Album Review

I haven‘t been this excited for a Christian hiphop release since 2001, when the Tunnel Rats crew released Tunnelvision, a sprawling, commercial-friendly, genre-expanding record that garnered considerable college radio airplay and a stint on 2002‘s Vans Warped Tour - while the crew wore their Christian faith on their sleeve. The TRz have kept a pretty low profile the last couple of years, leaving Deepspace5 the only Christian posse of real prominence (i.e. good international distribution), and ds5 have followed up 2001‘s The Night We Called It A Day with a stellar package. Unique wasn‘t hugely advertised in advance; in fact, this writer wasn‘t aware it was even out until he saw it on the shelf - and no press or not, this album has upped the ante in every way from the debut. Before we get into the music, let‘s discuss who all‘s in on this mother: members (one, some or all) of Mars Ill, Labklik, Phonetic Compositions, Tunnel Rats and Ill Harmonics. Newcomers since the first project include DJ Manwell (toured with John Reuben and now behind the decks as part of huge-selling act Grits) and a gentleman by the name of Gary J. Watson, aka Sivion, a Dallas rapper whose solo material leans to the jazzier side, with a buttery flow to match (best contribution here: "you could take the bombest track and hand it over to a Haitian").

With Called It A Day, ds5 established themselves as a gaggle of tight MCs who could put together a seven-minute song, each rapper getting mic touches - and not let it get boring. The same ability rocks this platter, with a wide, studied variety of rhymes and beats flowing throughout, injected with a liberal dose of wry humour. Beatmakers Dust (the DJ half of Mars Ill), Sivion and Beat Rabbi come up with patterns that are solely their own, from the grinding, clanging ‘Mechanical Advantage‘ to the pensive vibe of ‘If I Don‘t Make It‘ to the one of the few bangers, ‘Start Right Here‘, while the voice talent shreds the mic.

Veteran Freddie Bruno in particular has elevated his flow and rhymes past the somewhat-sameness that plagued his previous solo work, and displays a keen sense of humour to boot (see: "in the crew there always has to be the black one"). Sev Statik keeps on bringing the realness with tough, no-bull rhymes (‘Axe to Grind‘) that are a reflection of his years in the business in upstate New York. Mars Ill‘s Manchild has absolutely come into his own as an MC, mastering double- and triple-time wordplay while maintaining his trademark eloquence, and blistering ‘Half Hearted‘ over a discordantly hooky horns/synth beat. Sintaxtheterrific, Listener, and Playdough round out the cast of rappers, with Playdough especially standing out; he‘s distancing himself from his work with Ill Harmonics (who have never been quite as good as this), throwing down a highlight-reel performance when he plows in with both fists up on a stomping tune called ‘Free Checking‘ (props to Sivion on the sickest intro on the album).

It struck me as weird from the first that the intensely-grassroots Deepspace5, after getting out of a label deal gone sour a couple years ago, were picked up by Nashville mega-label Gotee(owned in part by this record‘s executive producer, Toby Mac), and it still does, but the sky is the limit with the resources that label has at its disposal in terms of promotion. Unique has set a new benchmark for Christian artistry and innovation with absolutely zero filler, and deserves the best.

[Deepspace5 on the Web]

- Mike Postma

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