Uprok Records has been putting out some amazing projects this year, but
probably the biggest to avid Christian hip-hop fans is this one, the last
release by Peace 586. Also, this week there's a bunch of new releases,
including Starflyer 59, Nichole Nordeman, and some exciting new artists.

GOT COMMENTS?? - We want your input on cMusicWeb.com! Send it to
webmaster@... or find me on AOL IM.

UNSUBSCRIBE?? - Logon to http://groups.yahoo.com to do so, or drop us an
e-mail telling us why you're annoyed by hearing from us.


GENERATIONS - PEACE 586 (2003)
by Jon Corbin

In 2003 the Christian industry is going to say goodbye to three legends.
LPG, the duo that started the Tunnel Rats, are hanging up their mics by the
end of this year. The innovative and original Soup the Chemist will be
calling it quits barring a miracle. Finally, Freedom of Soul creator Peace
586 is saying goodbye to the Christian hip-hop scene. These men are not only
legends of the hip-hop industry, but their work has also proven important to
Christian music in general. Over the last 15 years, they have worked to
bring hip-hop into the church as well as the streets, and their time is
coming to an end. Peace's final album, Generations, showcases a wide range
of artists in a loose timeline, from the originators of Christian hip-hop to
the newest and hottest stars.

Most of the album's production is handled by Dert of the Tunnel Rats, and
once again he delivers several standout tracks. Soup the Chemist is featured
on the opening track "Hear Me Now," as Dert weaves jazzy keyboard loops
through a chilled-out drum line. Soup's initial verse might be one of the
best on the album as he humourously describes his style as "old school like
Space Invaders" and "contagious like pink eye." R&B icon Jon Gibson joins
Peace on "Love's Still There," a song that revisits an old Freedom of Soul
joint "This Is Love." Here, Peace praises God for his unending love and
grace while Gibson lays down the addictive chorus. "Respect" has a strong
East Coast vibe as Peace and Noel from the classic Dynamic Twins trade
verses. Idol King, another old school crew is featured on the tune
"Progress," but unfortunately this track carries little weight and is one to
skip over. Tunnel Rat Raphi submits a head snapping beat for the LPG collab
"Bonds Like These." Dax, Jurny and Peace rip up this track, reminding us why
these three emcees are legends in the industry.

For "Welcome to the Show," Dert tries his hand at making club tracks. Pigeon
John rides the beat to perfection while Peace lags behind. "No More
Yesterday" is an uneventful song that Raphi's strong verse can't save. The
sleeper hit of the album is "Solid" featuring Remnant Militia. Once again,
the guest artists hit the track hard, overshadowing Peace. "God Said It"
features one of Peace's best verses on the disc, unfortunately the track is
lame and Dax's church style singing adds a thick layer of cheese. DJ's
should take note of the club friendly "Hard Ballin'," as Macho and Elsie
from New Breed spice up the track with hardcore Puerto Rican flavour. Sev
Statik carries the downbeat "Mourning for the Art," a song that grieves the
changes in hip-hop that have taken away from honest artistic expression.
"Everything I" presents the first appearance of Zane's live band, Saturday
Night Freestyle. The track, produced by Jerms, gives the emcees nothing to
work with, making this song an almost instant pass over. The 'future' of
hip-hop is showcased on "Here For Years." Newcomers Propaganda, Dokument and
young buck Macho carve into an enjoyable southern track, easily one of the
top songs on the album.

While Dert creates some fantastic tracks, they become repetitive, with no
breaks or transitions to add variety. The guest emcees perform extremely
well, often outworking Peace, who seems at times unable to update his
delivery for the new school tracks Dert provides. Overall, Generations is a
solid and enjoyable project, with some absolutely excellent tracks that
cannot be ignored. Pick this one up for some fun songs and healthy dose of
history.

Find out more about Peace 586 on cMusicWeb.com:
http://cMusicWeb.com/hiphop/peace586


OTHER NEW STUFF ON cMUSICWEB.COM
Feature: Starflyer 59: Music That Never Gets Old
http://cMusicWeb.com/rock/starflyer59/feature.shtml

Views: Bible Reading For Dummies
http://cMusicWeb.com/views/archiveben/biblereadingfordummies.shtml

Review: Generations - Peace 586
http://cMusicWeb.com/hiphop/peace586/generations.shtml


AVAILABLE TUESDAY, MAY 20 (at cMusicWeb.com or your local music store)

BE GLORIFIED: WORSHIP TOGETHER VOL. 2 - VARIOUS
The follow-up to the I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever compilation features
another two discs of modern worship favorites, including popular songs
performed by Passion, Matt Redman, Rebecca St. James, Vineyard Music and
more.

GOTEE VIDEO VAULT: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY DVD - VARIOUS
Not much info was available on this one except that it has every music video
done by Gotee artists on this DVD. The folks at Gotee admit some of the
videos in their archive are not that great, but that's why you're getting
"The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly."

HUNGRY LIVE - VINEYARD WORLDWIDE
Taking their most popular disc and tacking "Live" on the end of the title is
a pretty cool marketing gimmick, but here we actually find a meeting of
worship leaders from around the world to lead some of Vineyard's best
worship songs.

LIVE AT THE DOOR - NICHOLE NORDEMAN
If you have not been listening to Nichole's music, you are missing out. But,
fear not, Sparrow has the fast track to repairing that! This 8-song disc
captures Nordeman in an intimate live setting performing songs from her
entire discography. An great intro buy for new listeners as well as a
must-have for fans!

LONELY FOR THE LAST TIME - SEVEN PLACES
Currently on tour with Jeremy Camp, Seven Places offers a solid rock debut
with worshipful lyrics and top-notch vocals.

ME DIED BLUE - STEVEN DELOPOULOS
Many people have been waiting to hear from Burlap to Cashmere since their
disappearance a few years ago. The band lost their main writer and lead
singer, Steven Delopoulos, and has re-emerged with different members, but
have yet failed to put out a CD. However, today is a great day for Burlap
fans, for Me Died Blue is out, and being produced by Monroe Jones, it sounds
great. This disc is a less high-energy but still has all that fans look for
from Delopoulos, from lots of acoustic guitar to that voice that is
currently reminding me of David Gray.

OLD - STARFLYER 59
As you can read from our Starflyer 59 feature, this band has been around for
a long time by today's standards. But Jason Martin and company go back to
their roots for a more rock-oriented album that no doubt will take the
underground music world by storm. This is definitely the PICK OF THE WEEK.

SMASH-UPS - VARIOUS
Have you ever heard "Entertaining Angels" sung to the tune of "Colored
People"? Well, this CD gives you a chance to do just that. Here you get the
instrumentals of one song mixed with the vocals of another song for a
wacked-out remix like you've never heard before. It's definitely not
something to listen to everyday, but it's kinda fun.

TALES OF THE KNIFE - LUCERIN BLUE
Bringing their hard, melodic rock to the states from Canada, Lucerin Blue
features heavy guitar mixed with singing/screaming vocals.


THE LATEST NEWS HEADLINES
- Benjamin Gate Closing in November
- Weaver Comments on Dismissal From Petra
- The Knappster's Status Report
- Fans Will Have to Wait for New dc Talk Album
- And more!

View all the latest stories on cMusicWeb.com:
http://cMusicWeb.com/


Thanks for reading this week's cMusicMail, and we'll be back next week with
even more great content. If you have any comments or questions, please reply
to this e-mail or send them to webmaster@.... We'd love to hear
from you!

Dan Ficker
http://cMusicWeb.com/
a different approach to music
AOL IM - dMusicWeb