When Lecrae dropped Church Clothes in 2012, the floodgates opened and out poured a fusion of gospel confessionals over hard-bodied beats. In reality, spirituality in Hip Hop is nothing new. It’s been around for decades, not just in Christian Hip Hop but in “secular” rap, such as in DMX’s open air talks with God and 2Pac’s spiritual musings.
With Against All Odds, Thi’sl uses rap, as he says on “Momma’s Strength,” “As my pulpit/’Cause this is the only hope they prob’ly would get.” He achieves this not by preaching down to his listeners, but from the throngs of the congregation.
The album takes us on a journey through Thi’sl’s life, from his time moving to St. Louis at two years old, to hustling on the block, to the disastrous consequences that came with it., all the way to his redemption.
Those who think Christian rap is synonymous with spitting out Bible verses in rhyme may be shocked at how raw Thi’sl is when he spits about keeping a pistol around at the end of “Momma’s Strength” or how he details the hustler lifestyle on “Go Get It.”
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While the lyricism is fairly simple (“Chopper bullets cutting through the air, like rain man,” he rhymes on “Hindsight”) it’s his powerful voice and standout delivery that keep you hooked like you caught the Holy Ghost on a hot Mississippi Sunday. The music adds to the fervor; the bombastic production of “Hindsight” sounds like it would be right at home on a Jeezy album and you wouldn’t be wrong to halfway expect Rick Ross to show up on the trap stomp that is “Money on My Head.”
The narrative briefly falters on “All That Comes With It.” The love song sounds good, and may be relevant to Thi’sl’s life, but it doesn’t appear to tie in with the album and results in a jolting experience, like when someone’s cell phone goes off in a movie theater. Fortunately, things pick back up with “Real Life Forever” and peak with “Help Me Find My Way” and “Can You Hear Me” On the latter, Thi’sl cries out to God in a way reminiscent of The Dark Man X on “The Convo” with lines like “So you mean to tell me in the streets every time that I could have died/It was you not luck or the gun that I had by my side keeping me alive/I was there every time/I felt like you left me alone on my own here to suffer/No my son I was there every time, especially when times got tougher.”
Therein lies Thi’sl’s message, amongst all the grit, all the hustle, all the pain. No matter your beliefs, it’s easy to see Thi’sl created a solid narrative of rising above, all while making your neck snap to the beat.
