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| Knine - Born Again |
| Release: | Born Again |
|  | | MyHHHdb | |
| Media: | [Audio CD] | | Released: | 2005 |
| Recordlabel: | Alliant Music Group |
| Info: | Production by Robin Hodge and Tony Stone.
Vocals (Background) by Lisa McClendon and C-Note.
Mastering by Jeffrey Baggett.
Executive Producer and mixing by Marquis Foxx.
1. Bout Time - featuring Torry Issac
2. Brought Me From
3. Dime
4. It Don't Matter
5. Automatic
6. So Glad
7. Never Alone - featuring Salt and Lisa McClendon
8. Doin It
9. Crack Came featuring Lisa McClendon
10. Better Place
11. Switch
12. These Eyes
13. Lazy
14. Dear Cuz
15. I Don't Love You - interview, part 2
16. Work Out Fine
17. In My Shoes |
| Rating: | Our users rated this release: 8.4 out of 10
(Number of votes: 5) Sign up or login to submit your vote |
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| | Review: | Knine is a Milwaukee native that got saved in 1999. He is
now the co-owner of Regardless Entertainment -- the label
that both of his albums are under. Knine released his
sophomore album in August 2005, it is titled "Born Again"
and it is jam- packed with talent. Following his first album
titled "Regardless," released in 2004 that put him on the
map, Knine came out with full force on his encore
production. On the cover of "Born Again" is his son Kam
wearing Knine's hat and chain and holding his father's
cell phone and wearing the same outfit as his father. It is
supposed to signify the fact the he has been born again and
now he is just like a child in Christ.
Alright now, enough with the background info. Let's get
down what you guys really want to hear about -- let's talk
about the new album.
First off, the production by producers Tony Stone, Anthony
Montgomery and Rob Hodge is impeccable. If the two albums
were to go head to head I would say that the lyrical content
and the creativity is pretty much equal because Knine is
Knine and he is pretty much doing what he always does. But
the production took a step up. "Regardless" was entirely
self-produced by Knine. Not that he does not have talent as
a producer -- he produced four tracks on this CD: "I Don't
Love You," "Switch," "Lazy," and a track that I was
very impressed with titled "Better Place." However, the
production on some of the tracks on "Born Again" are
breath-taking. Some of those tracks include "In My Shoes,"
"It Don't Matter" and "Dime."
This album has everything: funny moments, serious moments,
sad moments. The best thing about this album and about this
artist is his creativity and the vast array of topics that
he chooses to talk about. For example on this album he talks
about how life changed in the late 80's when crack began to
be pushed in the streets on the track titled "Crack Came."
On one of my favorite tracks "Dear Cuz," Knine says that
he tried to write a letter to his cousin who is on lock down
but Knine can not write it so he puts it in a song. The song
pulls your heart strings because it talks about his
cousin's kids and his cousin's baby's mother. These are
topics that have never been touched on any gospel rap album
that I have heard. Then on "Lazy" the man of God talks
about how lazy he is and how he knows that God wants to use
him but he does not work as hard as he needs to.
There is an obvious distinction in this man of God's style.
There are some rappers that talk about one thing such as
repentance, or hip-hop, or how hard the streets are, and
that is cool for them but I appreciate Knine for his
variety. Another thing that I like about his second album is
that it does not sound like the first one, although Knine
does touch on certain topics again. He talks about how it
was back in the day as a kid, and how secular rap is empty
and repetitive. But the way Knine presents it in this album
makes it fresh and new. Also, this young man threw a little
twist in there by having a spoken word poet, Raw Word on two
of the tracks. Raw Word does a good job. It is good to have
songs that do not have the standard format of 3 verses with
a hook in between. This is definitely an album that you can
purchase for your unsaved friends and they will develop
respect for gospel rappers. One thing that you get when you
hear his sophomore album is that Knine is not soft and that
he is real -- he says in "Dear Cuz," "I am far from
soft." You hear the authenticity of his lyrics throughout
the whole album because the songs are hard hitting and you
just feel like what you are hearing is legitimate and
straight from his heart. In "Brought Me From" He said "I
open up my life like a magazine, and write songs about the
things I have seen." I appreciate the fact that he does
that because he really ministers to people that have gone or
are currently going through the things that he has gone
through.
One of the things that I have seen some people shake their
heads at about "Born Again" is that Knine says the "n"
word in "In My Shoes," and he uses the street term for
whore in "Bout Time." There are Christians that feel
comfortable saying those words and there are some that are
not. I think that it should be the personal opinion and
conviction of each individual and it does not take away from
the excellence of the album.
The Milwaukee native was aided in his effort by great voices
from Lisa McClendon, Torey Issac and C-Note. Also Salt is
featured on "Never Alone." Other standout tracks are
"These Eyes" and "Doin It." I believe all gospel hip hop
fans definitely have to pick up this CD; it promises to be a
delight to anyone who listens.
DV's comments: Knine is the most talented emcee I have
heard in Christian rap -- and I've heard a lot of them over
the past few years I've run Altared Lives Radio. His
delivery seems unassuming, but you're will find yourself
mysteriously drawn into the scenes that he describes and the
stories that he weaves. Sometimes you'll laugh, sometimes
you'll want to cry. You will see what he's seen, and
experience what he's experienced. This is evidence of a
truly gifted lyricist, storyteller and communicator. Knine
keeps your interest from start to finish, and his rhymes
never seem trite or old. I love the personality that shines
through this artist, and you can tell that he is a thinker
and philosopher of sorts. Intelligent, unique and creative
are three words that describe Knine. I had to make these few
comments because I've been impressed with Knine since I
first heard him on some earlier mixtapes.
Reviewed by Jonathan A. | | source: Altaredlives.org, added: Jul 12, 2006 |  |
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