The intro track "The City" says "And when you're born...with drugs and money launderers, now a husband and a father, that's proof that God loves you." A track that was previously part of the Humble Beginning compilation, "Beautiful Pain," finds its way onto the Art Ambidextrous tracklist as well. Propaganda speaks of things that are painful but are beneficial in life, and end up creating something amazing. One of the prime examples he uses? "Like hail Mary full of grace, she was proud of her stretch marks, how her skin expanded to bring forth the Son of Man, that's pain, but it's beautiful." He sees truth in the darkness, and, like "Beautiful Pain," finds beauty in the painful aspects of life. He even reminds us that he's also just a person and a Christian who needs accountability in "Dig." He says, "Hold me accountable, call me on my laziness, call me by my birthname, look me in the face and dig." It's clear that humility is important to him. When it comes down to it, the majority of Propaganda's lyrics are worthy of mentioning here. He's a fabulous lyricist, and he gives it all he's got. It's a testimony to the great lyrical gift that God's given him. On the musical end, it turns out that getting your beats and production from Odd Thomas is a very good idea. His beats are solid, and very versatile. He gets tribal in "So Help Me," west coast-ish in the straight-up hip hop jam "Lean," and just destroys it on "I Hate It," "Beautiful Pain" and "Dig." The music production isn't necessarily the cleanest I've heard, but it works in the album's favor anyway. Read More Here
‘Art Ambidextrous’ is not for the faint of heart. This album dives in, rushing pass the surface immediately heading towards the deep things of faith and life. Propaganda is a mindless rap listener worst fear. He is an artist who makes music that pulls you in with style and then force feeds you substance. I hope you bring hungry stomachs for songs like “Inheritance.” This is a song that paints an amazingly detailed portrait of a heart broken father battling for custody of his only child. You can almost here the protagonist pounding on the pavement as he pleas for God to not take away the most precious thing in his life. This song is a tear jerker to say the least.
One of the most surprising aspects about ‘Art Ambidextrous’ is the replay value. In a culture full of “in your CD player for a week” albums, this LP is durable. No matter how many of Propaganda’s seemingly endless metaphors you catch the first time, there are many that you wont even realize are happening until the 12th listen. For example, as I was in the midst of writing this paragraph with “The City” playing in the background I finally caught the entire stream of thought I was certain I understood: “We chose not to slang; and that gave me much more bravery than them OG’s would ever give me credit for. Cuz the road was so lonely. We had God only. And fools would creep by slowly like ‘what’s up homie!’ And steady wins the race, open your ears These fools been hustling for years. It sounds like their grinding gears. Stripping up they clutches and ironically its automatic. [I will] literally drive by your drive-bys.”
Read that a half-dozen times. Yea. Its dope. Still don’t get it? Maybe read an auto-magazine and listen again. Despite Propaganda’s vast lyrical resources it is clear this album would not be possible if not for the man behind the boards, Humble Beast co-founder Odd Thomas. There is a distinct difference between making a “hot” beat and making one that supports the artist style instead of dictating it. Odd Thomas has mastered the latter. His sparse production gives ample room for Prop to flex his one-of-a-kind flow on songs like the title track, “Art Ambidextrous.” Here Prop blends spoken word and rap to the point where you cannot distinguish where one art form ends and the other begins.Read More Here
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