Reviewed by Kevin J Foulger

This inspired debut album from the American rapper Spec is truly groundbreaking. Real life subjects are perfectly delivered by the lyrical Spec and are accompanied by sweet melodic strings, piano and entertaining drum loops. The varied styles of music go from the fast drum driven "Forgive You!?" and the epic "Indi.pen.dance", to the soulful worship in "Embrace Me", through to the dance beats of "True Freestyle". The CD seems like a journey going from an anti-negative to pro-positive view, raw earthy life to salvation in Christ. Spec has teamed up with an equally talented crew of guests which includes a Spanish speaking rapper. Amusing characters appear in some places to give it a bit of a feel good factor, but don't spoil the seriousness of the album. A couple of the 18 tracks are quite short and some seem slightly louder in volume than others. The CD runs for just under an hour. It's fresh, evangelistic and Biblical. This is a culturally relevant album, especially if you're into the hip-hop scene and a real treat if you enjoy this style of music.

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