Trailblazin Ministries

116 Clique - 13 Letters

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Thursday, 17 May 2007

Album Overview

"Where hip-hop meets the Scriptures." That's a slogan that I coined a while back for Trailblazin Ministries and, as a result, that has been the focus of our ministry; we strive to make sure that the Bible is the center of our ministry and using hip-hop as only a tool and vehicle for propagating the message of the Gospel. This has been a similar mission of many holy hip-hop artists and labels, with one in particular being Reach Records. When listening to their albums, you can't help but to be saturated with the truth of Scripture over hip-hop beats. After putting out a handful of solo albums and a group compilation, the 1-1-Six crew decided that it was time to take things to another level and drop a project that would truly change the way that the church, as well as the world, looks at holy hip-hop. The name of this compilation album is 13 Letters.

What is 13 Letters? It is a biblical survey of the thirteen Pauline epistles over hip-hop beats (for those that don't know, Pauline epistles are those books of the Bible that were written by the Apostle Paul). With 13 Letters, the 116 Clique brought in members from all over the US (Philly, Memphis, Dallas, St. Louis, etc.) to spit the essence of each epistle over hip-hop beats; thus you end up with songs like "Break It Down" by Lecrae and "To Live is Christ" by Trip Lee that cover all of the major points and themes of Paul's letters and present it in an easy to digest format that makes you want to open up the Bible and "Dig In" for yourself. Some of the emcees that make appearances on this album include: shai linne, 1-Lyfe, Tedashii, Sho, Dillon Chase, Flame, JSon, Trip Lee, and of course Lecrae.

Along with the beauty of simply spitting the gospel, is the wide variety of styles that are presented on this project. When I first heard about this project, I figured that it would be much along the same lines as the 116 Clique Compilation, but this project has crunk beats, east coast and laid back beats, and all are done with excellence. The producers that had a hand in this project (Tony Stone, NAB, and Lecrae to name a few) definitely did a wonderful job in tooling each beat to match the emcee that was spitting over it, which truly aided in helping to bring home the message of each epistle. Also not to be forgotten are the 5 bonus tracks (2 at the beginning, 3 at the end) that are included alongside the epistles; these are 116 at their finest and showing that they know how to represent and get crunk for the Lord!

Spiritual Significance

The spiritual significance for 13 Letters is rather obvious; it's all about the thirteen Pauline epistles and the biblical truth that is contained in each of these writings. Each of the emcees spent a lot of time studying and researching their respective epistles before even writing a single line, and this clearly shows as you listen to the album. Every song on this project is to the point and gives you all of the major issues that are contained within each letter. An example of this would be shai linne's "Gospel Music," which is his breakdown of Romans; on this track, he goes step by step in each verse to show how God's righteousness is revealed and how we are able to obtain that righteousness and then walk out the process of sanctification, then with the hook he reiterates the prevailing theme of the song about the gospel of righteousness being revealed through Christ Jesus. Another excellent song is "It's Yours" (2 Timothy) where we are shown how Paul is writing to Timothy to basically put the ministry in his hands because he has run the race and it is just about time for his own ministry to end, and how he used this letter to provide final instructions to his spiritual son.

Never before has a project been done like this, and I really like the song "Dig In" by Trip Lee that serves as a prelude to get you ready to dig into the Holy Text. "Bible? Check! Spiral? Check! [High]lighter? Check! Now dig in!" After hearing that song you're totally pumped to hear the rest of the album and glean the spiritual truths that are contained within this album. But yes, this is a truly unique album, as no other emcee or crew (to my knowledge) has attempted to provide such a brief yet comprehensive study and survey of a book of the Bible. One of the few albums that comes to mind in providing so much truth on a single album would be an album like Timothy Brindle's Killing Sin.

If the purpose of 13 Letters is fulfilled, then it will cause each and every listener to open up their Bible and study these thirteen epistles in-depth and see for themselves the truth that was spoken so eloquently over these tracks. With the concept of this album being so monumental, this is a great tool for Bible studies, small groups, and Sunday School classes to use in teaching their youth and young adults about the Bible. I definitely plan on doing that, as I pass out copies of this album. Plus, word on the street is that Reach Records is working on curriculum to coincide with this project, so be on the lookout for that too! 13 Letters is definitely ministry at its finest!

Topics Covered

I could easily spend all day trying to tell you the topics that are covered in each of these songs, because they literally span half of the New Testament canon of Scripture, but I will give you a brief idea of what you can expect.

• The Gospel message (Gospel Music)
• Living for Christ and Standing for the Faith (To Live is Christ, Keep the Faith, & Stand Strong)
• Bearing spiritual fruit (Justified)
• Studying Scripture & Doctrine (Dig In & Instructions)
• Spiritual Growth (Evolution & Justified)

By no means is this an exhaustive list, and if you want the full measure of topics covered, then I urge you to pick up your Bible and start reading the Pauline epistles to see all that is covered. Most importantly, what you should walk away with after listening to this album is an understanding of what Paul is discussing in each of his epistles and then a desire to want to learn more and not just settle for what you're getting in the music. The sum total of what Reach Records, the 116 Clique, and 13 Letters are designed to do is take make disciples; they want you to grow spiritually and then take what you have learned and teach it to others. Without that, then this album means nothing.

Key Tracks

Dig In, Gospel Music (Romans), Break It Down (1 Corinthians), Justified (Galatians), Keep the Faith (1 Thessalonians), and Instructions (1 Timothy)