Venus and Mars are Alright: The 2017 Platinum Vinyl Awards 3rd Qtr - Rap

The 3rd Quarter Wrap Continues. Our three way tie goes to the middle genre with Rap. We won't spend any time on small talk and get right to it.

Rap/Hip Hop

• GRITS - Saints and Sinners
• Mali Music - The Transition of Mali
• Propaganda - Crooked
• RAWSRVNT - Shut It Down
• Renaissance Movement Music - Safe House

A few words. It is good to see music from GRITS. They were one of the first Hip Hop artists not named DC Talk that I first heard back in the late 90'. Renaissance Movement Music is a collaborative act that is using all proceeds to establish Safe Houses against Human Trafficking.A much better thing than Safe Zones for Snowflakes. Rock Music is next. Until then, click the links, buy from Amazon and support The Night Beat. I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Night Beat Rewind: May 2017

We are in the middle of June and we are ready to reveal the May edition of Rewind. One sign that things are slowly returning to normal. Slowly, because we are two thirds through the 3rd Quarter of 2017 and we are just now announcing the 2nd Quarter. Plus, we are just announcing the #PlatVnyl7 Nominees. In the good old days (just kidding, It is always better to have a lot of excellent music) we would have finished the awards by now. Such is the price of success. We begin this and every edition of Rewind with the song releases.

The Singles Scene

• Canon - We Been Here 4.50 Emeralds
• Brandon Heath - Whole Heart 4.75 Emeralds
• Nobigdyl - Shakira (ft Marty) 3.50 Emeralds
• Matthew Parker - Young Skywalker (May The Fourth Be With You) 4.50 Emeralds
• Javier Rodriquez - Free 4.50 Emeralds

We move on from the songs to the albums. We begin with the albums of which will not make the 3rd Quarter Pool.

Missing The Mark

• Change - Feels Like Nothing 3.75 Emeralds
• Deathbreaker - Disconnect 3.75 Emeralds
• Earth Groans - Renovate EP 3.50 Emeralds
• Sherwin Gardner - Greater 3.75 Emeralds
• Eric Heron - Dawn EP 3.75 Emeralds
• Gretchen Keskeys - Pure Hope 3.75 Emeralds
• New Wine - Encounter Us Holy Spirit 3.75 Emeralds
• John Reuben - Reubonic 3.75 Emeralds
• Jered Sanders - VERSEatility 3.75 Emeralds

Nine Missing The Mark is a hopeful sign. When you can reject that many in a month and still have more than enough entries, the state of music is doing well. From the Left Out to the Perfect.

Pure Platinum Perfection

• Todd Agnew - From Grace to Glory: The Music of Todd Agnew 5 Emeralds
• We Are Leo - The Rush And The Roar 5 Emeralds
• Lowercase Noises - The Swiss Illness 5 Emeralds
• Mandisa - Out of The Dark 5 Emeralds
• Narrow Skies - Seasons: Midnight Horizons 5 Emeralds
• Rend Collective - Build Your Kingdom Here: A Rend Collective Mixtape 5 Emeralds
• At The Wayside - The Breakdown and The Fall 5 Emeralds

7 Perfect Albums in a month. Almost the same as the rejected. I guess that's called a good balance for the month. Finally we go to the music in the middle.

Semi-Precious Metal

• Josh Baldwin - The War Is Over 4.50 Emeralds
• Christ For The Nations Worship - Melody of Love 4.75 Emeralds
• Robin Damron II - Live Forever EP 4.50 Emeralds
• Abigail Duhon - Abigail Duhon EP 4.50 Emeralds
• Folding Lights - Exiles EP 4.50 Emeralds
• Gideon - Cold 4.75 Emeralds
• Iron Bell Music - God That Saves 4.75 Emeralds
• Least of These - Wolves EP 4.50 Emeralds
• The Letter Black - Pain 4.75 Emeralds
• Matthew Parker - Adventure (Deluxe) 4.75 Emeralds
• RAWSRVNT - Shut It Down EP 4.75 Emeralds
• Southern Raised - Another World 4.75 Emeralds
• Willow Stephens - Willow Stephens EP 4.50 Emeralds
• Various Artists - Top 25 Praise Songs 2017 4.50 Emeralds
• Matthew West - Broken Things 4.75 Emeralds
• Helen Yousaf - Custodians of Fire 4.50 Emeralds

And finally 15 Semi-Precious Metals. 31 releases crossed my desk this month, and I don't believe that I got them all. I usually don't. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Mistletunes: The 2016 1st Quarter - Rap

If you've been counting you know which genre has won this quarters prize for the most entries. The Penultimate genre is Rap, as well as its bouncier sibling Hip-Hop. Hip Hop is getting swallowed up by Dance and Synthpop these days, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. There were an even dozen entries into the pool this quarter.

Rap/Hip-Hop

• Alert 312 - The Upside Eternal
• Benjah - Motives
• GuvnaB - Secret World
• Alex Faith - Bloodlines
• Hollyn - Hollyn
• Monolog - Transparency
• Dre Murray - 34
• Puntin - Gold
• Rawsrvnt - Game Changer
• Skrip - Show and Tell
• Tru Serva - Eyes Open
• Various Artists - Holy Hip Hop (Vol. 20)

A nice mix of artists here. Most of them are veterans here, with the exception of Hollyn, who is debuting. Modern Worship Is next. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.