F1 Diamond – Pastor of the Traphouse

F1 Diamond
Pastor of the Traphouse
Cloud Ten Pictures (2009)
http://www.f1diamond.com/

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

On the opening and title track of his album Pastor of the Traphouse, Christian hip hop artist F1 Diamond (Radontae Ashford) declares that he’s not preaching to the choir:

“I ain’t stuck in church hollering bout no love talk/I’m down in the ghetto preaching where they crip and blood walk.”

That sets the tone and mood of the album, which stays pretty much on message throughout. F1 Diamond wears the moniker Pastor of the Traphouse proudly. For example, on “Pray for Me,” featuring FRO and Memphis’s Mr. Del, the trio conjures an image of evangelistic superheroes taking to the streets, saving souls and lives through rhythm, rhymes and straight talk. On the bonus track, “God Loves the ‘Hood,” F1 Diamond and B. Jackson lift up the ‘hood by rapping that “everybody from the ‘hood ain’t a thug” and “even the Lord we serve was from a ‘hood called Nazareth.”

In addition to street corner evangelizing, 21st century style, F1 Diamond also ponders the ultimate family reunion in the afterlife (“Heaven”) and love as a transformative power (“E.R.I.K.A.,” a charming rap ballad to his wife). Speaking of Erika, Mrs. F1 Diamond turns in lovely solos on “Believe,” a track which alternates between her sweet voice of reason and her husband’s soundscape of rap and complex beats, together aurally depicting the conflicted soul.

The album’s most compelling tracks are the haunting “Mama’s Cry” and “Finally,” the latter sporting a melodic chorus courtesy of Dave Hollister. Hollister and F1 Diamond pair up twice on Pastor of the Traphouse. They work so well together they should team up more often.

F1 Diamond’s beats alternate between minimalistic and gothic, the latter courtesy of Enigma, but it’s the passionate delivery of rhymes that sells the album.

Four of Five Stars

Picks: “Mama’s Cry,” “Finally.”