The disc starts off with a bang. 4th Avenue Jones takes the opening track on the disc and, as one of the names that has been consistently moving up the ladder, it only makes sense. And they tear it up with Fabulous Dramatics. It is a great opening track, because it has everything. There are solid beats, excellent lyrics and a superb flow. This offers much promise for the rest of the disc and sets a pretty high standard for the disc right away.
Unfortunately, that standard is missed right away as well. In the next four tracks, only one matches the...everything...that was happening in the opening track. One of the others does a decent job, but the other two completely blow it. Grits did a decent job. If I... is not the best track from Dichotomy B, and it doesn't quite measure up to some of the other tracks on this disc. That being said, it is still one of the better tracks on both Dichotomy B and Hip Hope, and it's really a pretty quality song. The beats are solid, the lyrics are solid, it's just missing a little extra here and there. And LA Symphony managed to match, if not better, the standard that was set by 4th Avenue Jones with Dance Like, the lead single from their upcoming disc, Disappear Here. The track has a unique sound to it that is really quite intoxicating. The lyrics are definitely there, and these guys can clearly rap. All in all, it's a great package. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the tracks offered by tobyMac and KJ-52. It's still astounding that these are two of the biggest names in Christian hip hop when their offerings often come out so poorly. Toby being a big name is at least somewhat understood. He is part of one of the biggest names in Christian music history, dc Talk, and his solo career really did help launch the infatuation people have in recent years with Christian hip hop. And, though Welcome To Diverse City and the track appearing from it on this disc, Ill-M-I, don't really move Christian hip hop forward, it doesn't necessarily hold it back either, and a man can't be knocked off the map just because of one disc that flaws his otherwise pretty illustrious career. But KJ...KJ is a poison in the Christian rap world. He exploded on to the Christian scene when he wrote Dear Slim, a track that made the national music news waves (Though it was misinterpreted as a song that was bashing Marshall Mathers, AKA Eminem, AKA Slim Shady). Yes, KJ had been around before this song, but this was the one that really got his career going. And rightfully so. It was a quality song. But everything else he has done has been so lacking on so many levels. The one talent he has is to write songs using 47 different names from this or that (whether it be 47 Christian artists, 47 television shows, etc., etc.). But he's killed that by doing it over and over and over, and the rest of his songs are just pathetic. I Can Call On You is a great example of that. This is a song that certainly had potential to be great. The lyrics...pretty darn good. But everything else about this song, from the music to KJ's sub-par rapping to the lack of any energy absolutely kills it. But somehow this guy's stuff is popular. It's just astounding.
But don't let KJ-52 kill this disc for you. It is chock full of quality tracks from great hip hop artists like Mars Ill, Deepspace 5, ShonLock and Pigeon John. In fact, the appearances of Mars Ill and Deepspace 5 are welcome additions to this disc, offering two of the best tracks to appear on the disc. Ill's Sound Off is a solid track from the still officially unreleased disc Pro*Pain. And DS5's Free Checking is just one track from the best disc of the year thus far, Unique, Just Like Everyone Else. And it's a great example of hip hop that deserves attention.
Overall, Hip Hope 2006 offers a lot of great artists and probably introduces many listeners to a lot of artists they have not previously heard of. Yes, there are tracks that don't belong, (KJ-52 and the sadly disappointing One Time from up-and-comer Liquid), but overall, this disc offers a pretty solid compilation that can give listeners a better idea of what Christian hip hop is all about, rather than just what the radio lets them hear.