Acts 29 is indeed an interesting mixture. You have Return to Sender (Braille and Ohmega); underground hip hop lyricists/producers, and Soul Plasma; a mainstream-influenced emcee. In addition, this project was put together for a Portland youth group. The question I had in my mind was, "what kind of music would come out of this odd combination?" To my relief, the hip hop that comes from Acts 29 is pretty ill. Braille controls the microphone with a confidence and clarity never heard before. Soul Plasma does a decent job on his first ever album. At times, he is too simplistic lyrically, but he usually makes up for it with his charismatic persona. Ohmega Watts handles the majority of the production beautifully, only suffering occasionally from similar-sounding drum loops. He also drops some verses on a handful of tracks, with powerful flows that make you miss his voice on the rest of the CD. Some standout tracks include the melodic "Intro" (which should have been a full track), the playfully fun "See Clear" and the head-nodding "Shoot Out." Other tracks that will have you hitting the repeat button include the jazz-tinged "Sweet Tooth," the Soul Plasma solo "Deja vu" (which boasts a guest vocalist reminiscent of Cee-Lo from Goodie Mob), Return To Sender's hard hitting "Statements" and the mellow and introspective "Hurts to See." Although it is a dope effort, in many ways, this album has made me fiend even more for Return To Sender's long-delayed Needles in the Hay LP. There are tracks (the most obvious being the contemporary Christian-sounding "Confessions") that are deliberately "churchy" to fill the obligation of providing a clear message to the average youth group member. The raw and poetic hip hop that Return to Sender are capable of is sacrificed a lot on this CD for simple "after-school special"-style tales. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but I am hoping that Acts 29 is a prelude to an upcoming storm that Braille and Ohmega Watts will deliver as Return to Sender and on their respective solo albums.
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2003Reviewed by Bert GanglA fine album with more than a few worthy cuts. The shimmering "Confessions" sprinkles sparkling female chorus voices, a la, say, Out of Eden, atop an exceedingly smooth and mellow groove. The gripping, best-of-album "Blank Mind," by comparison, sports a dark, almost alt-rock feel. One of the more consistent efforts of the bunch.Similar sounding releases
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