Album Review: True – “High Calling”

Released: 8/9/2011

Reviewed by: Neil Christian

Rating: 3.8 (Out of 10)

[xrr rating=3.8/10]

 BMF changed the landscape of hip-hop, whether for better or worse is up for debate, nonetheless its influence is undeniable. 2yrs on, the effects are reverberating even with CHH, which is perfectly exemplified by this album.

 The beats on this project are good to say the least. Of course, with the likes of K-drama manning the boards one wouldn’t expect anything less. Just take the intro track, Red Veil, with a vehement synth line leading the charge complete with military hoo-rahs, it’s a great intro to the album. Of course, following in its footsteps is Welcome to the Kingdom, a classic southern banger.

 However the sound grows tiresome fairly quickly into the album and the project is only 10 songs deep, with 1 interlude. So this is a major problem. All beats sound like clones of the first beat, which sounds like a clone of Mr. Lex Luger. This repetitive, synth and 808-driven, mainstream sound doesn’t hold any replay value and was a chore to listen through after only the first listen.

 Coming to the lyrics, they are constantly trying to uplift the listener to Christ and challenge the believer to soar to new heights of grace. However, the brother cannot rap. Using the same flow for literally every song is tedious, but when you add in some off-beat rhymes and awkward pauses, it quickly became frustrating to listen to.

 The album contains some decent beats but the main draw card, the rapper himself, cannot rap. With single flow and awkward rhymes and forgettable metaphors, this album was terrible. I’m sorry but there is no more to say.

Comprehensive Ratings:

Rating – 3.8

 1. Music – 5

2. Flow – 3

3. Creativity / Originality – 3
4. Relevancy – 4
5. Content & Character – 3
6. Credibility & Confidence – 2
7. Personality – 5
8. Presentation Quality – 5
9. Overall Production Quality – 5
10. Potential Impact – 3