Reviewed by Steve Hayes

Tesas rapper Litarodi has a passion for gospel hip-hop, forged out of the events and heartaches in his life. His rapping career has been both outside of and now within gospel hip-hop. His message is one of faith, perseverance and that God can reach into any broken life to bring restoration ("March When You Step"). "Oh My" opens up the album with a minimalist dirty south roller as Litarodi confesses Jesus makes him feel sky high. Standout tracks include "I'm A Believer" as the rapper mixes flows in three distinct verses over a grooving backing, "I'm a believer, I'm an achiever, I'm a survivor, a rider, a dreamer." We delve deep into Litarodi's life and history in "The Interview" over a rolling break and guitar lick. He demonstrates his lyrical skills in the excellent "Shake Loose" that looks at the tongue, "The Bible says whatever makes you sin, cut it out." In "Eres Lo Mejor", Litarodi mixes up his English and Spanish vocals that helped him to Best Up And Coming Latin Rapper In Texas Award in 2005. There's a powerful declaration of the truth of Christ the warrior, declaring "You can take my life, can't take my soul, so pick up your soul, it's time for war." Showing his softer side, we end with "Make The World Change", a downtempo smoothy - "What the world needs is Jesus" reminding us that we are the ones who are going to change the world, through Jesus in us.

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.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.