The Meltdown 2.72

Hip-Hop vs Hardcore! Round 4!

Derek Minor - Empire

Music is subjective. It's what makes talking about music so much fun. What one person thinks is the greatest record ever, someone else will think is complete garbage. And that extends to people who listen to music in the same genre, as well as to those with different tastes in music. The conversations about what is great and what isn't could go on forever and no matter how much two people, at some point they will disagree.

Which brings us to Empire. I've read some cliff notes reviews that were all hype about Derek Minor's new record. "2015's first gem" and "great" were terms used to describe Empire. But I just don't see that...

To be fair to Derek Minor, I didn't like Lecrae at first either. It took a couple of records. But with the hype surrounding Empire, I thought for sure I'd love it! Reach Records had been on a roll. But much like Minor's previous release, Minorville, I'm a little ho-hum on Empire.

On Minorville, I loved Gimme. It had a great hook and felt fresh. But there wasn't a whole lot else on that record that I connected with. On Empire, I love the title track! It's a real standout. And thankfully, it's not the only track that I dig on Empire. But Empire is definitely my favorite track. It's the Gimme of Empire.

The beat on Kingdom Come is fresh. It has a great vibe that reminds me of Busta Rhymes and Nas. Slow Down took a couple of listens, and I still don't care for the hook, but the verses hit hard and even though it feels like a trap song, there's something about the rhyming style that I find myself enjoying. Stranger is the song Minor wrote in response to Ferguson and NY and touches on racism in the church. It's the kind of impassioned lyrics that I wish I was hearing more of from Derek Minor. There's pain and anger behind the words and delivery and it makes the song compelling in a way that I don't hear throughout Empire. Minor's delivery on Save Me is straight vicious and violent and I love it! But the song as a whole just doesn't grab me. It's like I wish the beat or hook was different. The laid back vibe of Oceans is nice and I like the guitar flourishes.

I like the Empire reaches out and has collaborations you might not expect. Guest appearances from Anthony Evans, Colton Dixon, Move Aside add to the usual Reach characters like Lecrae and Tedashii.

It's not that Empire is a bad record. It's just not my taste in hip-hop. I like it more than Minorville, so the needles moving in the right direction. It just goes to show you, you never know what you might or might not like. No matter what anybody else says.

3.5 out of 5 Stars

Humble Beast Introduces Left Roasters

Hip-hp label Humble Beast Records is getting into the coffee game. Read their statement below.

We love coffee a lot...so we decided to start making it ourselves. That might seem like a cruel joke allowing your imagination to run wild, bringing you to the edge of hope before the disappointing realization left you with "If-only"s and "What-if"s. Well, this is no joke friends. We're making coffee. Humble Beast proudly presents to you Left Roasters or simply, Left. You may be confused. Why is a hip-hop label diving into the coffee game? What does coffee have to do with music? Why spend so much time and energy developing an entirely different brand that has nothing to do with hip-hop? Let us give you just two reasons. Keep reading below.

Reason #1: Beauty and Excellence We know that God is good. That might seem obvious or even cliché, but think about the implications of that. Every awe-inspiring sunset, every emotional harmony, every tearful embrace, every steaming cup of delicious coffee were created and given to us by a God who deems these things good and beautiful. We believe that seeing the beauty that God intends for us to see in His creation only leads to a deeper and more intimate understanding of our great God and King. Seeing beauty glorifies God. In this way, a delicious cup of coffee glorifies God in and of itself. Just creating coffee does not suffice though. We want to do it excellently. We do everything that we possibly can to give you guys our best when it comes to the music. Long hours, weekends, sleepless nights, and an undying passion to hone and study our crafts ensure that you guys receive the best of our efforts. Just as our great God and King sacrificed everything for his people, we too want to model self-sacrifice in our pursuit of excellence. This holds true for our coffee. We have worked to study the art and science of roasting. We have brought an expert roaster, Samuel Nagel onto the team to ensure a high-quality bean. If we are going to make coffee, we want nothing else than the best cup possible. Excellence glorifies God.

Reason #2: Because it sustains our ministry. We thought that this was an incredible opportunity for folks to support us. As a music label who has decided to forego selling our music for the sake of the Gospel more easily going forth, we are always looking for ways in which you guys can support us financially. Up until now, buying merchandise or paying for music were the only ways you guys could help us out. We feel that roasting and selling coffee is a tangible and beneficial way for our supporters to help provide sustainability for the ongoing ministry of Humble Beast. Watch the video above to listen to Propaganda tell the story. watch now

The Gist To sum it up, we have decided to take our passions for God's good gift of coffee and excellence and turn it into a way that you guys can support us to make sure Humble Beast can keep making great music.  You can order coffee from Left Roasters at http://www.leftroasters.com

Propaganda - Crimson Cord

It's no secret that I think Humble Beast is the top of the Christian hip-hop food chain. Each release stabilizes and cements the labels place to go for real, quality hip-hop. Propaganda's Crimson Cord is another gem in a stacked discography.

I was in love with Prop's collaboration album with Odd Thomas (Art Ambidextrous) and I was so excited for Excellent... But Excellent was underwhelming. I liked a lot of things about the album, but it just didn't hit me as this great piece of work the same way Art Ambidextrous did. Yet I was still excited for Crimson Cord. Something felt different in it's release. There was an air of expectancy surrounding it, and that translated to me being excited for the album.

There was a passion and an intensity about Art Ambidextrous that just seemed lacking on Excellent. But it's back on Crimson Cord. From the start, the album's spoken word opener, You Mock Me, is vicious and painful, powerful and honest. There's an overcoming that's been birthed in pain that shines through the track. Which carries right into the album's title track. The beat isn't complicated and almost hidden in the background as Prop spits vicious verse after vicious verse. There's a subtle change in tone as the hook hits. It's not catchy like a pop song, but the theme and repetitive nature of the hook will stick in your ears.

Daywalkers is a bouncy upbeat song that features Lecrae. And when I say upbeat, I mean in tone and for the record. Because there's a bitterness on all of the tracks on Crimson Cord. Musically the song is upbeat and redemptive. Make has a 90's vibe that's extremely compelling and draws you in to what Prop is saying on the track. Bored Of Education is one of those angry, political, change needs to happen songs that I loved so much about Art Ambidextrous.

The hope in the pain within songs like I Ain't Gave Up On You Yet, Framed Stretch Marks, and Three Cord Bond make you trap for the lyrics to see what Prop is trying to convey. You can hear raw honest pain. Not always a pain in that life has gone wrong for him, but a pain that people don't always see there beauty. Songs like those, plus the honest questioning in tracks like How Did We Get Here are what make Crimson Cord such an interesting a compelling listen.

Tell Me Yours closes out the record. It's Prop's story. Everything from his salvation to his love for hip-hop and dealing with racism. It's his thank you to all the people who shaped him into who he is today. It's a beautiful way to close the record.

Crimson Cord is a powerful record. Lyrically heavy, but it;s beautiful and the honesty in Propaganda's lyrics are compelling to the listener. Musically interesting, at time old school, and overall Crimson Cord is a masterpiece.

You can download Crimson Cord at http://www.humblebeast.com/downloads/propaganda-crimson-cord/