Album Review: GAMiE’s “TTSS” & “Beyond Words” – The Yardstick For Nigerian Christian Rap Music

Christian Rap Music is mostly talks — about a good game but when it comes to acing, it’s a whole different ball game on this side of the planet (Shoutout to those repping). Most of the time, it’s not about the fact that we don’t have good rappers but really, somebody wake me, I must have missed when Rap Music lost rhythm and depth and became all about boring instrumentation and surface lyrics… even Trap Music has lost most of the original sound that came with the initiators.

So when I listened to Nigerian Gospel rapper GAMiE‘s new album “Beyond Words” and “TTSS”, it was a breathe of fresh air. For the first time, I held in my hands a Nigerian Gospel rap album that observed the complete elements of Rap Music yet pure, audacious and most of all, upholds the personality of the author. I believe any Rap Music that does not tell us about the rapper, his background, beliefs and immediate social environment using words, coinages, instruments and more, is a failure on the part of the artiste.

“TTSS” is GAMiE’s heart while “Beyond Words” is a product of his creative mind. The common thing however is the story they tell which can be summarized thus; GAMiE is a Nigerian, a follower of Christ, a soldier and Hip Hop music is his weapon. He is not someone struggling with his belief and definitely not a Christian rapper to overcapitalize temptation like most will do. He is someone emphasizing and standing on his belief, painted in a picture of his journey so far and sharing the experience, as well as knowledge gathered to the point where he is right now.

This isn’t more obvious than when he said in the intro track “Infinity Rhymes” of “TTSS”;

“I’m stationed to ring the bell [&] sound the alarm…”

With concentration on baseline, kicks and snares, GAMiE puts together the “TTSS” collection that takes us back to the 90s Hip Hop Music. Singles such as “Artbeat” and “Just Rap” stands out for the solemn mood created by the addition of synth, strings and piano. Just like the instrumentals, the lyrics will draw on your emotion as well. Wallz Wordcykic, GAMiE’s brother, touches on some intellectual phenomena on “Just Rap” as he made use of apposition and syllogism in conveying his thought. While that is great, it is the style with which the name of the track is emphasized that is the most artistic. Wallz exceeds his bars and GAMiE cuts in telling him it’s time to stop. In response, Wallz answers; “I just wanna rap.” Epic!!

“G.O.E (God Over Money)” and “LMVTS” are the most social conscious tracks on the album. It’s beautiful to note that a Christian rapper can extend his thematic preoccupation to cater to the societal needs, plus, not one single track on the “TTSS” carried the conventional Christian Music titled yet its essence was intact. It makes me draw the conclusion on “TTSS” that, GAMiE is highly intellectual, with a rich cache of spiritual deposit. I have never seen a Nigerian Gospel rapper make spiritual matter so cool to the level GAMiE took it!

“Soldiers fight for glory, he fought so he can become a tailor, eternally mending man”

— Bill Bidiaque: “TTSS” by GAMiE; 2016

“Beyond Words” contains previously released works such as “Good”, “Crucifix”, “Oluwa Mi” “E won Won” and “New Day”. GAMiE shows off his versatility as an artiste, more than just as a rapper as we have it on “TTSS” and also as a producer putting his skills into 2 of the tracks from the album.

The sound, speaking generally, was also around the familiar territories of Afro-fusion, Soul, R&B and Trap. I think it was GAMiE’s attempt to objectify the album in terms of audience preferences as what is obtainable in the message is still around the same thematic preoccupation.

However, “Hello Ma” & “Letter” introduce a new theme of romance tampered with adequate measure of sanity enough to stress the salient message of proper conduct. GAMiE switches the subject on the second verse of “Letter” and directly addresses God rather than the “lady” as mentioned in the first verse. He concluded that the beat “has a mind of his own and will take you on a journey, wherever you want to go”, therefore one can rationalize the switch in subject and at the same time give it one’s own interpretation.

It will be an incomplete review not to mention that although “Oluwa Mi” is a previously released single, it remains one of the classics on the album alongside singles such as “Crucifix” (another previously released single) and “Happy”, in their own right

 I will be subjective here and say “High & Low” stands as my encore moment on the album. Something about Trap Music with synth and strings that just push the emotions to the surface on a rap song for me.

Remember when Mode 9 came out with “Malcolm IX: the Lost Sessions” in 2004 and most of us felt like we were holding a Hip Hop audiobook in our hands rather than music? Every rapper wanted to punch lines and use witty metaphors. That’s how I feel about GAMiE’s album, like this is a defining moment for Nigerian Christian Rap Music and  the ones that are coming will have to refer to these albums to observe the traditions of how it should be done. What’s even more beautiful is the way GAMiE, a Christian Rap artiste used imagery to paint a vivid picture of the society, talking about the vices and suggesting moral lessons. It is so real and an average youth can relate. I think GAMiE needs to get these albums beyond the walls of the Mindustry. The promotion seems too subtle for the value of the work, plus it will be a blessing for Nigerian Hip Hop as a whole… I don’t know, maybe I should start a social media campaign with the hashtag #ThankGodforGAMiE… Lol… Well done GAMiE!!

Album: TTSS & Beyond Words

Year: 2016

Features: Wallz Wordcykic, Bill Bidiaque, Simi, Florocka, O’Joe, Soul & Selma

Label: GMBJ Entertainment

Get “Beyond Words” on iTunes || Get “TTSS” on iTunes

Connect:

Twitter | Instagram: @itsGAMiE