Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Apart from raising my daughter suitably irritated from her bed (it was 5am, the speakers are directly below her bedroom and the mix of "Are Ya'll Ready" by the Platinum Souls is particularly bass-heavy), nothing really connected with me on the first few tracks of this recorded live set celebrating the pioneering Christian hip-hop Fla.vor Fest. But bit by bit the best cuts began to hit home. The sheer, unrelenting hectoring power of "Chaos" by R-Swift And The Street Sweepers raised me from my sleepy lethargy, while the wonderful Elle Roc, surely Christendom's most gifted female rapper since MC GeGee hung up her mic, was her usual electrifying self. And the closers by Pettidee, 4th Avenue Jones (hey, I thought they were unhappy with the hip-hop label) and old skool favourites I.D.O.L. King all had their moments. There's always a difficulty in recording hip-hop live, the backing tracks never seem properly integrated with the raps. But as a snapshot of a truly pioneering event this is a pretty useful album - and I don't just mean for awaking a sleeping household.

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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