Reviewed by Steve Hayes

Hostyle Gospel are a crew hailing from Illinois and their album cover gives you a feel of where they are coming from - with the guys dressed as troops raising up a cross, in a copy of the famous picture of US marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima in WW2. For Hostyle Gospel, the 'hostile' part is not in deed, but in the passion and delivery of their lyrics. The album moves across hip-hop territory through Midwest, east, west, old skool and beyond (for example the banger, "Christian VIP"). At times the flow appears much more indie like on "Thanks 4 Comin Out" which has has a slight old skool, funky feel production with a rip-roaring furious flow. "Move" has a '90s grooving beat as we're encouraged to move and let people know about Christ ("Come on people of faith, don't fake, just do. . ."). On the track, "Coming Back Again" we have a fast, often double-timing flow mixed with a more R&B chorus while there is a military hint to some tracks like the rolling snare on "Give It To Me Now" which mixes in some scratching (sadly a lost art on many projects today).

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