Lions and Liars

By C.E. Moore & Kyle Kiekintveld

GENRE: HIP-HOP
LABEL: REACH RECORDS
RELEASE DATE: MARCH 30, 2010
C.E. MOORE’S RATING: 5 OUT OF 5
KYLE KIEKINTVELD’S RATING: 5 OUT OF 5
OVERALL RATING: 5 OUT OF 5

C.E. Moore’s Review:

There are rappers who put stuff out where listeners just get lost in the music, without any inclination as to the words they are listening to. It is not until the realize something they now believe that they didn’t before that they realize the hold rap music has over them. That’s if they realize it all. When it comes to Sho Baraka, however, you can’t get lost in the music. That’s not because the music isn’t good. Quite the contrary. It’s astonishing. The thing about Sho Baraka is that his words always far outshine his music, even though his music rips through the listener with the feral rage of a wild beast. It all leads to a betrayal of a quiet intellect that on the one hand engages the listener while on the other hand gets over on them. What am I saying? Lions and Liars is not just poetry in motion. It is a full literature course in motion.

“Extinction Intro” begin the listening experience, informing the listener—newcomer and longtime fan alike—that “Extinction occurs when a species can no longer reproduce at replacement levels.” And so begins the journey into the mind and heart of an artist who says of the once mighty lion (i.e. Christians in the arena and their neutered Jesus), “The lion’s dying/He’s trying/He gaspin’ for air/It’s no longer there/And it seems like nobody will care/He stumbles, he fumbles, he’s trippin’, he’s up and he’s down/It’s a miracle if he doesn’t return to the ground…”

Thematically following is “Lion’s Anthem,” a rousing challenge to believers to be counter-cultural, idol-smashing, cage-destroying masters of whatever domain Christ has put them in. Sho calls on all Christians to “Get your ‘L’s’ in the air!” Through an interesting show of wordplay, Sho puts on display Christians working in different arenas, while shining the light of Christ.

“Famous” features songstress Erica Cumbo and her voice provides a perfectly beautiful hook for Sho’s piece on making Christ famous, rather than self. Leave it to Sho Baraka and the guys at Reach to make deference to Christ sound fun and cool.

“We Can Be More,” featuring J.R., is the track that has got the Christi hip-hop world buzzing right now. A classic love song for the generation, it has spawned a fresh, high quality video and a mountain of remixes, including a forthcoming female version of the song featuring Rhema Soul and Mahogany Jones. Sho spits, “You got me feelin’ like a 6^th grade/That’s for sho/Do you wanna be my wife?/Check ‘yes’ or ‘no’…” He continues further, “You could be Coretta, I could be your King/We could get together/We can have a dream/I could be the Rev, you could be Justine/We could walk this way or we can run as a team…” I could sing this song to my girl all night.

Tom Ason performs a nice spoken word piece titled, “I’m Black,” which is an unusual, yet welcome move. By Sho’s own admission, he is a “pro-black” artist. Not in the sense that he believes “black is better,” but rather “black is beautiful” and that how God created us should be embraced and celebrated as true gifts.

The second half of the album turns with “Liar’s Anthem,” a seeming response to the “Lions Anthem” that opens the album. Here, Sho focuses on the lies that pervade our society, even using the “Pimpin’, pimpin’, pimpin’, murda, murda ,sell drugs” line made famous in the “Don’t Waste Your Life Tour” promos. Obviously, Sho doesn’t glorify the messages sold to us, especially urban youth, but he focuses on it to show how much God hates it.

Propaganda steps to the mic with a fantastic spoken word piece titled, “BOYS!” in which he calls to task how so many black men act like young children, rather than the men they are called to be. He ends by saying, “And when you become a man, you put away childish things. If only you knew what “man” means boys! Silly boys!” The “whoa” factor on this piece will make you hit pause and sit and contemplate it’s weight for a bit. Propaganda moves a different kind of weight. Real weight.

“The Rising” features labelmate Trip Lee and Erica Cumbo. Seriously…this song alone is worth the price of the album and will also have you scrambling to find out who Erica Cumbo is and where you can find her music. And Sho’s rhyme scheme on this piece is sick, utilizing the classic snare back beat as a backdrop to enhance the overall effect.

I’m getting a little long in the tooth here. I haven’t even talked about the controversial nature of “Shut Us Down,” the R&B-infused “Mercy On Me,” or the rasta/R&B mash-up “I.T.W.N.O.I.” Bottom line, Sho continues the Reach Record trend of near perfect sophomore releases. Seriously, this is one of the best albums I have ever heard…period. Sho Baraka is the most underrated artist on the label. Of course, I think he much prefers things that way. After all, Lions and Liars isn’t about making Sho Baraka famous. It’s about making Jesus famous.

Kyle Kiekintveld’s Review:

Sho Baraka’s follow-up to the 2007 release, Turn My Life Up succeeds where most his Christian Rap brethren fail. Lions and Liars is a release that definitely will have significant appeal to secular music listeners. This isn’t an album that is trying to front the Southern sound, it isn’t trying to sound post-crunk, these beats are fresh and matched perfectly to the lyrics.

For listeners unfamiliar with Sho Baraka’s sound, he is definitely influenced by the secular rap scene. This album has traces of 50 Cent, The Game, Lil Wayne, and even   Kanye while sounding regionally ambiguous. It is a 21-track album full of high energy and the swagger of an artist who knows this album isn’t just going to make waves but sell units as well.

Tracks like “Kobe Bryant On ‘Em (feat. K-Drama)” have a universal appeal for rap fans. It is a loud, bass heavy track that will sound good in any respectable system. It isn’t the most lyrically challenging or profound song but it is one of the banging tracks that will have appeal for the secular crowd. It is the best swagger song since Bone Crusher’s “Never Scared”, but significantly less profane and violent.

“Word” is another fun track in this album that is all over the board, a bit funky, a bit South and a bit gangsta rap. The beat is reminiscent to J-Kwon’s “Tipsy”, it isn’t an copy cat of it but leaves the listener a bit nostalgic for the golden age of secular rap.  The lyrical content is deep enough that it isn’t a listen once and forget track, it focuses on the power of the Word.

“Liars Anthem” is definitely one of the most passionate tracks on the album, it features a dark loud beat (think Bone Thugs-n-Harmony), and it is an outright attack on secular rap. It attacks both the message behind popular secular rap and it attacks the materialism behind the imagery. While this is not the most unique premise for a track (almost every underground artist has an attacking-mainstream song) this is one of the most powerful and done in a Christian prospective.

Sho Baraka’s sophomore release, Lions and Liars officially blows away every standard for Christian rap. It is a massive album weighing in at 21 inspired tracks where every track sounds like a well crafted labor of love. The album isn’t light on Christian lyrical content but it is produced and written in a way that will be the most approachable for fans of secular rap only.

Authors Note: This year was unofficially called the year of Christian rap by the growing media coverage and awareness to it. An album like Lions and Liars brings nothing but legitimacy to the claim and if another album this year is near as good, well it would be an amazing year. Sho Baraka performs with the swagger that Lil Wayne would be jealous of,  while keeping lyrics down to earth and above all real. This would be a great album to give secular rap fans, as most the tracks will have serious cross over appeal. I am casting my vote that this will be the Christian Rap album of the year.

Review copy provided courtesy of Reach Records