It was comforting to discover Souljahz's Christian hip-hop album, The Fault is History, because I often find myself listening to Christian music and appreciating the lyrics but feeling that the music itself is outdated or repetitive. This unknown group (at least to me) was able to step out of the traditional Christian music group template and create an album featuring truly good music with a good message.
The group is made up of three siblings, Joshu'a (23), Je'kob (21) and Rachael (18) Washington. They began recording about four years ago in Germany, but waited three years for a label that would not limit them on the issues they wanted to address through their music. In an interview with CMCentral, Joshu'a commented on the situation saying, "dealing with Christian and the mainstream, it was difficult. Christians say, "You can't talk about this stuff,' and mainstream won't let us talk about this stuff we really want to talk about." After finally finding a label that accommodated to their needs, they produced their debut CD.
The directness of the lyrics of The Fault is History can be seen in the opening lines of "Same Ol'Game," as it begins "to all my wild style ladies/respect yourselves and stop pumpin' out babies/and also to my brothers who keep thinkin' they're men/yet it seems to me they're actin' more like man's best friend." The lyrics address several tough, commonly untouched issues, such as premarital sex with "True Love Waits," child abuse in "Beneath the Surface," racism in "The Color Hate" and poverty with "Poor Man." The group deals with real, everyday matters, which is not often heard in Christian music and rarely addressed in the mainstream, especially with a Biblical basis. Besides some forced rhymes, the lyrics are effective at conveying their message of God's love, redemption and forgiveness.
The style of each song varies throughout the album; hip-hop is blended with several other genres, creating a unique album comprised of unique songs. The album starts out with "Let Go" which merges rap with a gospel-like chorus. The next track, "All Around the World" features a Spanish guitar for a Latin rhythm (and a shout out to Puerto Rico which I personally found exciting). Then, a disco feel is added to "Jubilee," which appropriately gives the song a bit of energy and excitement. This pattern is continued throughout the entire CD, which avoids repetition in the music and also allows each of the group members to demonstrate their flexibility and ability to adapt with the song styles. While the artists did not have breathtaking voices, a great amount of talent is obvious along with the fluidity of the group, which may just be natural, since they are siblings.
Overall, I enjoyed the CD and while at times it was somewhat predictable, as most Christian albums are, it did a good job of diversifying themes as well as song types. I would definitely recommend adding this album to your collection of contemporary Christian music.
