Description
A Saved Man (In the Jungle) is the sophomore album by the American hip-hop group S.F.C. (a.k.a. Soldiers for Christ), released on Broken Records in 1990, a Brainstorm Artists International imprint manufactured and distributed by Word. The album was recorded by Gene Eugene (of Adam Again fame) at Mixing Lab B in Huntington Beach, California. Mixed by Gene Eugene and Super C at Mixing Lab A in Huntington Beach. Guest M.C.’s includes Dynamic Twins, M.C. Peace, and Poetic Lee. Adam Again drummer Jon Knox is featured playing live drums on tracks “The Verdict” and “2 Much Chemistry”, and the latter track as well features The Choir‘s Dan Michaels on saxophone. SFC sampled the track “Beat Peculiar” from Adam Again’s 1988-album Ten Songs by Adam Again for their song “Peculiar.”
This album was considered by some to be the first legitimate rap albums to be released in the Christian marketplace.
In the development of sanctified hip-hop, S.F.C.’s ‘Listen Up!‘ was significant in pioneering use of reggae rhythms, sampling and a streetwise aesthetic that few have surpassed since.
Add one more, Chris “Super C” Cooper and his DJ, the Dove, have created a dynamic collage of beats, cuts, scratches, loops and rhymes (of course!) that speak of a faith well-integrated into a lifestyle that still takes cultural cues from the streets of California and the Afrocentricity that has captivated the rap nation for the past couple of years.
As with any rapper worth his weight in beads and medallions, Copper doesn’t escape irony. «Idiot Box» is anti-TV rant as powerful as Public Enemy’s «She Watch Channel Zero», but in the preceding «Suplex 2 mind» there’s a soundbite copping Saturday Night Live’s Church Lady. Besides, Sup claims to have come to Christ via Christian television. Oh well…
That idiosyncrasy is easily overlooked upon absorbing the mega-dopicity of «The Bomb», «2 Much Chemistry», «A Saved Man», and «The Verdict». All pound with percussion that evokes the old-school live drumming of Sugar Hill productions while evincing a contemporary urgency.
Equally fetching is Cooper’s Christianity as an everyday part of life. «Can’t Wait (to Get to Church)» uses a Creedence Clearwater Revival riff and believable couplets to make Sunday sanctuary time cool. A dream of meeting Lucifer in a jail cell after C’s picked up for speeding in «My Alarm/Freestyle» seems more contrived, though his dub reggae reading, recalling Mutabaruka, is less so.
But the humor doesn’t end there. The «KACR» snippets makes S.F.C.’s displeasure with Christian radio’s rap restrictions known in no uncertain terms. More subtly, there’s the Adam Again sample in the piano-funky «Peculiar» (funny ‘cuz AA’s Gene Eugene is an owner of S.F.C.’s label). Not really funny but a left-field urban gospel hit could be «Long Way» with soulful supplementary singing from Appointed.
And since you get 20 tracks to tackle, ‘Saved Man’ is a deadly deal in its economy and sonic strength. When Broken says this is authentic rap, believe the hype. [Jamie Lee Rake, CCM, December 1990]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/a-saved-man-in-the-jungle/648567758)
CD tracklist:
01. Whatever – 3:17
02. A Saved Man – 4:42
03. Suplex 2 Mind – 4:51
04. KACR I – 0:34
05. Idiot Box (feat. MC Noel Arthurton of Dynamic Twins) – 3:33
06. Long Way (feat. Appointed) – 3:54
07. Rominos – 0:48
08. Peculiar – 3:54
09. The Verdict – 4:33
10. In Your Speaker – 3:47
11. The Bomb – 4:06
12. My Alarm/Freestyle – 5:29
13. Honesty – 1:31
14. KACR II – 0:58
15. Can’t Wait (feat. MC Poetic Lee) – 4:31
16. Success – 0:50
17. 2 Much Chemistry – 3:35
18. A Word From Our Pastor – 0:24
19. Jungle Message 2 Man – 4:20
20. Prime Time Mix – 3:41
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Brainstorm.
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