Redemption (CD)

This duo’s songs have been in movies (The Fast and the Furious 3, Big Momma’s House) and on television (MTV, BET), but Coffee and Bonafide are ready for more. With Redemption, they are closing the Gotee Records chapter of their career and turning the page. Facing a new chapter ripe with general market possibilities (and GRITS’ own record label), they offer up their most subversive project as a swan song and a sign of things to come.

Redemption eases the frenetic pace of the sprawling double disc set Dichotomy A and B as GRITS comes of age. Much of this album, musically, falls somewhere between Lil John’s ubiquitous crunk beats and Jazzy Pha’s legendary gangsta club beats. What really separates GRITS from its multi-platinum contemporaries are the lyrics. Coffee and Bonafide are fearless lyricists—fearless about their faith, fearless about truth-telling; but each MC puts his distinctive stamp on every rhyme. Bonafide raises his game, coolly dropping wisdom in nearly every verse, while Coffee has taken his spoken word-style lyricism to a new depth. And, like the MCs, the tone of this project—with beats by little known but capable producers—is as distinctive as night and day.

“Holla @ Ya” is like a smooth, sweet chocolate, but it also brings a very pointed message of encouragement to women. The bassy grind of “Heyyy” percolates like it was custom made for slow cruisin’ Atlanta boulevards on a hot summer night. “Not the Same” might be dismissed as light urban radio fare if not for Coffee’s tongue-twisting antics. Then the sun goes down again, and the boys mash on a dark, dirty south club beat with “Tight Wit These.” The slow marching band horns on this amazing track could probably hypnotize somebody’s grandmother onto a dance floor.

Switching styles again, “Ambitions” is an everyman anthem, reflecting GRITS’ own prayers for wisdom as the duo heads into a new future. Cameos are few on Redemption, but they are well placed, with folks such as Pigeon John and re-energized underground veteran Can-I-Bus. Marred by only one near misfire, the ’80s throwback “Right Back,” Redemption is a sparkling reflection of a mature group that seems to have outgrown the Christian music scene and is completely ready to surpass the best general market hip-hop has to offer.

ANTHONY BARR-JEFFREY

Review Provided by CCMmagazine.com