Reviewed by Steve Hayes

Two legends in hip-hop, Krum (formerly Playdough) and Theory Hazit team up to bring an album of extraordinary rhymes, rhythms, digging, wordplay, production and depth. This is an album that fuses samples ("Dem dry bones" through to a number of preachers such as TD Jakes and more), humour and some deep God-thoughts (such as the outstanding head bobbing "Live From The Alley Way"). At times this has a boom-bap, old skool, old soulful gospel sound to it ("Call The Kettle Black" intro and "Vaseline") while still retaining a contemporary feel ("living in the moment, just forgot to get a picture of it" from "Man vs Machine"). The ability to stitch together Biblical truths inside artistic flows and accessible yet leftfield ciphers ("Dead Fish Only Float Downstream") is what really sets this album apart - "Wake The Dead" is one example. Various reviews of this project describe it as "surprising" and "may take some time to get used to" and with "standouts and. difficult. to find a bad track". We conclude with "Why Eye", not a Geordie greeting but humbly how we know we're loved by God. An exceptional album from two exceptional rappers.

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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