Chuckie Perez

Item: Rhythms Of Tomorrow
Author: Matthew D. Prins

Rhythms Of Tomorrow

(1996)

Reviewed by Matthew D. Prins

Discogs YouTube

Label Diadem RecordsThe LighthouseJune 1996

adult contemporary ccm pop

Chuckie Perez's (Chuckie P. to some) new album, Rhythms Of Tomorrow, is touted as a "more mature release" from someone who has delved in hip-hop music through much of his career. And it is more mature, in the sense that it is obviously directed at an older audience than his previous releases have been. At the same time, though, if the word "mature" is alluding to higher quality lyrics and music than his previous releases, then Rhythms Of Tomorrow doesn't live up to the hype.

The music in Rhythms Of Tomorrow is, ironically, very derivative of mainstream 80's AC music. There is a blatant synthesizer on virtually every track, and the occasional Huey Lewis-esque horn section coming through. The association becomes even more obvious with the cover of Foreigner's "I Want To Know What Love Is;" while the track doesn't hold its own with the original, it still stands out as one of the best cuts on the project. Occasionally, some of Perez's hip-hop roots come out, like on some of the guitar riffs on "Prayer Wheels" and "Power," but even those are subdued, making for an album that stays well confined in the limits of what is acceptable for AC and Inspirational formats in Christian music.

Most of the cuts are very musically and lyrically similar to each other, with all of them using essentially the same instrumentation and song structure. While similarity throughout an album can sometimes be a good thing, keeping an artist within a genre in which they are talented, AC doesn't seem to be Perez's genre. Perez almost seems to be holding back on some of the songs, not letting much of his emotion into his vocals. Pair that with songwriting that is often weak and rarely compelling, and you find yourself with an album that is not up to par in any genre.

And while there is nothing offensive about Rhythms Of Tomorrow, there isn't anything compelling or unique enough either lyrically or musically to make it stand out from the standard AC Christian music fare.