Beating Time
TITLE: 20/20
ARTIST: Trip Lee
WEBSITE: http://www.reachrecords.com
STYLE: hip hop
FORMAT: CD (15 tracks, 64 minutes)
PRICE: £11.00
Have you ever wondered what songs Eminem might write if he ever became a follower of Jesus? He’s certainly a skillful wordsmith and communicator, yet I don’t think I’ve heard a single track of his that isn’t marred by profanity. Surely hip hop has too many negative associations to be a vehicle for the gospel? Trip Lee gives the lie to such prejudice.
‘Hey if you looking for a Superstar / I ain’t the one you searching for, I came to bring some worship, bro / He’s perfect I’m just dirt below / Hey if you looking for a Superstar / Don’t look at me, you got me wrong, I been a sinner all along / Let’s look at him and not the songs.’
Sure, there are plenty of disappointing Christian rapper wannabes around, but Trip Lee is not one of them. And he has a lot to say (he doesn’t sing, as such). This album averages 580 words per song (that’s about 3x the Kendrick or Townend mean). But it’s not just quantity, it’s all good stuff, and loaded with Reformed theology.
‘Predestined, I was elected, resurrected from the grave / Plus his love was never based on my past or present state / On anything that I obtained I was a mess but blessed with grace / By grace, I’m in love with him, He gave me something within.’
For more, check out Trip’s vodcasts on John Piper’s http://www.dontwasteyourlife.com site or Lionel’s comprehensive review at http://tinyurl.com/triplee
