Album Review: NickdoG – “Disciple of God”

NickdoG – “Disciple of God”
Released: 2011
Reviewed by: Bradford Davis
Rating: 3.1 (Out of 10)
[xrr rating=3.1/10]

NickDOG (Disciple of God) has a great story. A man in love with the allure and fantasy of street life, God brought him into His marvelous light. God used the pain from his words, not mine “violence and addiction” reemerging in his life was used to bring him into repentance, truth, and a desire to exalt Christ in his music.  Unfortunately, the artistic quality of Nick the MC, at least in “Disciple of God”, fails in providing a strong backdrop for his faith.

Nick runs into many of the troubles that plague second-tier Christian artists.  He has an interesting subject, sure. He actually has the most interesting Subject in the universe! But, there’s an inability to express the glory of Christ with high quality art. His lyrics just aren’t interesting. Not “bad”, but definitely nothing to get you excited. Important, no necessary elements like skilled wordplay and vivid imagery just aren’t there. His flow falls into the same issue. Decidedly mediocre, Nick’s flow never catches; his timing or cadence, never unique.  In fact, his cadence remains so leveled and similar through much of the album that his delivery could easily be confused with an all-out deadpan. Combine that with Garage Band quality mixing, and you have a weak sound that dampens any MC personality he currently possesses.

The beats provide a little more interest. Unfortunately, the interest comes more from controversy than quality. As expected, the weak production values remove the “bump” or “swing” a good hip hop record should have. But most strikingly, the one really good instrumental *might* not even be his own. If you’d like to hear this for yourself, listen to “Reachin Out” and Andy Mineo’s (of Reach Records) “Whatever Comes”. The instrumentals sound identical to the naked ear.  The album liner notes give no mention to the instrumental team behind Andy’s jam.

All in all, Disciple of God is a very weak album. The testimony of Nick’s conversion and faith is a plus. But it’s just about the only one. Between shoddy production values, mediocre emceeing and possible issues relating to his integrity, this is a poor album from start to finish. Most everything about it is reminiscent of the hood mixtapes people push on you at the barbershop, rather than a professional record. Hopefully Nick ties up these loose ends on his next go-round.

Comprehensive Ratings:

• Music- 3
• Flow- 3
• Lyricism – 5
• Content – 6
• Creativity/Originality/Relevancy- 1
• Credibility and Confidence -3
• Personality and Character- 4
• Presentation Quality- 2
• Production Quality- 1
• Potential Impact- 3