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Surely you’ve heard of Todd Collins. If you haven’t heard of this beat connoisseur, you must have been living underneath a rock. You’ve heard artists like KJ-52, Grits, Katinas, and Out of Eden rhyming and singing over his trademark pop/urban sound. Now, he’s no longer just a producer, but he’s also the proud owner of a record label named Beatmart Recordings. To put his new label on the map, Todd went out and got some of the hottest rappers in the market to rhyme over his addicting beats. With all of that being said, I introduce to you: Beatmart Recordings’ Best of the Submissions.
Understanding that this is a DJ Morphiziz mixtape, I was anxious to see what this album was made of. Would it be another mixtape full of Christian emcees rhyming over secular or recycled beats or would this be more along the lines of Syntax Records’ Fashion Expo? To answer that question, it isn’t either one. This is a mixtape featuring a myriad of artists rapping over Todd Collins’ beats and then put in a mixtape format by DJ Morphiziz.
Batting leadoff on this album is Viktory, and he starts off the album by bringing straight heat with “It’s the Man”. Raw is the only word I can think of to describe this track; I’ve always liked Viktory since hearing his debut LP and he proves here that he’s a great emcee who can rhyme over anyone’s beats. Viktory also represents later on in the album with the track ”Extra Extra”. After Vik sets the tone for the album, KJ-52 comes in and asks who’s the “Champion”, followed by an underground track by Rob Hodge titled “Survive”. And you know this album wouldn’t be complete without a collaboration between tobyMac & Todd Collins. On their track “Yes Yes Y’all”, they take it back to the days of old as they rock the party.
Moving right along, “Wordz” comes in with a brief freestyle, which then moves into another party track, this time featuring Craig Nice titled ”Who’s That Boy”. And just like a mixtape wouldn’t be complete without the party tracks, it also wouldn’t be whole without a love song. Japhia Life takes over and gives us just that with his appropriately titled track “Love”. The call for this song is that everyone needs more love. This is a fresh east coast rap love song straight out of Philly. Manchild and Adan Genesis then come in to keep it underground with their track ”How It Is”. Keeping it down south, it’s Viktory again and then Mark J & The Truth repping the ATL on ”Lord Lord”.
In the mix now is Bobby Bishop, newly signed artist on Beatmart. He hits us with “One Hit Wonder” and then a ”Lunchroom Freestyle” with YSG-Timothy. Staying up north, Sev Statik & Tony Stone drop fresh east coast lyrics on “What Y’all Thinkin”. MV and the Descendantz drop heat on their tracks, but we’re going to move on to ”Single Mother”. This is a gritty east coast tribute to single mothers featuring Japhia Life, Rob Hodge, and Donnie Lewis. It’s very soulful and is a cry to the Lord for things to get better for all the single mothers out there. Rounding out the album are tracks from Tru Knowledge and Ason, with an outro from DJ Morphiziz.
To sum it all up, Beatmart Recordings has clearly put themselves on the map with their release Best of the Submissions. At first, I had my reservations about this release, but after giving it a good listen, I fell in love with it. Todd Collins continues to show that he’s a master producer and each emcee displays their talent and heart for God on each and every track. It’s a breath of fresh air and is one of those albums that should be a must have in your collection. I also think this is one of those albums that you should give to anyone who is just getting started with Christian hip-hop. This is only the first of many from Beatmart Recordings.
Release Date: July 3th, 2004
Label: Beatmart Recordings
Buy on iTunes
Tracklisting
1. Intro – DJ Morphiziz
2. It’s the Man – DJ Morphiziz & Viktory
3. Champion – DJ Morphiziz & Kj-52
4. Survive – DJ Morphiziz & Rob Hodge
5. Getting Rowdy – Billy Puddles, DJ Morphiziz & Dre Murray
6. Yes Yes Y’all – DJ Morphiziz, Todd Collins & Tobymac
7. Scratch Freestyle – DJ Morphiziz & Wordz
8. Who’s That Boy? – DJ Morphiziz & Craig Nice
9. Love – DJ Morphiziz & Japhia Life
10. How It Is – Adan Genesis, DJ Morphiziz & Manchild (Of Mars Ill)
11. Extra Extra – DJ Morphiziz & Viktory
12. Lord Lord – DJ Morphiziz, Mark J & The Truth
13. One Hit Wonder – DJ Morphiziz & Bobby Bishop
14. Lunchroom Freestyle – Bobby Bishop, DJ Morphiziz & Ysg
15. What Y’all Thinkin’ – DJ Morphiziz, Sev Static & Tony Stone
16. It Don’t Stop – DJ Morphiziz & Mv
17. Love of My Life – DJ Morphiziz & The Descendantz
18. Single Mother – DJ Morphiziz, Donnie Lewis, Japhia Life & Rob Hodge
19. Young Lion – DJ Morphiziz & Tru Knowledge
20. Like This – DJ Morphiziz & Ason (Aka Big Sonny)
21. Outro – DJ Morphiziz
