The disc starts off with one of the defining artists in Christian hip hop, Grits. The track Changes is not particularly the best representation of Bonafide and Coffee's music, but it is one of just two of their most recent tracks (Since the last release was a greatest hits disc). It's not particularly the best way to lead the disc off musically (The track drags a bit), but ithe name recognition will definitely help sell a few more copies of this compilation, so that is a plus. tobyMac also offers the disc name recognition. Hey Now, much like Changes, is not particulary the greatest track to represent it's artist. However, it is a relatively decent track and, again, offers name recognition to hopefully introduce some people to a lot of great hip hop artists.
Now, of course, not all the artists on the list can be categorized in the "great hip hop artists" arena. KJ-52 once again finds his way on to a hip hop release KJ seems to be one of the biggest mysteries of the Christian music industry. He says he does hip hop, so they give him a mainstay position on hip hop compilations. And yet, he also has become a mainstay on the rock compilations (See: The X series). Unfortunately, he doesn't do good music in either realm and doesn't deserve to appear on either of the compilations. Plain White Rapper (Kalimba Remix) is another perfect example of this fact. It's a terrible track that offers nothing but the ability to hold hip hop music back (And it certainly doesn't move the rock music realm forward either). The only thing accurate about the track is the first two words of the title...KJ is nothing but plain white (But, contrary to his own delusions, he is no rapper, nor is he the Steve Nash of hip hop). Likewise, John Reuben seems to be out of place on this compilation. And that's much less a knock on Reu than on Gotee's inability to pick the right song for the right compilation. Reuben has certainly improved over the years (HIs latest release was actually a decent hip hop disc). However, Nuisance is not only a very old single, but it's much more of a pop song than a hip hop song (Never would you expect to hear the guest vocals of Relient K's Matthew Thiessen on a hip hop release).
However, much of the disc is pretty solid and offers listeners a chance to hear some of the names of hip hop they should know. Mars Ill's long-awaited release, Pro Pain, gets represented this year by More, which features guest vocals by Ahmad of 4th Avenue Jones and Anthony David (The track also appeared in the video section of the 2006 Hip Hope Release). Shonlock's Lean is definitely a welcome addition to the disc, as arguably the best track to bump your system to. Liquid actually shows improvement from last year's disappoting Hip Hope debut and gets a great spot on the disc, with Crazy getting smashed right between Mars Ill and tobyMac. And Manafest shows that Canadians can do solid raps too, with Rodeo helping to make the end of the disc a very solid listening period. Even the ladies are represented, with MOC's Let It Go becoming one of the most up-tempo tracks on this year's compilation.
Overall, Hip Hope 2007 is, much like it's predecessors, an overall success. The addition of KJ-52 once again brings the compilation down, and poor song choice helps do in John Reuben, but most of the disc is pretty solid in it's ability to introduce listeners to some of the lesser-known hip hop acts. The absence of artists like Deepspace 5, Playdough, Listener and a few others definitely don't help the disc. However, for the most part, the Hip Hope series has done it's job this year.