The Lazarus Experience Vol. 1 is the debut album from Konviction. This album is the result of a 15 year testimony that includes victory from addiction, anger, bitterness and violence. According to his label, Triumfant Muzik, this project “stands as a testament to our Living God’s ability to manifest a spiritual awakening in even the darkest times our lives”. But is the music any good? Let’s see, shall we…

The Lazarus Experience Vol. 1 is the debut album from Konviction. This album is the result of a 15 year testimony that includes victory from addiction, anger, bitterness and violence. According to his label, Triumfant Muzik, this project “stands as a testament to our Living God’s ability to manifest a spiritual awakening in even the darkest times our lives”. But is the music any good? Let’s see, shall we…

1. Born to Die: I’m pretty much an intro-man. I greatly appreciate well-made intros. They spill the beans about what I’m about to hear. This particular intro leaves me a tad confused. This is because it doesn’t raise any anticipation; neither does it invoke any disappointment. This string-driven snippet leaves me feeling a bit indifferent. I can’t fault anything really; it’s just that it doesn’t grab my attention at all.
2. Let Us Go: That’s more like it! This is a war cry where Konviction commands Satan and sin to let God’s people go. I don’t know if he drew inspiration from the Moses / Pharaoh Bible narrative, but that is the image that is conjured up when I listen to this.  This dude’s voice is quite gully and this adds to the general militant theme of the track. Sick beat with double-time 808 snares and haunting choir instruments. Good start.
3. Blood Bought (feat. LU-I): Oohwee! Now this right here goes extra hard. A very radio-friendly crunk style banger with some impressive flows from the gruff voice of Konviction. This reminds me of Lil’ Prophet’s Go Hard that featured Pettidee. Gully enough for the street, but catchy enough for the club. I like.
4. God vs Satan: This is an interlude that sets up a scenario where we have God pitted against Satan in a blockbuster boxing match. The fact that this is an extremely hackneyed concept is the least of my concerns. What really bothers me is the weak impersonation of a ringside announcer. He (I think it’s LU-I) speaks in a slow and whining nasal voice that comes across as quite annoying. Michael Buffer would be mad disappointed.
5. The King (feat. LU-I): LU-I (Living Under the Influence) more than makes up for the gaffe in the previous track (my apologies if it ain’t you LU-I). Dude merks the synth driven beat and rides it like a champion. I love flows that thread through the instrumental as if the two were intertwined. LU-I has that kinda flow. That’s probably the reason he gets two verses as a featured guest. Konviction then jumps on the third 16 and rounds off an enjoyable song that glories God as the only king.
6. Runn'n (feat. Nikki): It’s time to smoov it out. Nikki lends Konviction a hand on the hook and sings a very pleasant 8 bars and background vocals. What I like about her is that she doesn’t try too hard, but rather she compliments Konviction’s rugged flow. Konviction leads us along a journey where he pleads for the listener to stop running from their sinful past and start running towards Jesus.
7. Full Court Press (feat. LU-I): LU-I delivers another stellar hook. As the title suggests, this track is about not giving up and pressing on and persevering. At first I had beef with the monotonous beat. Upon listening to the whole song I realized that a temperate instrumental like this is the best way to support a message of this nature. Konviction switched up his flow a bit and it sounds awkward. Decent track.
8. I Apologize (feat. Pastor Geremy): Oh my. You know when people refer to the weaker tracks on an album as ‘fillers’? Well this song can be classified as a Super Filler. Firstly, the dude singing the hook and background vocals is horribly off-tune. Not even the dodgy EQ effects can save him. Secondly, the beat is soooooo repetitive and dull. Konviction really tried to save the song but his valiant efforts were in vain.
9. Freedom Skit (feat. Vessel): This is one of them phone call skits. This is different in that the dude who calls starts rapping and then a beat is put to his rhymes. It comes off pretty dope as the beat and the rhyming sync up perfectly. From what I gather, Vessel is the dude calling and he is calling from a prison cell. That would explain the title of the song.
10. Freedom In Christ: Konviction can definitely rap. What I like about his beat selection (save for the horrid I Apologize) is that the beats are simple enough for him to be the focus, yet catchy enough for us to bump our heads to.
11. We Go Hard (feat. Astro): Here Konviction exhibits some lazy songwriting in the chorus where a mob sings a droning repetition of the words “we go hard”. This takes away from an otherwise good song. I also wish he could’ve expounded more on what he means by “going hard for Jesus”. Astro shines on the last 16 of the song.
12. First Loved Me (feat. Nikki): Nikki almost reminds me of Diamone (the 116 Clique affiliate). She sings with same warmth and sincerity. This is a good thing, especially for a song like this. This is somewhat of a love song towards our Father. A very laid back number. I can dig it.
13. He's Alive: I love how Konviction gets creative on the verses and takes us through the death and resurrection of Jesus first and then that of Lazarus. It’s as if Konviction is holding our hands as he gently leads through his narrative rhymes. Not just a hot track, but a great song (if you know what I mean).
14. Suffer For Glory (feat. Nikki): This is something you don’t often hear rapped about. Konviction reminds us that, as Christians, we ultimately have to suffer for the glory that awaits us. A very sobering reality check indeed. I also appreciate how he resists the temptation to communicate this in a dark and somber manner. The beat and the delivery are buoyant and light without ever compromising the serious content of the song. Good job.
15. Praise (feat. Michelle): Is there a law somewhere out there that insists that rappers MUST go out with a slow introspective song? This seems to be the case as Konviction also goes down this worn-out path. Can’t rappers just go out in a big kamikaze blaze? What’s wrong with that? Having said (ranted) that, I can’t be that mad at the song. It is decent, except for Michelle’s vocals which seem to be ‘distant’. It’s almost as if she was far away from the mic when she sang.

Barring the few blips in the track selection, Konviction has delivered a great album. Saturated with ready-for-radio appeal, this project is at home in the whip, the club or the living room sofa. Konviction balances his mainstream appeal with some weighty content that will leave you challenged.

So what can Konviction improve on? Perhaps it might serve him well to experiment with an east coast beat (or two) for Volume 2. And it would most definitely be worth his while to make sure songs like I Apologize don’t make it to the next album.