Album Review: Between Two Worlds By Trip Lee

Album Review: Between Two Worlds
By Trip Lee

By Paul Gibson | June 20th, 2010 | Posted In Album Review

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June 22, 2010

Trip Lee‘s third full-length is going to once again solidify him as a star the way-to-small genre of good Christian Rap. I don’t say that to dog on others in the game who are trying to put out quality product, but Christian rap is a tough sell to most. It is hard to put a positive spin on most topics that are fodder for genre of rap in general, or at least without sounding annoyingly preachy or laughably cheesy.

Between Two Worlds covers hard topics with ease and finesse driving points home about lust, being real in your faith, and struggles of the streets.

Not only are the lyrics poignant, but Lee’s flows are change up more than enough to keep this disc spinning in your system for all 16 tracks and there are guests a-plenty to mix things up. He has a bit of southern flavor to his style with hints of T.I. and Lil Boosie, but yet he doesn’t sound too much like either. The production on BTW is fantastic, a couple of beats could even be passed at Timbaland material without a stretch.

Several tracks really stuck with me on this one including “Covenant Eyes” which addressed the topic of lust. It reminds me of There You Go by Juelz Santana, but the message is polar opposite. It also features guest rhymes from Pro who has a cool style too.

“No Worries,” feels good at high volume, talking about not worrying about things in the now, because his treasure lies above. A cool beat and straight street sounding rhymes keep this one from sounding like bad tract, and turn it to one of the stand out songs.

“Snitch” will probably catch most people off guard, putting a different spin on the phrase that carries so much negativity right now. It says in a way that we should “snitch” on ourselves to God and confess everything, private or not.

“Yours To Own” is worth mentioning for just how different it is from all the tracks, imagine Jason Mraz doing a R&B infused duet with T.I., weird but cool.

I would be slightly hesitant to recommend this album top those who are fans of more pop oriented mainstream Christian artists, like John Reuben, KJ-52, or Manafest, mainly because I think of them as hip-hop and not rap. Trip Lee has a more raw street style built on tough topics, big beats and a touch of R&B. But this album should resonate well with Christians and non-Christians alike who listen mainstream rap and Christian acts like J.R. and Lecrae, Cross Movement, Da Truth and even LA Symphony.

~Paul Gibson

★★★★★

Snitch

No Worries

Covenant Eyes

Life 101

Yours To Own