Description
Illumination is an album the American hip-hop act S.F.C. (a.k.a. Soldiers for Christ), released on Brainstorm Artists International in 1994, distributed by Diamante Distribution. The album was produced by Super C for C-Mode Productions.
It’s been nearly three years since Chris “Super C” Cooper dropped the ‘Phase III‘ bomb on us. In that time, Sup has helped several young rappers get their start; consequently, that fresh attack shows up big time on his new flow. The growth in Sup’s music is most evident in his use of jazz, a la Digable Planets or Us3. His mic skills are 100 percent, as he addresses the life of an inner-city African-American through redeemed eyes. [Bruce A. Brown, CCM, July 1995]
SFC grows with each record, and while Super C has stuck to the hard-core street rap delivery and production that has always defined his sound, he’s also grown in his ability to work within its confines. This album has more finesse than previous efforts in terms of its lyrics, sampling, and overall production technique. «C-Mode Fizzunk» is a tasty, jazzy little groove and bleeds nicely into the even more free-form «Interlude – We Can», a poem about a way out for those who have ears to hear. Lots of guest appearances (has there ever been a rap record that didn’t have lots of guest appearances – just kidding.): J.T. the vagabond, the one and only Jon Gibson, and the one and only DJ Cut No Slack Cartoon. Chris Super C Cooper has given us a solid album – all smooth, funky, slow, soulful, and, as usual, illuminating. [Dave Canfield, Cornerstone Magazine, 1995, Vol 23 Issue 106]
SFC’s Chris Cooper makes his most mature, mind expanding album to date, and it’s likely as ever that they won’t be getting props enough from either his family’s of faith nor rhyme (i.e., the mainstream rap community) to blow up beyond their cult status as the true original artist he is. O.K., we know that by that SFC is Cooper and whomever he picks up to record each successive album. This time he has up and coming label-mate L.P.G., Journey (no, not Steve Perry’s old band), and others adding west coast flavor to the predominantly eastern stew Super C has brewing. And what’s cooking this time goes beyond the airy sheen of ‘Phase III‘ to a diverse and experimental yet accessible sound that finds Cooper being his most real yet.
The tension between getting the due his artistry deserves and staying true to that artistry as ministry is a recurring theme throughout ‘Illumination’. Numbers like «Respect», «Don’t Nap» and «Make Money» are firm in their vision of a lowdown, dirty kind of funky hip-hop and Cooper’s resolve not to jump aboard the gangsta/ho/playa 40 oz. gravy train. Socially concious interludes like «We Can» and «If I» catch the burgeoning spoken word trend, but that traces back to beatnik jazz poetry, a much neglected rap root, so it makes sense.
As does the diversity herein. The back-to-back closing salvos of «Existing In Time» (some deep Christology) and «Ladies and Gents» prove that SFC could open for Jeru the Damaja as easily as they could for a reunited Sugarhill Gang. «How I Cope», a heart-string puller with Jon Gibson on acoustic guitar and background vocals proves pop rap need not be a sell out game either.
Elsewhere, declarations like «One Time» and «The Vibe» typify the middie of Cooper’s slightly jazzy, slightly off-center flavor. Liner notes show that ‘Illumination’ came about as a means for Cooper to get over the death of a friend, and if it takes pain to make great music sometimes, one hopes it will be longer between SFC albums. Either that, or Cooper can do the same in happiness. Bet he can. [Jamie Lee Rake, Syndicate Magazine, #46, 1995]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/illumination/920085139)
CD tracklist:
01. Intro
02. One Time
03. Illumination (feat. Journey)
04. C-Mode Fizzunk
05. Interlude-We Can (feat. Red Bonez)
06. Respect (feat. L.P.G.)
07. The Vibe (feat. Steve My Man)
08. How I Cope
09. Interlude-Mighty Gun (feat. DJ Cut No Slack)
10. Don’t Nap
11. Make Money
12. Phat
13. Interlude-If I (feat. J.T. The Vagabond)
14. Existing In Time
15. Ladies And Gents
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Brainstorm.
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