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Review - Frontlynaz - Game Over

Written by C. E. Moore

Wednesday, 21 May 2008

Groups like Frontlynaz are the reason I’m so mad that Christian music doesn’t have more exposure or the respect it deserves. And if you’ve never heard of the Fronlynaz consider this your official introduction. Bringing a decidedly West Coast awareness to their East Coast style, “Game Over” is an album that is steeped in urban culture, boasts solid production, and offers hard-hitting lyrics that actually have substance. Not to mention, these boys walk and spit with a grace-saturated swagger that is a feast for the ears.

“Clap At Em” starts out and sets the tone for the album. Rigz guests on the track and his presence adds a certain measure of depth. “Like Dat” sounds like it could have been produced by Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, but it features a decidedly Christian message. Title track “Game Over” boasts a crisp beat while slowing things down a bit for the listener. “Gunz Down” bangs. No pun intended. Okay, pun intended. Taking a look at the consequences of foolishly trying to live a gangsta lifestyle, Frontlynaz show it for what it really is—dumb. “Friends No More” is a piece that speaks about what it is like to turn to Christ and lose one’s friends in the process. “Worship,” Da Banga,” and “Lyna Anthem” are all dope and merit multiple spins. “Lights Out” is the hardest-hitting track on the album. “Witness This” calls out thug rappers who have inundated the culture with mindless messages that have made today’s youth act mindlessly. It had me laughing and contemplative at the same time.

There are only a few tracks that didn’t resonate with me, such as “Survival Of The Fittest” and “Day By Day.” They might sit well with others, but they just seemed to pale in comparison to the rest of the album, lyrically and musically.

“Game Over” is an album that belongs in your collection. These talented emcees are poised to take over the Christian rap world if they continue making music like this. They’ve got the talent and cultural sensibilities of acts like Black Eyed Peas and Mos Def and the delivery of 4th Avenue Jones or L.A. Symphony.

Release Date: April 9, 2008

Record Label: Indie

Track Listing

Intro
Clap At Em
Like Dat
Game Over
What I See
Gunz Down
what u lookin 4
Imagine
Friends No More
Worship
Survival of the Fittest
Day By Day
Da Banga
Under Attack
Lights Out
Lyna Anthem
Witness This
Bloodsport

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...
written by Dwayne Lacy, October 18, 2008

Well said Prop 1. Well said. I just want people to stop putting HHH in a box.

LOLOL
written by Proph 1, October 17, 2008

Mat sen..I have to say that your post was very funny indeed. As a member of Frontlynaz Inc, I find it always interesting to hear commentary on our music. It's also interesting to heard people make judgements about our spiritual walk based solely on our music.

Let me just say that all the members of the crew are active in our churches preaching the FULL word of God and evangelizing to the youth and encouraging the body. Our ministry on the mic is for the purpose of encouraging believers with tracks like "Day By Day" and giving wisdom to the unsaved "Gunz Down"..

I find it interesting that you pulled Bible tudy out the album as if that were the only mentions of scripture.

Day By Day "We gotta take this walk day by day, cuz his mercies new Day by Day..That's scripture

Lyna Anthem "I been cut through the ches (scripture-Doubl edged sword) by the spirit manifested word (John 1)

I could go on an on but my desire is for people to become familiar with scripture in thier own personal lives to the point where you can recognize the essence of John 3:16 or Psals 21 or 56 in a verse without having to have some yell out "John 3:16"..lol..

Those who sincerely read and internalize God's word will recognize when it is being spoken. On the other hand, if you are looking for a bible study on wax, then maybe we aren't the group for you b/c that is not our burden in the Lord.

But please don't make accusations about our spiritual walks or snyde remarks especially if you don't know anything about our personal lives..

...
written by Dwayne Lacy, October 17, 2008

Sorry for the earlier post. I can only see half of what I type because the rest of it goes off screen.
Correction on these sentences:

If we hear Jesus enough on a record then we say, "Fine that's cool", but can we listen a little deeper to artists that dont say the name as much, but are really ministering the Word in a more subtle way?

...
written by Dwayne Lacy, October 17, 2008

Let me say that I love Lecrae, Tedashii and the 116 click. The rep the KINGDOM hard! I love the Bible studies and I am sso glad that they are ministering in hard to reach areas. I also realize that there are people who are reached through less preaching and a different delivery. We want to hit the world at all angles with the Gospel. A lot of us are the "Jesus police". If we hear Jesus enough on a record then we say, "Fine that's cool", but can we listen a little deeper to artists that dont say the name as muc turned away by preaching. So that's cooh, but are really ministering the Word in a more subtle way? I want everyone reached and some people sre turned away from a lot of preaching. So some artists hit them at another angle. That can then open them up to hear the Gospel.

...
written by Mat Sen, October 17, 2008

"They [Frontlynaz] mentioned 'bible study' like twice and 'prayer' like twice or three times the whole 18 tracks"

Hahahahahahaha Christians i tell ya...funny ppl.... hahahahahahaha straight comedy right there

-1

lol
written by Sanctified, September 10, 2008

I think that the dialouge between KBS and Davren Noble is more entertaining than the frontlynaz album and I havent even heard it yet...lol

-1

...
written by KBS, August 01, 2008

Lamar Gibbs made very good points and I get where you're coming from...I can't expect to digest the same portion of 'spiritual' food as the next person. Now, I'm not the one to say I'm 'mature' or 'grown' in the faith, but I do think I'm a 'Young Adult' lol. So, me giving the album (which I did today) to my lil cousin (who's 15), he needs something like this bumpin' in his headphones more than I do...
I've experienced certain messages before, and digested them as well. It's sometimes even good to go back to that type of 'food'too to loosen up from the 'mature' food I've been shoving into my 'mouth' on a regular basis...Everyone's different...Good observation with the shai linne analogy Gibbs.

P.S. I wish there was a forum on Rapzilla that allows for discussions, rather than just on the main page of the article....*hint hint*

Peace!

...
written by Davren Noble, July 31, 2008

Blueprint..The album is called "Game Over'..It's a themed album..lol..

Also there are only 3 songs on the album like that from my POV

Clap At Em, Game Over and Lights Out..Other than that..I just don't see it..am I the only one who listened to

Imagine, Friends No More, Day by Day, Worship, Lyna Anthem, Gunz Down, Under Attack etc..

Maybe it's just me..But hey..lol

...
written by blueprint, July 31, 2008

Lets not front people. I like frontlynaz to, but this whole album was about how they gonna take over the industry, that gets boring.

...
written by Lamar Gibbs, July 31, 2008

"At the end of the day, Christians need to stop depending on artists to teach them the Bible and read it for themselves. If dudes put as much time into that as they do criticizing then dudes would see scripture throughout not only Frontlynaz album, but alot of other albums that cats claim are soft and have no meat."

Its sad to say that I have found this to be true over and over.....and over. Folks you really need to understand that Christian rap doesn't need only Cross Movement and Lampmode to give you meat in Scripture for you to figure out that its meat they are giving. Just as there are proportions of faith that we have towards Jesus, is the same way in which God has designed this Christian rap industry to deliver the gospel. In the most ideal situation, every Christian rapper shouldn't be just like Cross Movement, because I wouldn't want to listen to just Cross Movement all the time. Even R-Swift who is apart of Cross Movement listens to theBREAX, who actually do a bit of boasting for themselves as well, however they have so much meat in their verses without sounding like Cross Movement(they are on the Top 50 up and coming artists on Rawkus Records).

It all depends on how you view their boasting to be, because its actually not prideful in the way that they do it, because this whole album glorifies Christ.

Its like bringing a child of God from milk to meat(Ambassador anyone! lol), would you serve them Shai Linne first or, Frontlynaz which gives them access to concepts of God easily grasped.

If you think about it, Shai Linne and Frontlynaz are presenting the same exact thing, but one is serving the children(and even mature cuz we need it simplified since we always think we are knowledgable in how to go about things), and the other is serving the mature people.

I would love to write more, please don't fault me for my brevity and take what I have written, not to be all that I think on this!

...
written by KBS, July 31, 2008

I respect your viewpoint Noble, and I only defended my opinions.I wasn't upset, I felt you were. I believe I have a right to give my comment about the album I bought; some may agree or disagree, but that's what reviews are for. In my humble opinion, it's only 'criticism' when a review isn't what a person wanted to hear.

Nevertheless, I cannot take away from the hard work Frontlynaz put into the album (editing, beats, masters) because the production is on point! And as the writer said, I AM upset the rest of the gospel industry don't produce, on a regular basis, beats of this quality.

Just as you said you can agree 'as long as [my opinions] they're based on fact'. Well, I made my assumption (which was my opinion) just like you made yours: "Only a person who didn't read thier bible regularly would make a statement like that"; I've already stated that I'm a pretty avid reader of the Bible...

Or: "just b/c scripture isn't specifically named is a bad judge of whether the album has scriptural basis." I disagree, b/c then I must assume Common, Kweli, Lupe Fiasco, Mos Def, Roots, Little Brother, and Strange Fruit Project based their lyrics on scripture-- which is not the case at all (at least not always).

My opinion is: good music is good music. Gospel music, is good music that glorifies Christ to the fullest, and I didn't 100% feel that was the case with the album; to me, its like 50/50... People WILL take something away from the album, just like I did. Just not my taste.

Peace!

...
written by Davren Noble, July 31, 2008

Wow..KBS..It seems like you were the one who got upset..We obviously have a different idea of what meat is..

Meat to me in an album is giving real life situations and showing how you adapt and use scriptures in real life..Or addressing real life issues and providing a bible based response by showin action..

It's funny you bring in Paul b/c was a preacher, he wasn't a rapper..Therefore you can't compare what a Christian rapper does to what Paul the apostle did because its two completely different types of ministries..

I agree with your opinion, as long as its based on some fact..

"Plus they're like most of these other gospel artists who ain't pull nothing from scripture to back 'em up, so the lyrics are allllll general"

This quote of yours is not based on any truth b/c I can tell you where the scripture is and referenced all throughout the album, it's just not as blatant as other rappers..But that's also because the album was themed..Game Over was aimed at the mainstream industry..

In the end, have your opinion, but make sure all your statements are stated as such..

God Bless

...
written by KBS, July 30, 2008

Also, I did say "To each his/her own", so that's MY perception of the album....I paid, like everyone else, my $10 from amazonMp3's to get it and it wasn't for me. I'll give the cd to my lil' cousin though, because he likes it more than me. See? To each his/her own.

...
written by KBS, July 30, 2008

Where did you hear me say they're 'soft'?! And how do you know I don't read my Bible?! Since when did you become the person to 'validate' my opinion? Thanks, but no thanks Mr. Noble.....I gave it a 6.5 or 7 and that's that. I've listened to other artists who have MEAT:

Shai linne
Stephen the Levite
Da' TRUTH
Phanatik
Flame
Heck!--- Trip Lee got way more meat than this!

I agree, there are some songs on there that are good: Day by Day, Lyna Anthem, Under Attack, Worship, What you lookin' 4.....that's pretty much it for me. The rest? They're just songs.....the content is there but ain't much to contemplate on.

When I said 'most', I guess that's where YOU took offense....the local gospel artists in my city talk about themselves and just slip Jesus in their rap every now and again; "Let's do right!" isn't much to think about.....but that's my humble opinion.

They [Frontlynaz] mentioned 'bible study' like twice and 'prayer' like twice or three times the whole 18 tracks; I could be wrong. It seemed as though they have a vendetta against the rap industry, so they focused a lot on how they're there to 'shut the game down'. I'm not into the constant boasting of oneself, that's not biblical...when did you hear Paul talking about how good his writing of the scriptures were so 'tight'?

Also, don't assume that I, along with other Christians, need to be spoon fed because their opinion is different--- for a rap album! I know they ain't there to 'preach' but, for the sake of drawing a parallel, I can tell the difference between a good sermon and a not-so-hot one lol. I've read my bible numerous times....and guess what? I STILL give the album a 7!

Peace!

...
written by Davren Noble, July 30, 2008

To be honest. I don't see how anyone could listen to this CD an say there is no meat..

KBS stated that Frontlynaz are like most artists who spit but don't pull from scripture to back them up. Only a person who didn't read thier bible regularly would make a statement like that. There are scriptural references and themes throughout the album and just b/c scripture isn't specifically named is a bad judge of whether the album has scriptural basis.

Blueprint stated that there was no meat..Yet there are songs like Day By Day and Survival of the Fittest that talk about personal struggle and submission to God's will..What I See that is a reflection of the world we live in and Lyna Anthem that talks about election and purpose and calling..So, I'm confused about what meat dude is looking for.

At the end of the day, Christians need to stop depending on artists to teach them the Bible and read it for themselves. If dudes put as much time into that as they do criticizing then dudes would see scripture throughout not only Frontlynaz album, but alot of other albums that cats claim are soft and have no meat.

...
written by Alan Sargisian, July 30, 2008

I disagree with KBS and Blueprint said...i agree its not a 9...but i COMPLETELY disagree on the whole being to sweet, and soft. Its what this industry needs!! i dont give it a 6 or 7...or a 9...its a 10! Cant find rap music like this anywhere...

...
written by blueprint, July 30, 2008

not a 9, no meat, more like a 6. And dats real talk

-1

...
written by KBS, July 29, 2008

Ummm....a 9? I disagree.... This album is like cotton candy: sweet [beats] but not filling [no spritual content to chew on]. They boast about themselves a little too much for my liking. Plus they're like most of these other gospel artists who ain't pull nothing from scripture to back 'em up, so the lyrics are allllll general. But the beats go hard! to each his/her own---for me? 6.5 or maybe even a 7.

...
written by michele, July 24, 2008

Great album. Listen to "day by day" again without judging it by the "hard hitting" nature of the other songs. Versatility is to be desired in all music genres. I would hope that each artist wants to reach every area of society not just the thug rappers.

...
written by Bryce B, July 19, 2008

Crazy production, and check out their mixtapes.

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