Reviewed by Tony Cummings

It took Christians a long time to sus that hip-hop was a genre seemingly God-sent for the bold evangelical proclaimers. But now that the penny has finally hit the sidewalk there has been a veritable surge of US Christian rappers. This compilation, culled from a number of sources, is an excellent intro and though there's nothing quite to match the rapid-mouth polemic of Public Enemy or the lugubrious wit of the Fat Boys there's also thankfully nothing as dated and stylized as that early gospel rap pioneer Michael Peace. Hardest jams of all are by P.I.D. (otherwise known as Preachers In Disguise). These guys are tough and both "Get You A Bible" and "Don't Bow" are street sound gospel rap as good as they come. Also surprisingly effective are the wonderfully named Rap Sure's (surprising considering they started off as a jokey rap project for kids) conceived by DA's Terry Taylor and Stephen Wiley (whose raps are obvious but who has particularly funky tracks over which to let loose). You even get a couple of Rap Sure's tracks at the end to practice your own efforts to. Check it.

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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