Give the Keys over the Group 1 Crew
Posted September 21, 2008
By Nathan,
Group 1 Crew emerged quickly and was far from quite as they quickly bagged a hit single with “everybody’s got a song to sing”. Then they bagged a Dove award. Although the bio of their new CD contains their ‘long time message’ of being dreamers, Group One Crew has taken steered the theme of their latest CD toward that message which is the inspiration of the bands sophomore project title, Ordinary Dreamers.
But their isn’t too much ordinary about Manwell and Blanca Reyes and Pablo Villatoro music and message. Sure they have similarities to other artists in their genre like tobyMac and Manafest but the electronic twist on the rock fused hip hop is very refreshing. The first single “Keys to the Kingdom” is a terrific blend or rock and rap, from the smart piano intro, to the great background music and vocals which does a great job of making the song very intense. “Key’s to the Kingdom” is the peak of the bands rock/rap, but it does show up on “movin”, a good rap song with a style most reminiscent of tobyMac but even with Blanca clever background vocals the beat is a little too repetitive. Though unlike tobyMac who has to keep introducing new ladies to do bits in his music, Blanca does a fine job when she is driving a song and she is here to stay. She does a fantastic job on the light hip hop track “closer”, which is a very smooth song except for the ending which feels out of place.
“I see you” and likewise “change” is a very enjoyable, catchy upbeat hip hop song. Despite some of Group 1 Crew’s ingenuity there are times there things just don’t sit quite right like "Critical Emergency (What's Going On?)" which is oddly an upbeat song considering it’s urgent title. “icontact” delivers some crisp rap but it suffers from an all to repetitive beat, “Live Out Loud” also serves up some solid rap only to fall short in the area in a really simple tune and towards the end of a 14 track album the sound starts sounding less diverse. However as a whole the album is diverse and other positives are “Gimme That Funk”, “tonight” and “lullaby”.
One thing Christian rappers and hip hop artists do very well is relate biblical truths in a very impressive way, and Group 1 Crew does that but Ordinary Dreamers is troubled by mixing messages, packing too much into a song and just losing a theme of a song when it’s unnecessary. “Bring The Party to Life” is only one example where Christ is mentioned but the meaning of the song is lost among a bundle of lyrics. Aside from that the band offers many positive and key messages. “Keys to the kingdom” is a wonderful song lyrically and “closer” is basically complex worship song desiring a more intimate relationship with God (‘I’m on my knees, I’m crying out/Draw me closer I want to be closer to you’).
"Critical Emergency (What's Going On?)" spends most of it’s time pondering the tragedies in our day and in the end asks God for the solution (‘Father show us how to love/There’s a world that needs your touch/Lead us to the river of new life’). Other themes include living for Christ in the way we act (“Live Out Loud”), changing for the better (‘change”) and sensing God in everyday life and realizing his promise to never leave or forsake (“I see you”). “Movin’s” theme is difficult to understand but it does offer tidbits like ‘you don’t have to wait anymore I can hear him calling, step through the door, where anything is possible’ and in” gimmie that funk” it state: ‘Got ‘this feelin that I can’t ignore, you gave me more than I was asking for, and now I owe you my life, I could never deny you inspire what comes outta this mic’.
Group 1 Crew’s attitude towards God gets a little lovey dovey in a couple of places but the plain, and refreshing thing is the respectful and obedient way they treat God in their lyrics. Throw in their clever and up beat hip hop tunes and you have a well balanced out album which doesn’t at all fit into the ‘sophomore slump’. Ordinary Dreamers is a step in the right direction in their career of putting out easily accessible music to those who may not be a fan of the hip hop genre.
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