Reviewed by Steve Hayes

The Gospel Gangstaz name is, of course, synonymous with the gospel hip-hop scene. Coming out of gangs in Los Angeles, Mr Solo and Chille Baby here offer their eighth album and produce music that will get your best West Coast face on! Another review pointed out the album is like a throwback to the West Coast sounds of people like Snoop and Dre back in the day. In many ways this is accurate but of course with Gospel Gangstaz bringing their own tones, vocals and message about Jesus and not about the world. The album is actually quite a breath of fresh air. Right from the off in "Roll On" we find that old skool west coast sound - "making records that all the family can bang. . .taking back what the enemy has stolen, getting blessed with the best gangsta roll on." There's a serious amount of bounce ("Defenders Of The Faith", "Braids In", the boombox rider "Walk With Me" and the g-funk worshipful "2Nite") through to a tasty piece of cruising smoothness in "Never Take Us Alive" which works best for me. An uplifting piece of west coast roll-down-the-windows funky freshness!

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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