Young Chozen
Class President
90k Watts (2012)
http://www.youngchozen.com/
By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.
On his full-length debut, Class President, Young Chozen describes the Heavenly Father as both “daddy” and “king.” So, he argues, if his father is the king, naturally he’s “the new Fresh Prince.”
The early playground rhythms and rhymes of Fresh Prince (Will Smith) are what come to mind when listening to the twenty-one year-old Young Chozen. With minimal but percussive beats, he aims his message at the adolescent set, even setting Class President, appropriately, in a school.
In the opening selection and title track, which sets up the album’s premise—a campaign for class president—Young Chozen proclaims that his platform is not just to change the school but to also change the world. His slogan is “Have Fun, Love God, Be Cool.” His rival, the tiresome-voiced Lucy Ferraro, is a blasé conformist without an original idea or cool quotient. Guess who’s going to win?
We learn more about Young Chozen through his rhymes. He had a challenging early life but left his past behind to embrace a more spiritual future (“I’m Gone,” one of the two melodic selections on the album). Time and again, the gospel rapper says he’s really nobody special. In “La La La Love,” he even describes his car as nothing special, dented up (as opposed to the rap world’s penchant for expensive autos), but he doesn’t care because it’s used to save souls.
At the same time, he addresses the haters who see his fashion and think they know him, but “He is my passion” (“Think You Know Me”). Young Chozen adds that he uses rap not “to be a rap singer” but for soul seeking (“Here I Come”). In fact, God can just plug him in and he is electrified for evangelization (“Stereo,” the other melodic track).
With Class President, Young Chozen makes it plain to young people that it is cool to love God openly and raise the roof, as long as it’s a Jesus party. There are enough infectious beats here to start one.
Three of Five Stars
Picks: “I’m Gone,” “Here I Come.”
Young Chozen
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