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Rigga - The Awakening
"Yo, I met this brother while I was journeying to Nairobi, Kenya at a youth conference. This guy is a rock solid Christian dude that is as real in person as he is on CD. Definately support his awesome ministry..." (Jamar Dawson)
For the typical fan, Hip-Hop music conjures up certain imagery - a tough as nails demeanor, a pompous arrogance, a ragged look, and often a one-dimensional sound. Well, pick up Rigga’s creative new debut, The Awakening, and you realize those are nothing but empty misconceptions.
This soft-spoken multi-lingual rapper is unafraid to be modest and unassuming, as he fills the album with stacks of vertical music - a greater majority of the songs find the artist speaking not to you or me, but directly to God. He graciously allows us a window into his conversations. As such, The Awakening could easily be referred to as a collection of urban prayers. The Christian person will no doubt enjoy this album’s content.
Review
But don’t be fooled, Rigga will bowl you over with his an uncompromising approach when he needs to. Take the title track for instance. This three-minute intro is a brilliant hard-hitting cypha that announces it well –quality hip-hop record underway! More hardnosed jams that true hip-hop head will bounce to include Life and Without You. The former finds Rigga musing over hard beats, wondering where his life would be without the love of God in it. The latter’s laid back West-Coast flow is a throwback to the 90’s Gospel Funk of groups such as Christsyde and Mr. Real. Cleverly switching sides is the East-Coast influenced He Is (interlude) – think early Grits albums.
But The Awakening smoothes out beautifully, with enough crossover material to broaden the record’s appeal. Ibaada and Mabadiliko are great examples. Arguably the sweetest single to come out of the Kijiji Records stable, Ibaada is packed with heavy-hitters, including Chizi on the hook, as well as Kanjii and Atemi Oyungu on additional background vocals. In similar vein is Mabadiliko, a smooth-as-silk sweet-as-honey pearl that features the sultry voiced Votaries’ front-man Brian King. Usually, we’d advise you prepare the repeat button, though some start-stop banter by a mish-mash of Rigga’s friends holds it back a little.
By and large, the record is produced by David “Blackman” Muthami, (though Mandugu Digital’s Ambrose chips in with the previously released Sifa, and Aaron Rimbui contributes Amini, an afro-leaning track that is totally misplaced, both stylistically and content-wise – the obvious influence of an Afro-centric production house on a young hip-hopper). Back to the producer. Blackman does an admirable job of adding some sweet spice to the record. Take Go, for instance. Featuring the highly talented hip-hope trio of Juliani, Astar and Michelle, its playful ragga beat showcase a producer expanding his repertoire. It helps that each MC on Go, especially Michelle and Rigga himself, hold it down beautifully. I could easily hear a remix with the likes of The Chiefs or Daddy Owen on it. Only a weak hook prevents Go from being the album’s biggest hit.
Kanye West’s popularity shot threw the roof when he began incorporating pitched-up vocal samples from soul music into his work. Know You might not have an 80’s sample, but its pitched-up hook, layered on a tight beat beautifully compliments Rigga’s desire to know his Heavenly Father more. The Tongue is brilliant. And very clever. It has spaced out electronic sounds very reminiscent of a Timbaland joint. It doesn’t hurt that Rigga drops some keepers on it. Peep this:
“With the same mouth mi nitasema mi nimeokoka, the same tongue, kwa ma-manzi nawaroga,
Kiburi, maringo, na kusengenyana, matusi, maovu na kudanganyana,
Ulimi huo huo nitamsifu bwana, then I wonder why maombi yanaumana”
Other tracks on the record include Friend Indeed featuring Astar, the reggae-infused You Are God featuring Kanjii and the charming and evangelistic This Is For You.
Bottom Line
All up Rigga’s The Awakening is a great debut. It is obviously top-heavy with Kijiji personnel, a blessing and a curse (this team, though talented, can become a little repetitive when regularly featuring on each others’ projects). Still, outside of a producer whose repeated ad libs we can do without, there is nothing lackluster about this effort – Rigga barely puts a foot wrong. With one of the cleanest hip-hop flows and a real knack for crafting his yearnings for God into hit songs, dare I say The Awakening is one of the top hip-hop albums of the past year or so, Gospel or otherwise.