Trailblazin Ministries

116 Clique - Amped

Written by George Sly
Friday, September 14, 2007

Album Overview

Hands down this is one of the most innovative and electrifying albums in Holy Hip Hop history. If you are not a fan of the 116 Clique, then get on the bandwagon man. These cats from Reach Records will have you gettin' crunk and representin' Jesus, so throw it up! God definitely has his hands on these urban missionaries. Guiding their creative juices to fuse the message of Jesus delivered through crisp rap lyrics over rock music's powerful head banging sound. After listening to Amped, all I have to say is Praise God!

Sho Baraka, Tedashii, Trip Lee, and Lecrae show up to Glorify God with no doubt as to whom the real king of this universe is...King Jesus man. I found myself ready to jump out of my ride as I rode to work banging these tracks. It was unreal the joy my heart felt after slipping this album into my CD player. Unreal! They bring three new songs and remix three songs from previous albums to create this instant classic. If you are a fan of Gospel Rap, then go out and buy Amped immediately. Hold up, did you hear me? Are you listening? Circle back and read the rest of this review later. Go out to buy this album right this instant!

Spiritual Significance

You can not listen to a project from the 116 Clique and not receive God's holy word. Every member of the group brings a message to their music. From being a missionary to dying to oneself, they hit key principals of being a Christian. True discipleship is always the path their songs walk you down. Amped is no different. Reach has done an excellent job of signing artist that can basically survey a book of the bible or deliver a topic based message through song.

Each track touches a subject not only relevant to our lives but the action steps outlined by the 116 Clique artist are so accurate to God's holy word that their albums are always a great teaching tool for new and mature believers alike. You can basically use these 6 tracks to either learn or teach a full lesson. When it comes to being surgical about bringing the truth of Jesus no one does it better than this Memphis based music ministry.

Topics Covered

Being a missionary is a common theme with Lecrae. As he attacks the belief that merely being a Christian and not being willing to reach and teach the lost souls in "Send Me/Represent", I find myself looking at my own reflection in the mirror. Not to mention Tedashii telling us to crucify ourselves daily and walking with Jesus. It is so hard to fight sin on our own, but if we rely of God then we can do all things and "No More" illustrates this point to the fullest. Trip Lee challenges the listener to think about whether we are trying to gain earthly treasures like cash, clothes, and big whips or Heavenly treasure. "The Red Revolution" talks about not seeing people through our eyes but through the eyes of God where color, culture, and other prejudices stop us from loving each other. Instead of caring if we are associated with the right people, we must be associated with the God-of-the-Angle-Armies. The Glory of God is touched along with other key topics like choosing Godly ways over worldly ways, being on fire for Christ, and just how amazing God's love truly is.

Key Tracks

Since there are only 6 tracks I am listing the all of them as key tracks: "Send Me/Represent", "The Red Revolution", "Beyond Belief", "Cash or Christ/Fanatics", "No More" and "Amped". In case you did not listen the first time, you must have this album!