Rob Hodge's Born King Turns 20

Rob Hodge's sole studio album, Born King, was released April 18, 2006 on Beatmart Recordings. As I reminisce on this record, it sure makes me miss Beatmart. The label had quite a cohesive sound across its discography, not to mention a nice logo (see picture on right). You'll likely hear more about the label in a future post.

I bought this CD at Scott's Parable when I was 13 years old. (Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say my dad bought it for me, because who has money at 13 lol?)

Born King had more of a radio-friendly, East Coast sound than some of the other hip-hop I listened to back then, such as DJ Allstar's Uprok Records Mixtape Volume Two, Deepspace5's Unique, Just Like Everyone Else, or Mars ILL's Pro Pain. But unlike much of the other more mainstream-sounding music that I've enjoyed in the past, Rob Hodge's songs haven't drifted off into irrelevance.

There are a lot of things to like about Born King. Rob Hodge has the right voice for rap, both gritty and confident. He's a great storyteller as well, which is highlighted on songs like "Conflict," "Determination," and "Look At Me Now." There are many enjoyable guest contributions, both rapping and singing, from artists like Japhia Life, T.K., Janae Paden, and Emmanuel Parks, to name only a few of them.

The beats on this album are fantastic. Kid Classic handles the majority of production, but there are also contributions from J-Nat, Saint Man, Todd Collins, J-Rippa (Holy Hitmakerz), Naiheem, The Architect, and Rob Hodge himself. "Determination" has one of my favourite beats, for the simple fact that it ends with a guitar solo. How often do you hear that in hip-hop?

Born King might well be the best album that Beatmart released. It was easily one of the standout Christian hip-hop albums of 2006, garnering an impressive amount of attention. In fact, in 2007 Rapzilla reported that Rob Hodge would release a mixtape titled Rebel Muzik to the secular market with some quite impressive collaborations. Unfortunately, as far as I'm aware, the mixtape never saw the light of day.

Rapzilla later reported in 2009 about some other Rob Hodge projects on the horizon, such as the Feels Good To Be Home mixtape. Several songs from that project can be found on YouTube and SoundCloud, but otherwise, the rest of it appears to be a mystery.

Spontaneous Vinyl Find: Ma Fleur by The Cinematic Orchestra

When I headed down to the SSO Book & Music Sale this afternoon, as I often do once spring rolls around, I did not expect to find one of my favourite albums, Ma Fleur by The Cinematic Orchestra, sitting unassumingly on the record shelf. I didn't even have to flip through any—it was right in front.

Back in 2010, I bought Ma Fleur on CD. This was during the Easter break, when my parents took my brother, cousin, and me to Sunshine Village ski resort in Banff, Alberta. I'm certain I bought it at HMV, but I'm not sure if it was at a mall in Banff or elsewhere.

I don't remember hearing any of The Cinematic Orchestra's songs before buying Ma Fleur. I must have been browsing the electronic section of the CDs and liked the cover (or some intuitive reason like that). It is a great album cover after all. The picture reminds me of Saskatchewan, even though the band is from London, England. In particular, the picture reminds me of driving down some back roads in Martensville, where my dad first taught me and my brother how to drive.

As the picture on the album cover suggests, Ma Fleur is quiet, contemplative, peaceful, and beautiful. I don't know of another album quite like it.

Further Seems Forever – Hide Nothing

At the risk of sounding like a hipster (Are hipsters even relevant anymore?), I received this album on vinyl a couple weeks ago. Personally, I think vinyl is for the most part overrated and prefer music digitally or on CD. There's less skipping, no pops or cleaning, and these formats are more affordable. Vinyl nerds say that records have a "warmer" sound to them and that vinyl is the superior music format. Maybe they're right, but I'd like to pitch this hypothesis: Vinyl nerds spend so much on their equipment that they feel obligated to say music sounds better in this format—regardless of whether or not this is actually true.

You're free to take my remarks with a grain of salt. I'm just an occasional vinyl listener with an Audio Technica AT-LP60X connected to some computer speakers. And of course, there are certainly perks to vinyl, no matter how advanced one's setup is. I appreciate the enlarged artwork on the record jacket, having a lyric sheet to read along with, and in the case of Hide Nothing in particular, a retrospective essay to inform me of some of the record's background details.

It was a treat revisiting Hide Nothing on vinyl a couple weeks ago. I've been familiar with this album for a long time. (It was released in 2004, but I'm not sure I heard the whole thing until maybe 2006. The memory's fuzzy on this one!) I have a renewed appreciation for the lyrics after reading them more carefully. I've enjoyed Hide Nothing's emo/indie rock sound for so long, yet it's taken years for the lyrics to properly connect with my life experience.

Here are just a few of the lyrics that resonate with me:

"We live, and we learn, and we crash, and we burn, and we're gone." ("Hide Nothing")

"Watch somebody fall from grace. When there's nobody there to take their place, you can't help but feel alone." ("Like Someone You Know")

"Love is coming. Love won't let you die alone. Love is coming. Love won't let you try alone. Love is coming. Love won't let you cry alone." ("Make It a Part")

"I'm not living for the past. No, I'm not living for the memories." ("Call on the Life")

As simple as these lyrics are, the messages they convey about mortality, separation, love, and the past are powerful. Jon Bunch's remarkable singing truly completes them.