With such pressure on hip hop artists to innovate many have chosen to do collaboration albums. We can see this with Nas/D Marley, Eminem/Royce and Jay Z/ Kanye. It seems to be the trends as to where hip hop is going, and I am sure it is something we will see on the rise. With Lecrae being exposed to the Bet Cyher and sudden rise in popularity, his next move was to pull together his whole label and make a record. So 116 (referencing Romans 1:16)consisting of Lecrae, Trip Lee, Sho Baraka,Tedashii, Pro, Kb and newly signed Andy Mineo pull together their talents to make one callabo album. With so many artists coming together is it possible to mix all there styles together?
The first thing that 116 does extremely well on "Man Up" is well the subject material of manning up. I look up to music for allot of things including stress relief, and sometimes encouragement. Rap music can be deceiving in that it usually talks about demoralizing women and drugs. Finally 116 has actually put together a album that I can look to for what I have been going through in my life. After I heard the song "Man Up" it really pumps you up and talks about what it really means to be a man. Being a man is not about the drug use, or how many women you have. Being a man is about being responsible and living your life to what you have been called to be. 116 doe's a really good job of talking about issues that all men go through, and I think that was vital to the success of this album. The album also goes into the issues of temptation and repentance. Heck the song names are called that. I was able to relate to every song on this album.
The beats and verses all go together really well too. The song "Man Up" sounds like they are just battle rapping and trading verses off one after another. Each song has a great flow and trade off to it. The only beat I didn't like was "Envy" but Kb drops it so hard at the end I had no choice but to like it. The bass drop on "Authority" is definitively a banger for any sub.I like Trip Lees hook on "Responsibility" when his voice goes perfectly with the beat. My favorite verse as from Pro on he song "Temptation" when he says "Look can I be real with you? They say that women want attention that's the real issue.And if they only wore dresses just a little bit longer.Then the flesh that I be feeding wouldn't burn like a sauna".
Bottom line this just feels like real and authentic music. Any man can benefit from the message. 116 pulls out all the tricks and overall it sounds amazing. Give it a listen and let me know what you guys think. Lets support more music like this instead of the dying off club music.
