With a sophomore release that’s been five years in the making, Twyse is submitting to you what the Game Plan is. A lot of people heard his first album “Who Is Twyse?” and saw the talent and anointing that was on his ministry, and anticipation has been building over the years.
This album took me by surprise, both musically and literally, for notice of his new album release came out of nowhere for me, nonetheless I was very happy. When the album starts, Twyse comes through with a hot intro, and the way he spits he makes you feel what he saying, check out just the first few lines below:
“It’s the B-I-B-L-E/the Basic Instructions Before we all Leave..Earth/yall thought I forgot the E/the most important letter/sort of like I hope you get N/this the Game Plan man/I teach you how to defend”
Anybody who heard the song “Heaven” on the first album knows what “I hope you get N” means. The way I feel about this intro is the way I felt when Ambassador came out with Thesis Pieces after a long hiatus since “Christology in Laymen’s Terms,” meaning Twyse really gave us a great intro! Now the intro ends with him saying, “What’s more important to me is them not going to Hell,” which actually goes into the next song on the album, named “Heaven Or Hell,” which the title itself explains that, depending on who you serve is where you will end up in eternity.
It’s popular for people to minimize the seriousness of an eternity without God, but on the flip side it’s also popular for people to amp up Hell with imaginations of Dante’s inferno being the exact same thing the Bible goes toward in speaking about Hell, but TWyse maintains a balance and presents to the listener the same choice God presents, it’s either life with Christ or death without Him.
One of my favorites on the album happens to be the next one on the album, called “Praise the Lord,” and it brings me back to the Sunday School song Father Abraham, because the sample on the track goes “Right arm left arm, right foot left foot.” Besides that though, the track is just a great track and is just a call to praise the Lord, for He has done wondrous things, whether He supported you with His peace in the midst of suffering in a sin-cursed world, or if He has kept you in health and you know Him.
This album had plenty of other noteworthy tracks as well, including “Where You Are,” “Game Plan,” “Give You My Best,” “God’s Last Name,” “Champion,” “Money & Power,” plus others. One track I want to point out is the title track, “Game Plan,” which had some very great features on it.
If anyone is familiar with TWyse, they would know that him and Da’ T.R.U.T.H are very close friends, and to finally see these two on a track together was honestly a great thing. There were also two more on the track, Prayz1 being one and Iyso on the other. Interestingly TWyse decided to go a little southern on the title track, but I was kinda’ feelin’ it; however it could have bumped with the bass more in the headphones. I want to highlight Da’ T.R.U.T.H’s verse, because I felt that he really related to the topic of the song in the best way, and he said a line that really caught me with its metaphor, check it out below:
“Coming fresh outta’ the locker room/I can see the stands fillin’ up/this is not our homecourt/I don’t think the fans feelin’ us/that’s cool I’m on the floor slappin’ high five with teammates/thinkin’ bout the points I’m ‘bout to earn(urn) like cremate/…”
Now I don’t know about you, but I felt that the last line I quoted was one of the best metaphors I’ve heard on an album this year! However, we know of course it’s not just about metaphors, so just seeing how he used sports terms to convey the theme that we are not of this world, meaning we aren’t home, and the people who hold to this world is against us, was great to see in the verse.
Now I will be honest and say that at first when I heard the third artist on his verse I was at first feelin’ his…wait for it…”swag” on the beat, but then as I kept listening I started to feel that with the topic he could have brought more with it. While it wasn’t horrible or anything, I still felt something lacking in it.
There was one track that I felt a different beat would have fit TWyse instead of the one he used, and that was “A YO!,” and that view was solidified for me when I first heard the sampled intro and then when the track came, it felt like such a huge shift, but not in a good way for me.
Even when I wasn’t feeling one track, then I listen to another track that just really is needed point blank. “Money & Power” was another highlight track for me, and TWyse really dealt some powerful words in the track, and the chorus hits home in that it says money isn’t the problem, it’s the motives, and power isn’t the problem but the source of it is. So the track is basically saying the love of money is the root of all evil, and trying to be self-sufficient is man’s deception, because the Source is only Christ. I like the view on power because of the fact that sometimes we can assume that because people aren’t saved that they are also ignorant and stupid, but it’s because of the fact that people believe that they can be sufficient in themselves, and in taking society to a place that deception is most seen in them, not just they don’t know anything.
There are other tracks that I can describe in detail that shows forth musicality, and lyrical mastery, coupled with humility and the Gospel, but I will pretty much leave it here for you to decide what to do with this information. This album is promised to be a blessing to anyone who needs to hear it!
To purchase the album check him out at CDBaby: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/twyse2
The album is very musical and time was put into it. This CD would have been the ultimate classic, but the mixing of the album could have been done better, and one song I felt didn’t fit him or what he was bringing musically to the album (reason why he got the rating) |
Comments