Artist Info:Discography Album length: 13 tracks Street Date: April 4, 2006
Thug Love, the latest album from Grammy-nominated southern rap artist
Pettidee, goes a long ways in solidifying the fact that there is a
hip-hop sub genre of Christian music. What caught me off guard on
first listen was the fact that this guy really wants to witness to
others. Every song seems to have a positive purpose, with Petty
purposely steering away from the common subjects that frequent most
rap albums today. I bring up "other" rap albums, because it wouldn't
be unreasonable to place Thug Love in the same realm as many other
hip-hop albums released today.
There is no questioning Petty's mission, especially after listening
to "Never Give Up," in which he raps about the trials in his life only
making him a stronger Christian. "Glide Aside," the album's first
track, also reinforces Petty as a Christian artist, as he tells his
critics to "glide aside" as he witnesses for Christ.
"Butterflies," the most commercially appealing track on Thug Love, is
also the most powerful. Dealing with the volatile issues of physical
and spousal abuse, Pettidee says this about the song on his website,
"[Butterflies] deals with my past and a lot of things that the church
doesn't address." I can relate with him on this issue because I cannot
remember the last time I heard a sermon about abuse, in fact I don't
think I ever have. Featuring Rebecca Covington, "Butterflies" is sure
to find a home on hip/hop radio.
I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the most knowledgeable person
in the hip/hop field. Still, from what I can tell, Pettidee truly
takes "Practice What You Preach" to a whole new level. Combined with
irresistible bass-instilled beats, his lyrics go along ways in
bringing Christ's words into areas of American culture that Christian
music doesn't often go. More hardcore than KJ-52, TobyMac, or the
music of Grits, Thug Love will not be as commercially appealing as
that of the aforementioned artists, mainly because most of the tracks
lack a great hook to garner substantial radio play. Still, off the
radio and in the streets, this kind of music is very popular. This
puts Pettidee in a unique position to witness to a group of people
that would typically not be listening to music containing subject-matter like this, and
I feel that this is exactly where Petty wants his album to be.
- Review date: 4/11/06, written by Andrew Shaw
Artist Info:Discography Record Label: Beatmart Recordings
Album length: 13 tracks
Street Date: April 4, 2006
Buy It:JfH Music Store
Artist Info: 
