10 Christian Hip Hop Albums You Should Own

This isn't a top ten. These are not necessarily the 10 best albums in Christian hop hop. This list doesn't even include albums from the top ten artists. Some of my favorite artists don't have albums on this list. (Though some of them make guest appearances.) But if you want to get acquainted with the genre I think this list is a great jumping off point. The list is arranged alphabetically by title.

Christology: In Layman's Terms
Ambassador

The debut solo album from one of the leaders of Cross Movement. No one does a better job than Ambassador of explicitly bringing the gospel with each and every line while never sacrificing the quality of his music. He somehow manages to preach without sounding preachy.

Gang Affiliated
Gospel Gangstaz

At a time when there wasn't a much quality in Christian hip hop, this collection of former Bloods and Crips took the genre to a whole different level. This was probably the first Christian album that could hold its own in mainstream circles.

Grammatical Revolution
Grits

These former DC Talk dancers released their first album at roughly the same time as the Gospel Gangstaz and they brought a similar level of quality, albeit with quite a different style. Rather than the West Coast gangsta style, they followed in the footsteps of Outkast, bringing a smooth southern style to the Christian hip hop genre. You can't go wrong with any of their albums, but I went with their third album, Grammatical Revolution, because I felt it was the most interesting, musically.

Hawthorne's Most Wanted
RedCloud

Clearly one of the most gifted emcees in Christian hip hop, RedCloud brings a unique style to the genre. Once again, you can't go wrong with any of his albums, but Hawthorne's Most Wanted seems to be his most polished offering.

PB&J
The Remnant

This is the newest album and least known group on this list. They're also, in my humble opinion, the most gifted emcees here.

Phase III
SFC

If you really want to know about Christian hip hop and where it's come from, you should listen to this album. SFC were best of the pre-Gospel Gangstaz era. Not only that, but they provided a link to the new era of Christian hop hop with DJ Dove as the DJ for both groups. The Gospel Gangstaz actually make an appearance on this album as well.

Pro Pain
Mars Ill

Leading members of Deep Space 5, Manchild and DJ Dust have delivered a number of top notch albums. After hearing one, you're going to want to hear all of them. And while this isn't their first album, it's a great place to start.

Stereo: The Evolution of Hiprocksoul
4th Avenue Jones

As the subtitle of suggests, this is definitely the most experimental album on this list. Not just rappers, 4th Avenue Jones is a full band, complete with guitars, bass, drums, and even a violin. Smooth vocals, interesting sounds, and flawless emceeing. You won't be disappointed by this album.

The Last Street Preacha
T-Bone

Like Grits, Tunnel Rats, and the Gospel Gangstaz, T-Bone has been around since at least the early 1990's helping to elevate the quality of the genre. The Last Street Preacha delivers a polished West Coast sound that you can't help but love.

The Tunnel Rats
The Tunnel Rats

Far from their first, I believe the self-titled album is the Tunnel Rats' best. A large crew including LPG, New Breed, Raphi, Dokument and more, the Tunnel Rats are hip hop veterans who definitely don't sacrifice quality in their craft.

Labyrinth on Crack

Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale

Holly Black

Official Website

Language, Violence

Tithe was the first book by Holly Black that I ever read. She hooked me early. She just has a knack for creating characters and settings that are gritty and real. And so, several years after reading it for the first time, I decided to pick up Tithe again. That's kind of a big deal for me. I simply don't re-read books. But this one is worth it. As are the two companion novels, Valiant and Ironside, the Curse Workers trilogy, and anything else Holly Black has ever written.

As the subtitle suggests, Tithe is "a modern fairy tale". Set in a coastal New Jersey town, the story follows Kaye Fierch, a teenager who lives a transient life with her mother, a talented but largely unsuccessful singer. When her mother's boyfriend suddenly turns violent, Kaye and her mother must move back to New Jersey to live with Kaye's grandmother.

Kaye's childhood is abnormal, to say the least. But she has secrets far stranger than being the teenage dropout daughter of a wanna be chick rock star. Kaye sees things. Strange things. And while many children have invisible friends only they can see, Kaye's friends aren't imaginary. You could see them too, if they wanted you to. They don't generally want to be seen, at least not as they really are. So Kaye is a bit of an anomaly. And not just because she can see things others can't. She can also do things others can't. Or at least strange things happen around her.

Angelfall Soundtrack

I finally compiled another book soundtrack. This one if for Angelfall by Susan Eee

Armageddon has never been so entertaining!

Angelfall

Susan Ee

Website

Violence, Frightening Content

The world may be ending, but thank God this story isn't! Susan Ee's debut young adult novel, Angelfall, sets the stage for a new series which adds an interesting twist to the post-apocalyptic genre. Angels have descended to Earth with the apparent intention of destroying humanity. They've certainly succeeded in wiping out most vestiges of human civilization.

The story follows Penryn Young, who has been thrust into the role of protecting her wheelchair-bound younger sister, Paige, and their schizophrenic mother. She has to move them from abandoned building to abandoned building, staying one step ahead of the street gangs in Silicon Valley, while also keeping them safe from whatever makes the gangs stay inside at night.

One day, while moving from one hopefully safe house to another, they stumble upon a group of angels attacking one of their own, cutting off his wings. In an attempt to create a diversion, Penryn enters the fray, tossing the wingless warrior his sword. He is able to fight off his attackers, but one of them kidnaps Penryn's sister as he flies away.

Penryn nurses the angel back to health so that she can use him to find her sister. The rest of the story follows the two as they make their way to the angels base in San Francisco. Along the way they encounter street gangs, armed human resistance fighters, and something more frightening than warriors of either species.

Veronica Roth's Faction = ENGROSSING

Divergent

Veronica Roth

Official Website

Excerpt
Audio Excerpt

 violence

I hate to admit it, but I was way behind the curve on this one! Divergent has been out well over a year. The sequel (Insurgent, which I have yet to get my hands on) has been out for months. And I just got around to reading it? And I'm all about the dystopian novels! I loved The Hunger Games (I also just last week watched that movie for the first time!) Legend, by Marie Lu, was a good read. Going all the way back to Brave New World and 1984, I just love dystopian stories! So it's a little difficult for me to admit that it's taken me this long to wade into the dried up marshland of Lake Michigan in Veronica Roth's futuristic Chicago. But I stepped in, I realized that Roth's landscape was more like quicksand, pulling me deeper and deeper into her imagination.

Like most dystopian stories, the world has suffered from some devastating event or string of events and the survivors have devised a plan to restructure society in an attempt to avoid the sort of wars and violence that brought them to the brink of destruction. In Divergent, Beatrice Prior has grown up in a society that has ordered itself according to five certain virtues, with each virtue being represented by a faction of people: Abnegation (selflessness), Dauntless (bravery), Amity (peace), Erudite (intellectual curiosity), and Candor (truth). It's somewhat reminiscent of The Giver by Lois Lowry, with children being sorted into the different factions which will come to dominate their lives, especially should they join factions other than those of their families. "Faction before blood" after all! Of course which faction a person joins is completely voluntary, but even after that choice is made, the person must complete their faction's initiation and be installed as members. Otherwise, they will be doomed to live on the streets among the other factionless, only surviving because of the kindness of the Abnegation.

172 Years Reading This Book

172 Hours on the Moon
Joan Harstad
Official Website
Excerpt

 Language, Frightening Situations

I heard a representative of the publisher of 172 Hours on the Moon tell about how terrifying it is. After reading the book, I now understand that she was terrified because it is her responsibility to promote it. Johan Harstad's book centers around three teenagers who are chosen via worldwide lottery to take part in NASA's first trip back to the moon in 40 years. Mia, from Norway, only agrees to go because she wants to create publicity for her band. Midori plans to use the mission as her chance to leave Japan for good and settle in the U.S. Antoine just wants to put as much distance as possible between he and his ex-girlfriend.

In the chapters before the launch, Harstad gives indications that the mission won't go as smoothly as planned. Something spooky happened on the last mission, scary enough to keep NASA away from the moon for a few decades. Unfortunately, the book does not follow through on the promised suspense. First of all, this is supposed to be a book about scary stuff happening on the moon, but the characters don't even leave earth until half way through the book. Harstad used too many pages trying to set the scene and build up the characters and he wasn't even successful doing that. None of the teens are particularly sympathetic and the adults are completely unrealistic.

Flat characters would be fine if the suspense and action were able to carry the day. But that just didn't happen in this case. Even after they reached the moon and some freaky stuff started happening, there was just too little action. The events that did occur were generally unrealistic or insufficiently depicted. Overall, 172 Hours on the Moon is just a poorly written book. It seemed to me more like 172 Years Reading This Book. If it weren't for the fact that I was planning to review this book for the blog, I would have stopped long before the liftoff!

Crossbow toting assassin nuns? Yes please!

Grave Mercy
Robin LeFevers
Official Website
Excerpt

 Violence, Adult Situations

I was pleasantly surprised by Grave Mercy. And considering the fact that I had been eagerly anticipating this book for months, that's no easy feat! I fully expected it to be an entertaining story, it just wasn't exactly the story I was expecting. Set in medieval  Brittany - which is now part of France, but was then a duchy fighting to maintain its independence - Grave Mercy is the first installment of Robin LaFevers' His Fair Assassin series. Told in first person, the book centers around Ismae, who flees a brutal arranged marriage and is raised in a convent. But she didn't get your usual Catholic school education. The nuns at the convent of St. Mortain didn't whack people on the knuckles with rulers. Think battle axes instead!

Actually they'd lean toward subtler weapons: knives, daggers, garottes, crossbows, poisons. The convent of St. Mortain raised assassins. Not your typical convent, but then Mortain wasn't your typical Catholic saint. He was the Breton god of death, dressed up in Catholic robes to appease the Church, which didn't look too kindly on local pagan deities. Ismae was marked from birth as belonging to Mortain and the convent trained her to do his will.

Crossbow toting assassin nuns? Yes please!

You can see why I would be so excited to read this book. I was all geared up for an 549 pages of bloody action! Maybe the page count should have tipped me off that I'd be in for something a little different. What starts out as a medieval version of Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series - minus the boy troubles and with far less comedy - quickly turns into a story of aristocratic intrigue and court politics as Ismae leaves the convent in order to protect the adolescent duchess of Brittany from scheming advisers and backstabbing barons. I've got no problem with that! I happen to love history and politics. I found it very interesting learning about medieval Brittany and its struggle to maintain independence from France, especially since LaFevers faithfully carried over most of the people and events from the documented annuls of history. (Read the author's note for more on the subject of historical accuracy.)

Lady Luck Has a Black Heart

Badass, Katana-wielding Vampire Heroine!

The Immortal Rules
Author: Julie Kagawa

Official Website
Excerpt

 Violence, Language

I have yet to read the immensely popular Iron Fey series, so The Immortal Rules was my introduction to the work of Julie Kagawa. Based on the first installment of this action filled vampire series, I need to further acquaint myself with the writing of one of the Young Adult world's brightest stars.

Set a few generations in the future, the Blood of Eden series centers around Allison Sekemoto, an unregistered scavenger living in a vampire controlled city were she must beg, borrow, and steal just to survive. During a foraging mission outside the safety of the city's walls, she and her gang are attacked by a swarm of rabids - creatures which were once human but are now mindless almost vampires. Think of the rage-consumed zombie-esque monsters from the film 28 Days Later, but with vampire strength, fangs, and sensitivity to sunlight. The monsters kill her friends and are about to finish her off when she's rescued by a dark stranger who offers her a choice. She can either die of her wounds or become what she hates most. I'll let you guess which she chooses, but just remember if she went with "A" then this would a shorter, much less interesting story.

So that's the background, now for my thoughts and ramblings. I have to admit that it took me a little while to get into this story. But once Kagawa was able to fully sink her fangs into me, she just wouldn't let go. I couldn't explain why until I finished the book and began analyzing it for this review. It turns out that I didn't find Allie all that likeable. I didn't completely dislike her like I did Ember Morris from Kristen Simmons' Article 5. (Read that review here). And it's not like she went off the deep end for 300 pages when her vampire boyfriend she's known for two seconds abandons her to the cliff-jumping werewolves in order to keep her safe. So I didn't hate Allie, I just didn't really like her. That is, until she became a badass, katana-wielding, rabid-slaying vampire. Allison Sekemoto's character was a little reminiscent of the character Selene (played by Kate Bekinsale) from the movie Underworld.

I Hunt Killer Stories!

I Hunt Killers

Author: Barry Lyga

Official Website

Preview (10 Chapters) & Short Prequel

Violence, Gore, Language, Adult Situations

And finding Barry Lyga's book was one of the most satisfying ends to a hunt I've ever experienced! I knew from the start that I was on the trail of something really good. Finding a story about a guy whose father is a notorious serial killer (over 100 murders) who raised him to follow in daddy's bloody footprints made me feel like a lion catching the scent of a particularly juicy gazelle. And with each masterfully written page I could feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins.

I love the concept for I Hunt Killers. It's somewhat reminiscent of the TV show Dexter, what with a kid being taught from an early age the best methods of brutally murdering a person without getting caught. In both cases, the protagonist struggles mightily against the monster within them. Barry Lyga did a fantastic job of keeping me in suspense about whether or not Jasper "Jazz" Dent would be able to keep his own demon at bay. He made me feel Jazz' agony about the horrors he had seen as well as the paralyzing fear of what he might become as a result.

As far as Jazz' father, Billy Dent is one of the more terrifying characters I've encountered, even if he is largely absent, appearing mainly in dreams, flashbacks, and discussion of his past crimes. The other primary characters, Sheriff G. William Tanner, friends Howie and Connie, The Impressionist, and Gramma are all well rounded, realistic characters who add depth to the story of Jazz' struggles to hunt down a serial killer and avoid becoming one himself. Lyga also includes enough potentially shady secondary characters to keep you guessing about the true identity of the latest monster to unleash a reign of terror on the small town of Lobo's Nod.

Realistic details of crime scene investigation and human physiology add even more realism to this dark tale which is part murder mystery, part psychological thriller, and all around great read. I would just like to include this one reader's advisory: Reading this book is likely to cause you a lot of sleepless nights, either through fear of nightmares involving serial killer Billy Dent or Christmas Eve style anticipation of the sequel which Santa Lyga currently has scheduled to deliver through your chimney in Spring 2013.

Hunger Games meets Zombieland...but with Vampires!

The Hunt 

Author: Andrew Fukuda

Websites: Official Website for Book
                   Excerpt

                   http://andrewfukuda.com/

Violence, Gore

Survival Rule #1: Don't do anything to stand out. 
Oh well, nice try Andrew Fukuda, but I'm afraid you blew it on the very first rule! Now that Mr. Fukuda has made the mistake of distinguishing himself through his excellent writing, dangerously drawing vampire attention to himself, I'll continue sharing the survival rules with the rest of the class.

Rule #2: Read The Hunt, by the aforementioned Andrew Fukuda!

The Hunt is the second vampire book I've read that doesn't actually use the word "vampire". (The other one is Peeps by Scott Westerfeld.) And both are among my short list for tops in the genre. Though, aside from the existence of blood suckers, neither book shares much in common with say, Twilight. The Hunt really is more like the movie Zombieland - the world is overrun with the undead and almost no humans remain. The human protagonist shares his rules for surviving in such a deadly world. In this case, he has to try to blend in and pretend that he is actually just a regular vampire like everyone else. Like Zombieland, Fukuda's story maintains a sort of surreal lightheartedness in spite of the fact that death is literally just a sneeze away. (Click here for your "Real Vampires Don't Have Allergies" T-shirt!)

Almost all joking aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. And I don't want to give the wrong impression about the book's tone. There isn't a single moment when you forget that the protagonist is surrounded at all times by people who would rip him to shreds in two seconds if they knew what he was. Not when he's at swim practice with the blood suckers. Not even when he's playing spin the bottle and is forced to go into a closet and neck with the hottest girl in school who also happens to be a spawn of Dracula. He is always on guard and so was I when I was reading it. 

Reading Article 5 is NOT Mandatory

Article 5
Author: Kristen Simmons
http://www.kristensimmonsbooks.com/
Read Chapter 1

Some violence and adult situations

Synopsis:

After some undefined war, the United States has been taken over by an extreme religious right government and the Bill of Rights is replaced by the "Articles of Reformation". The new moral laws are enforced by the militaristic Federal Bureau of Reformation, known to the general public by the derogatory term Moral Militia. Ember Miller, a seventeen year old girl, is taken into custody as her mother is arrested for  violating Article 5 by conceiving a child outside of marriage. Among the unit sent to arrest them is Ember's childhood friend and first love, Chase Jennings. Ember is taken to a rehabilitation center run by the Sisters of Salvation, from which she plots her escape. Her only goal is to find and rescue her mother, and the entire story revolves around her attempts to do so and her now conflicted feelings for Chase.

Review: 
I couldn't wait to read this book. A tyrannical government is imposing its views of morality on the populace? A small band of resistors are fighting back while a young woman finds herself thrust into the middle of the fight for human liberty? Count me in! I just love me some dystopia!

Make that: I just love me some good dystopia! And that's where Article 5 loses me.

The concept is a good one. And considering the way our governments continue to shred our liberties and trample on our human rights, the topic is timely and important. But the execution just wasn't there. Simmons doesn't give enough detail to construct a real, tangible world. There wasn't enough action to make it a quality adventure story and some aspects of the story weren't quite believable.

Holly Black is a Curse Worker

Black Heart (The Curse Workers Book #3)

Author: Holly Black

Websites: http://thecurseworkers.com/

                   http://blackholly.com/

Some violence, language, 

sexual content, drinking

There is absolutely nothing that I dislike about Black Heart or the rest of the Curse Workers series! Holly Black is one of my favorite authors. She hooked me with the Tithe series and gave me no room to wiggle off the line with her current film-noir-mixed-with-some-paranormal crime drama.

****Alert: Since this a review for book three of a series, it contains spoilers for anyone who hasn't read White Cat and Red Glove. If you find yourself in that unenviable position, you need to immediately step away from your computer, use the fastest means of transportation available to you, and get yourself to a bookstore so you can begin reading what is sure to become one of your favorite series. (If you're new to Holly Black, then you've got even more catching up to do. Don't miss out on Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside!) 

Now back to the review. Cassel Sharpe is an eminently sympathetic character. He's a loyal friend/brother/son. He has a surprisingly strong sense of right and wrong, considering he was raised in a family of supernatural thieves and con artists. A family which lied to him and made him believe he was the black sheep without the power to alter people's memories, make them fall in love, or kill them with a single touch. He was the outcast since he wasn't a "Curse Worker". Just one problem: He is a curse worker. And not just any curse worker, but a transformation worker. He has the ability to turn you into anyone or anything he wants. So they used him to commit murders and to transform his best friend and only girl he ever loved into a cat, then erased his memory of it (White Cat). In attempt to set things straight his mom, the emotion worker, curses the girl to fall in love with him. So now he can't be with her because he knows it's not real and refuses to take advantage of the situation (Red Glove). It's amazing that he doesn't go on a psychopathic rampage transforming everyone into beanbag chairs!

Been Away...Still Am

Just wanted to let y'all know why I haven't been posting lately. My wife and I bought a house and so we've been spending as much time as possible getting it ready for our move. We're getting things done and we're moving soon. So before long I'll be giving you more of those reviews, soundtracks, and videos that hopefully aren't causing your eyes and ears to bleed...unless you like that sort of thing! My next review if going to be for the book Black Heart, which is book 3 of the Curse Workers series by Holly Black. If you haven't read books 1 and 2 (White Cat and Red Glove), go get those books. You won't be disappointed! Thanks for your patience!

Black Heart Soundtrack

Enjoy this soundtrack for Black Heart and the rest of the Curse Workers series by Holly Black.

Burnout Soundtrack - Spotify

Here's the Spotify version of the Burnout soundtrack.
Same songs. Better player.

BZRK Soundtrack - Now on Spotify

 

I've switched over to Spotify for my Soundtracks. Playlist.com wasn't working as well as I liked. It wasn't playing in the blog and said you had to click over to their site to listen to the playlist. Anyway, I hope this works better. Drop a comment and let me know if everything is working. Also, please let me know where I dropped the ball. What songs should I have included?

Buffy meets Blade

Title: Every Other Day
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Tags: young adult, paranormal, action, preternatural, psychic, telepathy, chupacabra, zombie, hellhound, vampire, dragon, basilisk, biomedical research, Darwin, hydra, alternate history, science fiction, suspense, family, friendship
Format: Hardcover, 336 pages
Publisher: Egmont USA
ISBN-10: 1-60684-169-6
ISBN-13: 978-1-60684-169-3

Website:
http://www.jenniferlynnbarnes.com/everyotherday.html

Read an excerpt: Chapter 1

Advisory:

This book would probably be PG-13. There are no language or sex issues. The violence raises this to PG-13, but no higher.

Synopsis:
Kali D'Angelo is just your average teenage girl...except when she's not. Every other day, Kali is something else, something stronger. A nearly indestructible hunter who is driven to slay monsters, despite all the governmental regulations protecting preternatural creatures. Then she meets Bethany Davis: daughter of her father's boss, cheerleader, high school queen bee, soon to be victim of the chupacabra which has marked her for death. Kali has less than a day to save this girl. Unfortunately it's the wrong day.

Review:
I thought the concept for Every Other Day was clever. I've seen plenty of inhumanly strong heroines, but I've never met a character who alternated between human and superhuman. And Jennifer Lynn Barnes executes the concept very well. It's got a good mix of action, character development, and world building. I'm not a huge fan of the alternate history element in this story, but that wasn't a major sticking point for me.

Burnout Soundtrack

I compiled this soundtrack on Playlist.com. You can go there and set up your own playlists for free. So I hope you'll listen to the Soundtrack I've compiled for Burnout, and if you've read the book and have ideas for songs I've missed here, go ahead and post the Artist and Title in a comment below!