Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Elias Wallace, who hails from Colton, California, weighs in with an erratic debut. The opener "Everything" sounds like an unconvincing experiment of an acoustic singer/songwriter trying to rap. But when Elias moves on to tougher street sounds like "Fair And Balanced" and "Last Night" he's not without appeal, exuding a West Coast swagger. The problem is Elias' raps are rhythmically unadventurous so even when he's got a phat rhythm and a message of spiritual rebirth the emcee seldom truly engages the listener. I know Elias' work with the Scribbling Idiots collective and his appearances on several albums by other emcees such as Luke Geraty have built Elias' reputation on the hip-hop underground. But I still feel his best work is ahead of him.

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