Reviewed by Andrew Midgley

TMG stands for Thoughts, Music, and God. The thoughts on offer here vary from musings on the right ambitions for a Christian to have ("Ambitions" ftg Dorcas, "Ambitions Version 2") to being unashamed for Christ a la Romans 1:16, to a rather more vague desire for unity - "My biggest dream is to unite all the people/My biggest wish is to see all people living equal", EBEST raps on "Fly With Me". In such fashion are Thoughts and God taken care of; the Music is rather more difficult to box in. "It's my second project . Thanks for downloading it . Um, yeah," EBEST tells us on opener "Before I Start", and this lack of experience seems to make its way into the musical arrangement of the LP. Many of the tunes are slow, and often the most memorable hooks are magpied from existing songs - which is of course fine providing something new is done with them. Sadly "Paradise & Oceans", a bizarre rap-parable about not rescuing someone from a shooting and then feeling guilty at their funeral, can't make up its mind how to use its illustrious benefactors - a secular/religious sample pairing (Coldplay and Kim Walker) in need of some conscious uncoupling here - and also features a tempo handbrake turn at its close that leaves one feeling both musically and narratively disoriented. There are a lot of Christian rappers touring schools and churches these days, and EBEST has a well-meaning streak to his rhymes that promises much in the way of connecting with young people. But while tales of broken relationships may resonate ("DWYT"), impenetrable acronyms checking the record company do not ("C4C or RFC") and the musical aptitude that finishes the album abruptly with neither a fade nor a full stop must improve.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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