Reviewed by Steve Hayes

Popular hip-hop in the mainstream has often become generic without creativity except in production techniques. But scratch away from the centre and there is musicianship, life, imagination and freshness. AMP, comprised of Korean Americans CL, J Han and Sam Ock, bring such a worshipful project in this deluxe edition and one that deserves a wider audience. "No Other Place" is almost impossibly funky, worshipful, anthemic and uplifting with a message of unity, freedom, truth and calling out falseness. "In gratitude to you, Lord, we let the church bells ring/Unified in one voice, hear all the saints sing." Mixing hip-hop beats, dance rhythms, piano backing, melody, harmony and contemporary worship vibes ("No Turning Back") make for an extraordinarily diverse set. Musically the album reaches beyond most hip-hop projects and while AMP are strong in almost every area, they really shine over their melodic hip-hop such as "Worthy Is The Lamb". Lyrically Amp bring a clear, smooth, mainly east coast flow, often underground, at times double-timing and other times just bringing great harmonies. This Christ-centric and clearly joy-filled 13 track project with an extra four bonus tracks gives the album extra value.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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