| Okay
Yuinon fam, here’s another review of a non “rap”
CD. We know our peeps are diverse and you gotta have a mix in the
CD changer right? With that said, meet the ladies of Ramiyah. It’s
exciting to see young Christians pursue the development of their gifts
and talents for godly purposes. As it relates to female groups, the
landscape of contemporary gospel is already sprinkled with the diverse
talents of Virtue, Out of Eden, Trinitee 5:7and Mary Mary
to name a few. We can now add Detroit based quartet Ramiyah
to this list of ladies who purpose to bless listeners with encouraging
spiritual content while simultaneously daring them not to bounce,
nod their heads, or just flat out get their praise groove on, however
they want to. Turn It Out serves notice to anyone
who would prejudge the ladies on this issue You
can’t tell me how I feel, don’t try to judge on how
I don’t
How I praise is how I praise/Don’t try to tell me how to shout
I can praise Him in a dance/I can praise Him in a song
Every chance I get to praise I’m gon try to turn it out
Point made!
Loud and clear, two times! A remix of this song near the beginning
of the album closes out the opening suite of uptempo songs that
will have people at your event or fellowship asking, who is THIS?!
Throughout their eponymous debut (Music World Music/Columbia/Integrity)
Ramiyah combine grooves heavy joints and encouraging ballads with
great results. |
Detroit
based and nationally renowned production powerhouse PAJAM
(Men of Standard, Dawkins & Dawkins, Fred Hammond, etc.)
saw to it that the flagship project to receive their full attention
was extremely well mixed, engineered and loaded!
“Things
We Want” percolates with what sounds like a
muffled bass drum and deals with coveting, envy, patience, and decisions.
It contains this refrain I pray will resonate with a generation
determined to have “instant gratification.”
“There
are things we want so bad / that we dream we always had
What we want ain’t always good for us…
There are things that may look good / that can be misunderstood
what we want ain’t always from above
Covered,
is a lush mid-temp groove sure to be a favorite of all who cop the
CD. It speaks to the importance to starting each day appropriately.
My personal favorite is track seven, Power From God,
a perfect choice for your driving mix tape, this is one of only
a couple tracks not produced by PAJAM, but to my surprise by Beyonce’s
little sister Solange. With many options of gospel royalty to choose
from the home team (Detroit), Ramiyah couldn’t miss with two
generations of Clark Sisters (Dorinda, Karen and her daughter Kierra)
to join them on Don’t Nobody Know.
My only complaint with this project is the overuse of the trendy
vocal distortion effects on several songs. |
I’ll
keep it real and express my disappointment with the fact that Matthew
Knowles is listed as the executive producer of this project and
that Tina Knowles is the girls’ stylist (so she can dress
young ladies stylishly with restraint, hmmm). When you hear those
names you can’t help but think of Destiny’s Child and
their skin-ful videos and appearances. I’ll give Ramiyah and
PAJAM the benefit of the doubt, perhaps they’re just trying
to leverage the Knowles’ clout and familiarity with the industry
to the benefit of the newcomers. You’ll also notice that they
have Michelle, on the interlude skit and not Beyonce or Kelly.
Cop this CD
at a store near you, it’s sure to be a blessing to youth,
young adults, and all those who enjoy quality music with a message,
from artists who don’t use skin to “enhance” (so
they think) their performance. I pray our young girls take note
of this. I look forward to the opportunity to see these talented
sisters live and distinguish the faces with the voices and personalities
as described on the CD insert. Introduce yourself to these contemporary
psalmists and homegirls at www.Ramiyah.com
-vessel |
