Bizzle and Willie “PDub” Moore Jr. are no strangers to doing a project together, so they have now come with a full album Best of Both Worlds. Near the end of 2010 they did a mixtape with the same name- adding Knowledge and Zeal to the title space- and a little more than a year later, they have come through with an offering I feel is something many will love and appreciate!

With any album, there has to be a strong intro and they do not disappoint! Showing each of their strengths, PDub with his catchy melodies and Bizzle with straight and real lines, it’s simply speaking on their purpose for what they do. The only thing I could have done without was the little radio thing they put in the beginning, I felt it was unnecessary and the track goes hard on its own. The energy does not go down when it moves into the next track called “Reason Why”. Now, in the listening session and message boards I noticed many complaining that the track was already used by PRo on his mixtape song “In His Image” and they felt that it was PRo’s song. Well...let me give the “Reason Why” that’s not the case.

Until recently if rappers wanted beats they would pay for it and it would automatically be exclusive beats. However, with the introduction of leased beats, rappers with a short budget found it easier to lease beats whether it’s for full projects or mixtapes. Many in CHH tend to not have a huge budget so they find it easier to just lease beats and a lot of the popular songs you’ve heard end up not being done by solely Christian producers but mainstream ones from Vibes to Johnny Juliano. This particular beat was produced by Vibes and the reason why they are on both projects is simply the fact that PRo bought a leased beat for his project, which is why you hear “Run it” when the beat starts. Instead of the Best of Both Worlds duo leasing the beat again, they actually bought the exclusive which takes out the tag line Vibes is known for, and it’s their own beat. What’s the lesson in all of this? If you don’t want people confused on which rapper owns which beat, never lease beats because they will be sold again. This isn’t the first time and won’t be the last that this happens.

Now, back to the song, they definitely do the beat justice! PDub and Bizzle reflect on their lives before Christ and I appreciated when Bizzle pointed out that most are concerned only when someone spits about murder or the other “big sins” and tend to overlook when there are other things rapped about that oppose Christ and His values. This tends to happen even when there are performances at shows that are over the top demonic and people finally realize, “Wow that is crazy!”, yet never thought any of their lyrics were influenced sinfully and demonically before, so I was glad this was pointed out that he was involved in those things, yet Christ STILL loved him. This isn’t a new topic by any means; nonetheless, they did it well.

After this track things slow down just a little bit with “Love Comes” and I like how they made it easy to understand the love of Jesus and the truth that He is coming back soon. The referral to the Bible as God’s text message can be seen as clever or corny depending on the listener, but it was pretty cool to me. This song illustrates how I spoke about how catchy PDub’s melodies are as well, and it’s not easy to do that while speaking about truths that are sometimes hard to understand much less communicate to people, I appreciate that about his music. Let’s not forget about Bizzle however, and again he’s speaking about the love of God in spite of his ways and I love his second verse where he says, “I once took advantage of your kindness/stranded in my habits/threw a bandage on my conscience/ran until it got too hard to manage all my nonsense/couldn’t handle it and I fell captive to my blindness/blessed that you never left/you’re heaven-sent benevolence is never spent in vain, bless Your name/I can’t wait for Love”. I think the main draw for many when it comes to Bizzle is the fiery conviction that he comes through with, for its not that there are all new topics he’s come with, its many things that we notice a little yet can overlook as well and not to mention he is intensely gifted in his flows to. Another track that caught me was “Get Low” and again it’s not because of the topic, because it’s been dealt with before, but this topic of humility being dealt with by the Young, Fly, and Saved starter PDub has been criticized for being a statement/movement of pride by many. This track confirms and can help many who may see the movement as prideful is anything but. The track is crazy as well!

Now, I have described many great things that these two have brought with this album, yet one thing if it’s able to be described as a negative is the amount of similarity that actually comes with some of PDub’s melodies. Right now after reading that, you’re probably thinking, “Didn’t he say his melodies were good?!”, and yes I heartily agree! However, after a few tracks, you start to notice a familiar trend with his melodies, particularly when it comes to the verses. While PDub is able to be very catchy with his melodies, at times they can lean a bit towards being one dimensional. I’m not expecting Tonex level harmony and chord structures, but there were certain times I felt that he could have given more thought to some melodies and switch it up by having something that’s stronger vocally.

Around the second half of the album is where you start to get more features on their tracks and many of them deliver quite well. One song that I was excited for was “Chase The Son” feat. Mouthpi3ce and one surprise feature in Kel Mitchell (if you’re not familiar, he was on the “Kenan & Kel” show on Nickelodeon)! I love the chorus and it says, “We winnin’ on purpose cuz He purposed us to win/and if we fall down, just know we’ll get back up again/and chase the Son/we will chase the Son”. This is pretty much the Christian life in a nutshell and Kel surprised me with him being able to rhyme, he did a pretty good job! Just knowing he knows the Lord makes this song that much more special. Mouthpi3ce comes through with a great verse, I wished however that they did not end the song the way they did with him. It felt like they just ran out of space so they fit him there real quick!

The album ends with a call for those going through and living in sin because of the stress and may feel there’s no other way. I can feel the heart of Bizzle and PDub in speaking to those people and having listened to both their songs in the past till now, even more than coming at secular rappers, I feel the burden for those caught in the maze. That burden I feel has driven the way they speak out about certain rappers and songs they come out with, knowing that before them is the destruction of their communities and others that their fans are surrounded by. This was a poignant end to a strong album from these two.

Bizzle and PDub have come with an album of quality and excellence that I hope has caught the attention of many. Aside from some things I felt could have been dealt with more, I feel the purpose of the album was brought out, maybe not so much conceptually but more passionately and as catchy as ever. This album gives you the best of both worlds and is something you can share with those too caught up in this world and not ready for the next one God will place us in.

Categorical Ratings Background:

Originality/Creativity: 4/5
Lyrics: 4.5/5
Delivery: 4/5
Beat Selection/Production: 5/5
Concept/Arrangement: 3.5/5

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