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Everyday Process: The Process of Illumination & Elimination

reviewed by Andree Farias
Sounds like … the hip-hop of The Cross Movement and its many cohorts, including The Ambassador, FLAME, Lecrae, and Da' T.R.U.T.H.At a glance … Everyday Process is only getting started, but here they sound like seasoned professionals, channeling an unabashed passion for the gospel and hard-hitting hip-hop.Track Listing Intro (Straight to the Point)
Build Up
Resist the System
Give 'Em the Gospel
Grace
Alll I Need (feat. La'Tia & Keran)
Amazed
Bangin' Defined (Interlude)
Bangin'
Holla at Me (feat. Trip Lee)
Live It Up
The After Party (Interlude)
The After Party
As Real As It Gets
Hey Girl (feat. Badia Jeter & J.R.)
The World Needs Jesus
Shine Bright
Illumination & Elimination (Interlude)
Everyday All Day Cypha (feat. Lecrae, The Ambassador, FLAME, Phanatik and R-Swift)

The Cross Movement Records camp kept a really low profile in 2006, but 2007 is shaping up to be a return to form for the hip-hop label. Hopefully so, since it's now a decade old, and their busy pipeline reflects its growth over time. This year alone, we can expect new music from The Cross Movement themselves, as well as offerings from FLAME, Da' T.R.U.T.H., R-Swift, J.R., and Phanatik. Suddenly Christian hip-hop seems exciting all over again.

But their first release of the year is Everyday Process: The Process of Illumination & Elimination, the debut effort from Iz-real and Mac the doulos, collectively known as Everyday Process. The duo hails from Chester, Pennsylvania, a town just south of Cross Movement's stomping grounds in Philadelphia. But they don't only share proximity in common. Like their benefactors, Everyday Process is a brazen, unapologetic carrier of the gospel message, and one they're determined to deliver, regardless of musical style.

Matter of fact, the album is so varied, it's hard to categorize. Based on the bass-heavy "Intro," the rock-inflected "Build Up," and the bellicose "Beat the System," I made the mistake of thinking Process would be no more than angry crunk anthems and underground war cries. Boy was I wrong. The mood here can also be poppy ("All I Need"), street ("Holla at Me), party-like ("Live It Up"), soulful ("As Real As It Gets"), classic ("Hey Girl"), experimental ("Give 'Em the Gospel") and everything in between.

This stylistic variation is spread across two primary subject matters—the contrast between a life subjected to the power of Christ and his truth (i.e. the process of "illumination") and a life lived apart from God's saving power (i.e. the process of "elimination"). At the end of the day, both emcees are so bold and Scripture-based in their proclamation and intent, you'd be hard-pressed not to make the switch from darkness over to the light. This is indeed due Process.

© Andree Farias, subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.