Knowdaverbs
The Action Figure
(Gotee)
Mike Boyer -- a.k.a. Knowdaverbs -- isn't content with simply making cutting-edge hip-hop music. Like rap pioneers KRS-One and Public Enemy, Verbs' mission is both to educate and entertain. On his debut, The Syllabus, Verbs' educational approach played out through songs that dealt with instructing listeners in basic biblical precepts. With his sophomore disc, Verbs takes his name to heart and literally becomes an Action Figure, showing believers (and non-believers, for that matter) how to practically apply those principals in a Christian lifestyle.
With the title jam, Verbs turns a mission trip to Russia into an international spy scenario, with directives coming "from the office of the Chief upstairs / relaying me some orders." "Phull on Empty" reminds the listener, "it's a daily thing to wake and knock the mess out of the flesh" so that "only He receives the glory." "God is Big" plainly states, "He's bigger than the dopest DJ or illest lyricist / 'cause He'll rise to the occasion and revamp your situation." That's a theme also echoed in one of the album's bare-knuckled moments, "If I Were Mayor," where Verbs "has a few ideas for some minor readjustments," slicing and dicing mainstream rappers with rhymes like, "If you think you'll whiz by and recognize but ignore Him / When you face Him at the Seat take your CD and play it for Him."
Special props to the production team Incorporated Elements (Rick "Form" Robbins and Otto "O-Dog" Price), which returns to provide Verbs with a stellar musical backdrop on which to unleash his accomplished flow.
Bruce A. Brown
CDNOW Contributing Writer
1. God Is Big 4:33
2. Phullon Empty 4:18
3. Just The Facts, Ma'am 4:50
4. Action Figure 3:35
5. Plane Scared 4:05
6. How Excellent 3:28
7. If I Were Mayor 4:39
8. Re-Enter The System 4:11
9. Jericho Sounds 3:40
10. Me & My Mic,
11. What Do You Think Of That? 3:26
12. Zombies 3:57
13. Till Morning
14. Figurative Language 2:56
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NOTES
Date: August 15, 2000
Label: EMD/CHORDANT
Genre: RAP
Category: Christian Rap
CREDITS
Performers
Marquise Armstrong : Vocals (Background)
Troi Barnham : Vocals (Background)
Bill Buchanan : Vocals (Background)
Coffee : Vocals (Background)
DJ Maj : Scratching
Candace Dixon : Vocals (Background)
Jason Eskridge : Vocals (Background)
Factors of Seven : Vocals (Background)
Form : Vocals (Background)
T.O. Gaines : Vocals (Background)
Maurice Henderson : Keyboards
Katy Hudson : Vocals (Background)
Joshlin McKissack : Vocals (Background)
Marcus Murray : Vocals (Background)
O-Dog : Vocals (Background)
Trish Price : Vocals (Background)
Jamie Stanton : Vocals (Background)
Suge : Bass
Mike Sweat : Vocals (Background)
Verbs : Vocals (Background)
Diamond Wall : Vocals (Background)
Production Credits
Cheryl Anteau : Art Direction, Design, Layout Design
Chris Athens : Mastering
Teron Carter : Producer, Programming
John Falls : Photography
Form : Programming
Incorporated Elements : Producer
Knowdaverbs : Producer, Programming
Randy LeRoy : Editing, Sequencing
O-Dog : Instrumentation, Keyboard Arrangements, Programming, String Arrangements
Otto Price : Engineer
Ric Robbins : Engineer
F. Reid Shippen : Mixing
"The Syllabus"
Orientation
The Syllabus
Call of the Dung Bettle
Equeena
Strange Dames
To Whom it May Concern
Giant Slayers
Roam
Iguanas in the Midst
Good Measure
Whatever Brings the Sheep
Fifth Element
I Got It Made
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