Fashion Expo - Round 1: TruHipHop

Sackcloth Fashion

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 31, 2000)
• Original Release Date: October 31, 2000
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Syntax Records
• ASIN: B000056W4F
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #259,514 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

GospelFlava.com
"those starved for brand new material will scarcely be able to take the entire 36 tracks in one sitting..."

Product Description
Double CD for the price of one. Features the best underground Hip Hop acts you will ever hear. Non stop dope. Even Marcos from P.O.D plays guitar on this gem.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greatest Christian Hip-Hop Compilation to date!, April 30, 2002

By	Scott Hay "Music Junkie!!!" (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was completely blown away after 1 listening of this CD. I dare someone to listen to this entire set and say that Christian hip-hop is still [bad]. ALL MY FAVORITE UNDERGROUND EMCEES ARE ON HERE! Peace 586, Soul Heir, Playdough, SUP The Chemist, 3NP, Future Shock, Braille, Lojique, and tons and tons of new artists I hadn't heard of yet that I'm totally psyched about (RedCloud, Mr. Tru, Dirt, Absolute, DizOrgan). The only thing this album is missing is an appearance from the Labklik boys, but hey; no Compilation is ever 100% perfect :)

I seriously recommend this to every fan, AND sceptic of Christian hip-hop. I guarantee your opinion will be changed after just one sitting.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gospel Flava's Expo Review, January 31, 2001

By	Gospel Flava - See all my reviews

Fashion Expo Volume 1

Hip hop on parade, that's what this is. A fashion exposition, where the threads and accessories consist of loops, breakdowns, beats, samples, flows, scratches, patter and effects.

One after another, emcees, DJs, turntablists and auxillary officers of hip hop offer scripturally-inspired and holy words wrapped up a variety of externals. It's a heady experience and even those starved for brand new material will scarcely be able to take the entire 36 tracks (2 discs' worth) in one sitting.

The compilation was masterminded by the humble Syntax Records honchos who double as artists on the label (Sackcloth Fashion, see review). Needless to say, that gives these execs. an advantage, as their production, mixing, recording and mastering skills come authentic.

And we have to agree with the brief press notes that accompany the project: there indeed was a strong `no chaff' policy in effect for this endeavor - a separation of the wheat from the chaff, the phat from the wack.

The result? An avoidance of the twin plagues of compilation CDs (uneven production, weak tracks mixed in with strong ones).

The consistency in production lends a vibe of continuity, with a tendency towards to orchestral loops and thick, sometimes booming tracks. But a compilation is a compilation, and it would be near impossible to remove versatility, especially on one like this, which has over 30 artists on board.

It's just that this time you'll hear some of these artists in a different production context than you've heard before. Click here for the complete lineup.

Hip hop veteran Peace586 finds his place on the project with "Runnin'". What a track, with catchy hook and simple, profound flow sermonics. Fellow journeymen, E-Roc, Playdough and GRITS also handle respective tracks, tackling a variety of themes.

Corey Red impresses every time out, and he continues that trend here. Featuring Precise, "No Gray Lines" is a song that grabs with his hyper monotone patter that's manipulated to give a apocalyptic feel. "There's no more gray line, either you with Jesus or you're not, either your soul's headed for heaven or hell is where you'll rot".

Refreshingly, the female emcee voice has a say on Fashion Expo. And you'd be dead wrong if you're assuming that this is tokenism. On par with the best of the rest, you find Diz Organ's west coast parlance on "Under Man" to be lyrically hard hitting, beat flowing, and true. She also pops up with vocals on the multiple artist collab, "Quality Junk", as the opening track on disc 2.

Here's some other select cuts that generated deep appreciation, based on innovation, head bob-ability, memory stickiness and how severely the urge ran to press that `track repeat' button.

"Matthew" by Dirt: compassionate song with a story, nice bass, bouncy with a serious hook. "Who Am I?" by Illustrate featuring Joe Bereal: nicely flowing testimony track with a bump. "Game Over" by Fros'T: creative vocal patterns showcase nice similes with the drawn out chords of the loop making it work. Lyrics exhort that life is not a game but that we're to `travel on the straight and narrow'. "Tight With Lasso" by Absolute, Mr. Tru, Ill Harmonics: plucky guitar loops fling the hispanic flava'd rhymes and samples with frequent mic exchanges (favorite phrase: "up and coming has-beens"). "Jurny" by Jurny: from the respected LPG somes Jurny on a solo trip, reflecting on his rap experiences.

"The New Song" by D.O.P.E. Statikk: a palette of instruments (electric guitar, piano, tables and more) set off this crew's poetic honor of hip hop cultured street ministry Essential to your knowledge of what this holy hip hop is all about, it's some serious understatement to say that Fashion Expo Volume 1 make the grade.

More like, it's the teacher.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fashion Expo raises the standard!, January 3, 2001

By	stewart johnson (midwest boi) - See all my reviews

Sackcloth Fashion does it again. This time they bring an arsenal of gifted lyricist along to remind you not to sleep on this trip. If you enjoyed Sackcloth Fashion's album "something for everyone to hate," then you'll be more than pleased with this DOUBLE LP crammed with hours of listening pleasure. If you weren't hip to Sackcloth's uniquness and innovation don't despair they had you in mind too when putting this gem together. With songs perfomed by Sup the Chemist, Jurny of LPG, Grits, Corey Red and Precise, Illharmonics, E-roc, Future Shock, Solseekers, Peace 586, Redcloud, Braille, Absolute, Frost, Illustrate, Dirt, Project America, Dope Statikk, RedFlag Unit, KJ52, and several others the production meshes perfectly with each vocalist. If you are a fan of Phat Hip-hop then you need pick this joint up! One of the joys of reviewing albums is that you get to hear them before they come out. This is one of the best hip hop albums to release in a good five years. This album has the potential to really advance hip hop by raising the standard in creativiity and artistry. When I review an album I usually point out the good and bad. The only thing I can say negative about this project is that it won't make as much noise as it should. It is very difficult for me to choose the songs that stand out because of the overall quality of this release, but I will point out a few of the songs that seemed to really push the artistic barriers in hip hop and a couple other tracks that stood out for various reasons. Angels is just ill. It is a very short track with four emcees back to back. Redcloud sets if off lovely. Absolute comes in right behind him with a dope harmony laced deliver. Braille is third and probably the least appealing. He is over shadowed by the other emcees including Mr Tru who closes off this 2 minute ditty. Other stand out tracks inluce Water World performed by Redlcoud, Traveling Performed by Absolute, Submit performed by Future Shock, Rising Sons by Mr Tru, Man of War and E-roc, Quality Junk Coleon, Redcloud, Diz Organ, Mr Tru, and Sir Rocdomz, The Wind by Trey qel and Ajax, Jurny by Jurny and Journey through my mind by Grits. My two favorite tracks (at the moment) are Understand by Sup The Chemist and Connect by Sackcloth Fashion. These two songs represent innovation and creativity. This should be known as a hip hop classic in years to come. I'm certain that it'll really get things going for several of the newcomers featured on Fashion Expo. If round 2 is half as good as round one then i'm already in anticipation!