Reviewed by Steve Hayes

During his brief stay with Gotee Records, Wisconsin-born rapper/singer/guitarist B Reith, along with Paul Wright, brought something fresh to urban gospel. Now, like Mr Wright, Brian Reith has been released from his contract to become once more an independent artist but this album from 2009 shouldn't be overlooked. In a sense B Reith is the essence of hip-hop with live instrumentation. "Comeback Kid" expresses, over rock-fuelled breaks, his (often amusing) determination to keep getting back up and never quitting. Elsewhere, the project mixes in some impressive acoustic rap flavours, such as the grooving "I Know" (better than and pre-dating Ed Sheeran) while "Mess" continues this acoustic, soulful flow. Old skool funkiness meets hip-hop in tracks like "My Story" as we hear B Reith's testimony. One of the standouts is "Old School" which has a scrumptious old-skool meets jazz-funkiness over some fun lyrics delivered in a crisp flow while worship flows in "Rain Down" as the rapper calls out to the "One who made it/The one who gave his all to save it." We end vocally in the mainly piano-driven epic "Breathe". Definitely an album worth searching out.

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.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.