DISCLAIMER: THE OPINIONS OF THE ALBUM REVIEW ARE NOT THE OPINIONS OF THE TRACKSTARZ GROUP. THIS IS MERELY ONE PERSON’S OPINION AND ANY CRITIQUES OFFERED ARE NOT DONE IN A SPIRIT OF MALICE BUT IN AN EFFORT TO CHALLENGE THE ARTIST TO RISE TO THE LEVEL OF EXCELLENCE THAT HE/SHE IS CAPABLE OF.
Every now and then you have to change things up. Instead of dropping bar after bar after bar, sometimes it’s just good to sing to the Lord and offer Him the praise he is due. We typically receive strictly hip hop albums and EPs, but today we have something different in store. Worship artist Dave Hall encourages us to ‘Let’s Be Worship Pt. 1’ so lets get into it and see what Dave has for us.
The first song is “All I need”and the piano sets the tone for the song. Dave sings with an auto tune effect on his voice and croons that all he needs is the Love of the Lord in his life. A woman’s voice can be heard on the track echoing his wanting for the Lord’s love in his life. This is a very somber and emotional song, an interesting way to start off this project. Next we have “Everything” and Dave starts this track off with more of a singing rap melody over a slow and steady beat. He speaks on the first verse about how his self worship made him turn himself into an idol, but how he came to realize that Jesus is everything to him. The second verse finds Dave just pouring out his love for Jesus. This song is not very high energy but yet and still you hear the sincerity of Davis’s lyrics. The third song finds Dave getting his jazz cafe sound on in “Lost.” This song easily sounds like it could be played in the background of some coffee shop, that’s how smooth and contemporary the sound of this song is. Dave combines his talent of singing and couples it with some rapping. Dave’s rapping cadence is so slow that it sounds almost like he is talking, having a literal conversation with God. This is the first song on the project where we get a glimpse of Dave’s natural voice with no effect on it while he is rapping.
As we head into the final couple of songs on Dave’s project we land on “Sweet Fragrance-Worship Version.” Mr. Hall starts this song off with a prayer and it is simply that our lives and worship be a sweet perfume to God. Dave once again just pours his heart out on the track, longing to please God with his worship. The song ends with Dave reciting a scripture and the hook takes us out. Lastly we have “Open the eyes of my heart” which I believe was the single for this album. Dave asks the Lord to open the eyes of his heart so Dave can see Him more clearly. Dave skates on this beat with ease as he praises the Lord, “you put three in one yeah you do the math” was a nice line. He sings a bridge and then the hook takes us out and brings the project to a close.
All in all, this was a very different project from the ones we usually review. While there were some elements of rap sprinkled throughout this project, it definitely had an urban Gospel sound to it. This project is called an album by Dave, which is somewhat of a misnomer as it clocks in with six songs at sixteen minutes, making it more of an EP than a full length LP. One of the things that stood out to like a sore thumb was Mr. Hall’s album artwork. His album artwork is the exact same image as Young Noah’s ‘Christian Rap For Dummies’ project that Noah had been sitting on since 2010 and released in 2017. Dave may not be too in the loop with the CHH scene, but I would suggest taking a more creative route when settling on artwork for his future projects. Dave didn’t really take any creative risks on this project as many of the songs sounded the same, which makes it easier for the project to stick together as a cohesive body of work, but it makes it hard to pick out any songs that that the potential to stand out on the project. I’d love to hear Dave use some different sounds on his next project, as all we mostly heard was piano, some drums, and some clap type sounds. I’d love to see him use different tempos for his songs have more ups and downs so that his project will feel more like a roller coaster ride or an actual journey. My biggest critique is that every song has the auto tune effect on his voice. It’s okay to use the tool on some songs (many rappers use it in lieu of hiring a vocalist), but having it on every song makes it seem like Dave is using it as a crutch. Also it would begin to plant seeds of doubt in the listener’s mind of whether or not Dave Hall can actually carry a song with his voice alone. If you are not one for the loud hippity hop music of today’s youth, you may find this chill project a breath of fresh air and much needed in your playlist or downloaded onto your phone. Worship is an integral part of the life of a Believer so let’s take Dave’s advice and ‘Let’s Be Worship Pt. 1.’
