My 5 Favorite CHH Albums of 2010

Sure, we’re almost into the second month of 2011, but I’m just egotistical enough to think you might be interested in my selections for the top five Christian hip hop releases of last year.

So here we go. In no particular order (because I kinda hate the year-end-ranking thing):

Bizzle – The Messenger: Volume 2

Bizzle certainly made a mark in 2010 with his “Explaining to Do” Jay-Z shot from The Messenger: Volume 1. But I believe that The Messenger: Volume 2 really allowed him to shine and show that he was capable of crafting more than just songs addressed to celebrities.

On V2 he was also assisted by a handful of respected Christian rappers who had reached out to and clicked with him when the publicity storm hit shore. It’s a secular remake style offering, but a good one (witness Bizzle, Sevin, and KamBINO stomp on that stellar “Beamer, Benz, or Bently” beat.) You’ll also get a little bit more insight into the post-Jay-Z era (“From the Horse’s Mouth”) and an original cut like “Legal Money” with Von Won and Dre Murray.

Interested listeners can cop the free download here.

Braille – Weapon Aid

As I noted in April, Weapon Aid has a somber-but-hopeful mood which is surprising, yet expected, from a follower of Jesus who has experienced a mass of emotional turmoil the past few years.

Braille has spoken publicly about his father’s death, his painful divorce, moving from state to state, and caring for his young daughter. Add in the, then recent, demise of his Hip Hop is Music company and the public diss from a former labelmate and you’ve got a justifiable recipe for depression. Still, his lyrics convey an air of ultimate trust and rescue through Christ the King.

They process the concerns of a “Blessed Man,” admit periods of doubt, darkness, and defeat, but never lash out. Instead, Braille seems to seize the opportunity for self-examination.

On record, betrayal never leads to bitterness. This is the route we wish RedCloud would have taken.

Weapon Aid is heart-sleeve hip hop in the emotional vein of Kanye’s 808s & Heartbreak. I’m guessing that five to ten years from now we’ll look back on this dark period in Christian hip hop and say that this album was a healing catharsis for us all.

This is another great album you can download for free here.

Playdough – Writer Dye

Playdough has always impressed me on the mic but Writer Dye definitely took it up a few notches. A large part of it has to do with the hipster-cool concept – for this project the MC took lyrics from other bands and genres (including The White Stripes, Kings of Leon, The Violent Femmes, and Nirvana) and turned them into hip-hop songs.

The lifts aren’t always obvious and often depend on the depth of your own listening experience, but still, it’s quite a feat. Dude’s got a freestyle vibe on nearly every song that reminds me of an X Games snowboarder gliding from topic to topic and he infuses just about every rhyme with a Scripture story, theme, or reference.

And of course, there’s the ill cover image. What more can you ask for?

To download this project, name your price here.

If you dig it, you may also want to read two of my Q&A sessions with Playdough here:

5 Questions with Playdough

Q & A: Playdough Talks Writer Dye, Battle Rapping, and White Rappers

Sho Baraka – Lions and Liars

I’ll admit, I wasn’t a big Sho Baraka fan before, but I mos def am now. My appetite was mostly whet by Reach Records’ excellent advance promo which included the lion character, teaser music videos, and deluxe package options.

What I really appreciated was that L&L showed such a breadth of topics, from manhood to loving your wife to issues of social justice, and of course, the supremacy of Jesus the Christ.

How much did I cut for Lions and Liars? I bought a copy for my pastor to introduce him to Christian hip hop. ‘Nuff said.

Buy it now from Reach Records

Theory Hazit and Toni Shift - Modern Marvels

In some circles, this joker flew under the radar but it needs to be top shelf. Theo’s an impressive producer, but my man can rhyme as well. I was impressed by the brave nature of two songs in particular – “Concealed Sorrow” and “Marvelust.”

“Concealed Sorrow” is a gut-wrenching tale of a gay kid who faces bullies on every front and contemplates taking his own life. Mind you, this track was recorded and released before this became one of 2010’s biggest news stories.

Meanwhile, “Marvelust” shares the story of a Christian father in a blended family. The narrator is brutally honest about his own failings to his wife, kids, and Lord but still expresses hope and trust in his Savior.

Those two tracks are daring enough for any hip hop artist, much less one who claims to follow Christ. The rest of the album is just as good, but even if it were just mediocre, I probably still would have listed Modern Marvels here on the strength of “Concealed Sorrow” and “Marvelust.”

Buy it now from Illect Recordings

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So there you have it, five of the albums I considered to be the best of 2010. Three of them are being offered as free downloads by the artists so don’t blame me if you’re still spinning an empty iPod.

Related: Top 5 CHH Releases of 2009

5 Questions with Playdough: Dallas-based MC mashes lyrics from different genres on free "Writer Dye" album

Today, deepspace5 member Playdough drops his free Writer Dye concept album online. I recently connected with him for this quick Q&A.

Sketch: What inspired your new project Writer Dye - a concept album where you take lyrics from other bands and genres (including The White Stripes, Kings of Leon, The Violent Femmes, and Nirvana) and turn them into hip-hop songs?

Playdough: I usually put a lot of thought and effort into my hooks and song concepts. I knew this album was going to be a freebie so I didn't want to spend too much time conceptualizing these songs. I played with the idea of using other bands and genres lyrics and making them my chorus. I tried it and certain songs worked great. Then it became really fun and somewhat challenging to find a piece of someone else's song that I liked and try to make it work on another song that was totally different than the original.

If you think about it, it's the same thing as sampling when you're making a track. I took the part that I thought would work best and squeezed it into the place that I wanted it to go. I'm already used to doing that when I make beats.

Sketch: My perception is that Christians often have a limited music diet. As an MC who is known for your faith and has experience in the Christian music scene, would you agree with this statement? If so, why do you think that is the case?

Playdough: I think that's a fair statement for some Christians that are more casual music listeners. I tend to know a lot of musicians and people that are passionate about the arts. The Christians who are really into the arts have a very diverse musical pallet.

The more casual listeners seem to only have knowledge on what they listened to before they started following Christ. Or at least until they've gone through the phase of throwing away their music collection after hearing someone preach about how it's wrong to listen to worldly music only to buy it all again years later when they're a little stronger in their faith.

Sketch: You’ve given this and your last couple of projects (The Bible Bus and Who Is Harry Krum? mix and beat tapes) out for free. Why is that?

Playdough: I gave my beat tape away for free because I was doing it to promote my production and sell a few beats. The Bible Bus was a mixtape with beats that had been spit on by some of rap's greats, there's no way I could charge for that.

But honestly, the goal for The Bible Bus and now Writer Dye has been very strategic for me. It's been four years since I released a full length solo album. I realize there are a lot of people who don't know my music yet I can honestly say that when most people hear my music, they like it.

I wanted to gain as many new fans as possible. I wanted to do a mixtape to show fans I'm still on my game and still getting better while making new fans at the same time.

Writer Dye is supposed to be a step up from the mixtape, but still free so that people who are unfamiliar with me have nothing to lose by listening to my album. All of this is done as lead up to my official, real deal, you-have-to-buy-it album called Hotdoggin coming out in the Spring.

Sketch: You’re mostly known for the hip hop music you’ve released with collectives like Phonetic Composition and deepspace5. But your ill harmonics group has also released acoustic worship sets like Modern Heart Exhibit. When people find out about this side of your craft are they puzzled? How do you explain it to those who might be skeptical of such a dichotomy?

Playdough: Actually, more people know about my ill harmonics material than anything else I've done. As crazy as it sounds, the trickiest part is getting them to connect that ill harmonics is me.

People come to my shows and are blown away when they find out that the ill harmonics stuff is me. Folks will spend a lot of time telling me about how much they love ill harmonics, but have no clue what Playdough music sounds like.

To answer your second question, I've never felt I had to explain it and have never really been asked to. I hope my musical taste and body of work speaks for itself to the point that it's not surprising. I'm a very musical cat and always try to keep my hip-hop music with good song structure and good writing.

Sketch: Although you’re from Dallas, you don’t have the typical Texas rap sound heard on local radio. Is it a challenge to find support for your style of hip hop and have you ever been tempted to do something that may be more commercially-viable?

Playdough: It's challenging to find support on a large scale. The masses love the dirty south, "D-Town Boogie" dance music. A very small percentage of them like to think about life and eternity and knowledge and wisdom. I've flirted with some more southern style production that's a little different than what people are used to from me, but still very much my steez.

Honestly if I haven't sold out yet then I never will. I've been doing this too long to just now decide I want to get some real cash off this thing.

Download your free copy of Writer Dye right ‘chere.