenticity.

These various components are demonstrated on “Goodness,” which incorporates a small gospel group, though auto-tune has been added to Elohin’s voice and he doesn’t need it. An atmospheric introduction on “Breathe” morphs into a club-ready beat as Elohin raps about rekindling his innocence and using his newfound authenticity to preach to the people.

“I Will Lift (Spontaneous)” has an altar call vibe, as Elohin invites listeners to ask God for the healing they need. If the invitation is spontaneous, the arrangement is surely not. On “Bow Down,” Elohin offers his most ardent argument for authenticity: that people tend to honor church culture instead of practice kingdom culture. “Denominational truth is not the same as Biblical truth,” he proclaims, “we need to let some things die.” It’s a courageous but compelling spoken word moment.

Features include Kelo and Amber Ramsey on “Convinced;” the exquisitely-voiced Ramsey appears again on “Holy of Holies,” the latter extending the ambient mysticism of “I Will Lift” on this piece, which is the brief album’s highpoint.

Let’s Worship is only about a half-hour long but it gives listeners plenty to consider.

Four of Five Stars

Picks: “I Will Lift (Spontaneous),” “Holy of Holies.”