Reviewed by Tony Cummings

As Cross Rhythms has chronicled down the years, gospel music has gradually moved away from the mass choirs and fiery quartets of an earlier era and taken on the contemporary urban stylings of today's R&B and hip-hop. Now this compilation of urban gospel will further break down the stereotypes of choir robes and folksy spirituals held by the mass audience (and with Sony lending its marketing muscle this is an album which will be distributed far and wide) while also containing some brand new cuts to keep hardcore urban gospel fans happy. Also, bringing some British gospel acts into the mix is a great idea. In fact, the UK artists more than hold their own with Nu Life, Seven, Raymond & Co and Siani sounding every bit as good as Kirk Franklin, Donnie McClurkin, Virtue and CeCe Winans. There are classics here (Mary Mary's "Shackles", Kierra 'Kiki' Sheard's "You Don't Know") while the new to CD tracks like Raymond & Co's "All That I Am", Four Kornerz' "More Than Life" and Jahaziel's "You Got Yours" are seriously tasty and will no doubt be getting airplay very soon. Purists might quibble that one Chevelle Franklyn track doesn't really do justice to the Caribbean contribution to gospel, while similarly Jahaziel's joint isn't enough to truly represent the amazing rise of holy hip-hop. But let's not nit pick. There's plenty of superb music here which can only spread the word that gospel music is today well and truly culturally connected.

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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