Artist: Viktory
Album: R4: Relentless 4Ever
Rating: 8/10

Reviewed by: Tim Sommer

Viktory’s ‘R4’ Relentless 4Ever is a 20 song album full of features from some of Christian hip hops biggest talent, such as Sho Baraka, Andy Mineo, Bizzle, Canton Jones, Json, Jin and more. This album reminded me of the NFL Pro Bowl, a bunch of all stars on the same playing field. They put on a great show, but not a lot of people tune into the game. This album deserves a good listen.

It’s been two years since the release of Trip Lee’s last album Between Two Worlds. I didn’t know what to expect in this one, but after hearing the singles “Robot and “I’m Good” I quickly got excited for his newest album The Good Life. After my first listen it was a blessing to the ears and soul.

Listening to the intro of Breakfast, I immediately got awfully excited for the album, but that “awfully excited” quickly turned into overexcited. After hearing the first line of the album “Yeah, Gettin’ high is in my regimen,” as far as lyricism goes you’ve heard it all. In most of the songs, Chiddy makes references to how much weed he smokes and how awesome, or in other words how “swelly” he is. There is not much more substance to any of the lyrics. The superficiality of the lyrics and the elevating beats make for a fun album though. Chiddy’s rap flow was respectable as always, but his lyrics just aren’t up to par with some of the other emerging hip-hop artists. The production on the other hand, stands out by itself.

Xaphoon must have been eating his Wheaties before producing this album, because he was the artist to shine on the record. If it weren’t for Xaphoon’s electro-indie, upbeat beats this album would be nothing to reckon with. The electric guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, and handclaps incorporated into the beats are satisfying to the ear. After the weak “Breakfast”, the song “Handclaps and Guitars” is the first song on the album to engage the listener. Xaphoon’s pleasant guitar riffs, mixed in with a catchy chorus it made it one of the stronger songs on the album.

In the song “Happening” the handclap and the catchy hook, reminded me of an uppity 80’s musical track. This song was without a doubt the strongest track on the album, it has potential to turn into another single along with “Mind Your Manners,” and “Ray Charles.” The subsequent song “Baby Roulette” once again was brilliantly produced and features an impressive mix of Nintendo gaming console sounds giving the listener a joyous feeling.

Chiddy Bang kept to their energetic style throughout Breakfast, keeping true to The Preview, their first mainstream album. Breakfast has a lot of radio-esque tracks on it. This album should appeal to the liking of enough people to help them become a household name in the hip-hop game. Watch out because Chiddy Bang is on their way into the mainstream music world. I give Breakfast 3 out of 5 stars