The Atonement

Shai Linne | Format: MP3 Music

Product Details

• Original Release Date: February 22, 2008
• Label: Lamp Mode Recordings
• Copyright: 2008 Lamp Mode Recordings
• Genres:
  • Dance & DJ > Electronica
  • Rap & Hip-Hop
• ASIN: B0012JQVT2
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,680 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Dark Cloud Over My Soul February 22, 2008

By Randy Donahue

Format:MP3 Music|Amazon Verified Purchase

I stayed up late last night until the day rolled over to download this album. It was worth losing a few minutes of sleep. I had a road trip today and I thought a few new tunes would help pass the time and the miles. I remember hearing shai say this was going to be a darker album than his previous. He was right.

As I hit the road and pressed play on my mp3 player, I drove under a sky filled with dark clouds. The Atonement settled over my soul like a dark cloud as well. This is heavy stuff, but good as well. I do like The Solus Christus Project better overall, but this is a tightly focused collection of songs that portray the theme of The Atonement powerfully. I look at it to music the way I look at The Passion to movies.

shai blows me away the way that he wraps his rhymes around such deep theology. He is an unabashed Calvinist yet I am not. However, he presents the doctrine very well on Mission Accomplished. Atonement Q&A should be mandatory listening material for all Sunday School classes. My favorite track on here is Were You There? which mixes in the hook from the old hymn of the same name.

The one big dislike for me is the spoken word by a guest on several songs. It's not terrible but for me it's not great either. I'd just as soon it be shai himself.

This cat from Philly raps the Gospel better than most pastors preach it. Definitely worth the investment. Props to shai, but the biggest props to God Almighty and His Son Jesus Christ!

UPDATE 3-29-12:
After 4 years of having this album I stopped back to up my 4 star review to a 5 star one. I elevate this profound work of "lyrical theology" to masterpiece status. I found myself craving some edification from the Word last night and I pulled this album up on my playlist, plugged in my headphones and was treated to a deep, profound, reverent review of the atonement accomplished on the cross by the Lord Jesus Christ. Do yourself a favor: whether you like rap or not, pick up this album and listen to it - really listen to it. Some areas are a little too far in the Reformed camp for me (shai seems to be a definite 5 pointer on Calvinism) but that does not detract from the overall message in any way. This is the height of shai linne's work and a brilliant piece of Christian hip-hop. In many ways, it is to music and Christ what the Passion of the Christ was to Christ and cinema. Don't miss it!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Redeeming Hip Hop July 5, 2008

By Erik Raymond

Format:MP3 Music

What would Issac Watts' music sound like if he was alive today and lived in North Philadelphia? I think it would sound a lot like what we hear on Shai Linne's latest album, The Atonement. Shai is a hip-hop artist who writes lyrics that are weighty, cross-centered, theologically rich and edifying.

Personally I have never been able to get into 'Christian' rap. The lyrics are often trivial, soft, and lacking the weight that both the message of the gospel and the medium of hip-hop demand. So when I heard Shai Linne's album I was not anticipating much, however, I was both impressed and refreshed by what I heard.

As the title indicates The Atonement is about the cross. In an interview I heard Shai say that the motivation for the album came from his reading of the classic The Cross of Christ by John Stott along with sermons he was hearing from CJ Maheney. He then wrote the lyrics and got the album together.

If you are familiar with hip-hop the sound is a traditional tough east coast sound, it is gritty and rough-neck; which goes well with the theme. There are brief interviews or interludes between songs where more is said about the subject at hand (the cross, sin, the resurrection, etc). In addition, there are samples in the songs by Maheney as well as John Piper. These samples come from sermons that these men have preached and really serve to punctuate Shai's message in the respective songs.

Theologically Shai is a Calvinist who packs more theology into a 3 minute song than many evangelical preachers do into a 45 minute sermon.

Personal favorites:
The Cross
Were you there?

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome! April 4, 2009

By Mike Davis

Format:MP3 Music|Amazon Verified Purchase

Shai Linne glorifies God in his albums and there is not a Christian rapper who comes within miles of his talent and Bible knowledge. Shai's greatest songs are;

1)Greatest Story Ever told 2)My Portion 3)Solus Christus 4) High Priest 5)Alone 6)Testify 7)Memoirs 8)Jesus is Alive 9)The Cross 10)Were You There? 11)In Adam All Die 12)Through My Eyes 13)Atonement Q&A 14)Gospel Music 15)Slow Down

As you can see Shai has many great biblically accurate and God glorifying songs. I have been blessed by his music and if you don't think a Christian rapper can glorify God you need to listen to his song "In Adam All Die," there is more biblical truth in that one song than an average 30 minute protestant Sunday Sermon.

Trust me, you will be blessed by his talent which he glorifies God with and his songs sound like no other Christian rapper out there. Shai's song "Greatest Story Ever Told" is one of the greatest songs created in the last 50 years! That is not an exaggeration, that song is one of a kind and every single Christian should own a copy of it along with, "In Adam All Die."

If you are too religious to listen to a God glorifying Christian "Rapper" you have other issues that you need seek God's face about. Spend $.99 and buy an mp3 copy of "Greatest Story Ever Told" at Amazon and see if I am telling you the truth.