Group 1 Crew- Fearless Album Review

Group 1 Crew- Fearless

For their first full-length album since the departure of rapper Pablo Villatoro, Christian hip hop/dance/pop group (now duo Manwell Reyes and Blanca Callahan) G1C have returned with Fearless an album that nicely balances their hip hop and rap roots with the dance sounds they explored on their last record, Outta Space Love, as well as their newfound pop and AC success explored on first single (and last single from their Outta Space Love: Bigger Love Edition re-release) "He Said".  As expected, there is less rapping and more singing to be found on Fearless than on any previous record- credit that to Pablo's exit (both Blanca and Manwell alternated between singing and rap while Pablo only rapped) and Blanca's voice is especially in high form as she has truly improved on her craft over the last two years and is quickly becoming one of the finest vocalists in the industry (for further evidence, see the title cut and "The End of Me", "Stepping Out" or "Forsaken").  

The album oscillates fairly evenly between pop songs and more hip-hop leaning material.  The opener "His Kind of Love" may shock long-time fans as it is pure worship-based pop but follow-up track "The Difference" (which IMO should have been the opening song) brings it back home to classic G1C with its tight beats and multi-layered programming and vocals.  Lyrically, G1C spend the bulk of the album digging deeper into their faith than their last record and while nothing here has as much theological content as "Keys to the Kingdom" or "Forgive Me", Solid biblical encouragement rings loud and clear through many tracks including "Forsaken", "Darkest Valley", "Stepping Out", "Dangerous" and the aforementionsed "He Said", "His Kind of Love" and "The Difference". "The Darkest Valley" invites a couple of guests including Reach Records star rapper Flame and a little known Gospel artist Thomas Ware (who also co-wrote "Forsaken"- lookout for this guys folks, he's going places) and together they create one of the coolest moments on the album.

 A couple of relationship songs pop up near the middle (both Blanca and Manwell have recently married) "Mr & Mrs" is a cute ditty that reinforces the singer's commitment to their spouses (and musically is in the vein of their hit single "Let's Go") while "The End of Me" is a break-up song that reminds me of something Beyonce would take to #1.  The remaining party tracks definitely "bring the party" musically, the best of which being "Going Down" but two tracks near the end of the record cause a bit of concern.  While musically the rap based "Freq Dat" and club ready "Night of My Life" are fun songs, the lyrics are very secular and frankly unbiblical. "Night of My Life" declares "I'd trade each day of my week away just to have the time of my life" (what happened to redeeming the time?) while "Freq Dat" brags about that very "night of their life" in the club and on the dance floor as Manwell asks the ladies to "show me what you got".  Also, it should be noted that while the term "Freq Dat" is most likely referring to the beats a DJ is throwing down, I tend to remember friends from school using this term as a substitute for a much more vulgar phrase.  While nothing too troubling may occur in these two songs, Christianity Today  music reviewer Andrew Greer had a good point when he stated that these "benign party jams threaten to counteract the group's strong lyrical convictions."  

Overall, I believe that this is a step in the right direction for G1C.  They have grown tremendously in the lyrical department from their last album (aside from a couple songs) and musically are finding a successful way to remain relevant to both Christian Radio and their fanbase all while continuing to push CCM into bolder musical territories.  Hopefully Fearless will be the album that brings Group 1 Crew into the mainstream of CCM because we all know that Christian radio is in desperate need of some variety and this album has the potential singles that could do just that.  

Radio Ready: "He Said", "His Kind of Love", "Fearless", Stepping Out", "Forsaken", "Dangerous" ("The Difference" or "Going Down" could do great at mainstream radio if they want to explore that area of the industry)

iPod Picks: "His Kind of Love", "Forsaken", "He Said", "Darkest Valley", "Fearless", "The Difference", "Going Down", "Stepping Out", "Not the End of Me"