Fedel

This is a quote from Prodigy of the rap group Mobb Deep - from one of his most famous rhymes in the Golden Era of hip hop. This is one of the quotes that drew millions of followers to buy into the gangsta image of this rap group. The realness is a flourishing area in Christian rap that is proving to be a well welcomed place. With releases like Dre Murray “Manumit,” k-Drama's “BoomBaptisim,” Brinson's “Escaping Me,” Lecrae's “Rebel,” and now Fedel's “I LIVE” - bringing the truth of the Gospel and the realness is the new era.
Listening to his new album "I LIVE" you can tell this isn't his first time picking up the mic. Fedel has been flowing for a while ever since he heard Kris Kross’ hit song “Jump” back in ‘92. Now you can catch Fedel flowing for the winning team. Speaking of winning, he has been very successful in Christian Rap as of late. Coming fresh off of features from Holy Hip Hop: Taking the Gospel to the Streets Vol 3, DJ D-Lite’s Heatwave series, Dre Murray's Manumit album and his "Growing Pains" mixtape (copy dat). Fedel has been putting in work.

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Now let's take a look to Fedel's latest effort " I LIVE". I know you hear this in a lot of reviews but "I"M REALLY FEELING THIS ALBUM." You wanna talk about hotness or dopeness or heat or something being bananas, well guess what "I LIVE" is all of that. Fedel has a very distinct voice. You can pick him out of a group of emcees easily. The album starts off with the song "Tell a Friend.. The hook lets the listener know that Jesus is coming back so "tell a friend." The beat is banging and his style compliments the production so effortlessly.

peaking of production it is worth a million dollar budget because the sounds are brilliant. With the likes of Firstborn productions, Tony Stone and O-Boi, they brought the lighter fluid to this blazing album. "I Live" is full of bangers. Just check out songs "Walk It Like I'm Changed", “Get Live,” "Out the Crib," and "Get It" featuring Viktory and Knine.

Since you know that Fedel can keep the party jumping and your head nodding, now be sure you know the ministry is definitively apart of "I LIVE” as well. Fedel tells some horror stories about real life situations on "Keep On.” He encourages us that the Lord can change any circumstance and you have to "Keep On" living. On the last verse of Fedel rhymes in prayer mode and you hear the passion in his heart directed from his own life experiences. Big ups to Fedel for making a track that is real and "relatable."

Also, on the track "Old Things" Fedel explains his personal struggles on how growing up as a preacher's kid wasn't a easy walk. Old things in his life have passed away like always - being under a microscope, unforgiven, just to name a couple of things. But being in Christ Fedel lets you know how Jesus changed him and now he can change you.

Time and a Season" is based on Ecclesiastes 3. Fedel sets the tone of this guitar driven track, challenging the listener to encourage themselves in Jesus and recognize the season that you are in, being thankful that you are in the plan of God.

“I Live” is a great example of how the Word can jump off the page and into your life. This is a great album and I rejoice with brother Fedel for keeping it real and ministry-minded. You can't ask for a better album that'll have you stuck on the realness. - Dasouth.com

I've been listening to Fedel for a while now, so it's kind of hard to imagine that this is his debut album. When I got my hands on his "Growing Pains" mixtape, I had figured that he'd already released some other stuff and this was a veteran emcee that I was dealing with. Well, lo and behold, this is indeed his first full-length offering as an emcee and the name of the album is "I Live." With this offering, Fedel shows us just how talented he is as an emcee, while hitting us with a wealth of spiritual meat to chew on.


With this album, there are a few things that immediately stand out to me. First, the cover art is simple, yet strong; it's the kind of artwork that would cause me to take a chance on this artist if I had never heard of him. It's just all around professional. But the cover art can often be deceiving, so on to the music. So, as I listen to this album, the production immediately catches my ears and by large the album is sonically clean. I'm drawn in by the "Intro" where Fedel gives us a few bars to introduce the album and explain its concept. From there, it's only uphill. Once you get past the introduction you're hit with a barrage of bangers including joints like "Tell a Friend," "Walk it Like I'm Changed," and "Get Live (He Alive)." Each has a very strong sound that is catchy and keeps your finger pushing repeat and rewind. What's more, as the album continues, the songs get stronger and remain just as catchy as you run into tunes like "In the Church" and "Time and a Season." In all, you'll be hard pressed to find a song worthy of that skip or fast forward button.

As I said in the opening paragraph, this album isn't all about the music; it's also chock full of spiritual food for the believer to get encouraged by. This is evident from the very beginning of the album with "Tell a Friend" that encourages the listener to evangelize, share their faith and let the world know that Jesus lives, which is again echoed in "Get Live (He Alive)." Christians are also encouraged to "Keep On" as they walk it like they're changed. The listener also gets reminded that "Old Things" have passed away, so we need to look forward and "Get It" and "Get Down" in this Christian life. The beauty of this album is that you're bound to walk away with something on each and every track. What's more, this sounds so natural for Fedel; none of his messages are forced and naturally flow out of the context of each song, almost to the point where you don't even realize that you're digesting spiritual truth.

Overall, I was very impressed with this debut effort from Fedel. You can tell that a lot of hard work went into this project, and the end result is an album that just about everyone should be pleased with. He proved his worth as an emcee and I look forward to many more albums to come. You set the bar high Fedel, so keep on climbing!

Record Label: Indie

Tracklisting:
1. Intro
2. Tell A Friend
3. Walk it like I'm Changed
4. Get Live
5. Keep On feat Sarah Sanders
6. Proverb
7. In the Church
8. Old Things
9. One by One feat Sean Johnson
10. Out the Crib
11. Get it feat Knine and Viktory
12. On Mine
13. I LIVE feat Cam
14. Time and a Season
15. Get Down feat Dre Murray

Hidden tracks Take It Easy and J Wal



Read more: http://www.rapzilla.com/rz/content/view/1213/112/#ixzz0iva2tU9p - Rapzilla.com

Press Release

Think hip-hop is dead? Well, get ready world, Fedel is back with I LIVE, the follow up to his critically acclaimed, Mixtape of the Year nominated Growing Pains. The renowned Tulsa emcee previously heard on Holy Hip Hop: Taking the Gospel to the Streets V3, DJ D-Lite Heatwave series, and Dre Murray's "Manumit" album, presents his debut album to be released on 11/18/08.

"This album was birthed out of the many struggles I faced from an adolescent to a young adult." Fedel says, "There's nothing like fighting for your sanity; fighting through confusion, brokenness, depression, physical and mental abuse. This album symbolizes not giving up that fight." I LIVE is a transparent look at a preacher's kid that is the product of a broken home, yet still has a desire to reach out to the everyday person to encourage them to overcome like he did. "The message I want to bring is that Jesus loves you and He is good, so therefore, I LIVE."

Packed with amazing production from the likes Firstborn, Tony Stone, and O-Boi, as well as features from K-Nine, Cam, Dre Murray and Sean Johnson, I LIVE will include the hit single, "Walk it like I'm Changed" and the bass-heavy anthem "Tell a Friend." "Tell a Friend" was voted number 1 on Tulsa 105.3 KJAMS, recognized by Ozone magazine, and also featured on DJ Lace Positive mixtape volume 4. With certified car bangers, and thought provoking rhymes, I LIVE is set to breath life back into the game. - Squeak