Before listening to Joey Prophet’s debut album, Starving The Flesh, I wasn’t familiar with any of his material, so I really did not know what to expect. Many new artists coming out sometimes hit and miss, not putting the proper time and effort into their craft. I’m glad I can say quite the opposite for Joey Prophet! Starving The Flesh boasts 19 songs with one skit. The Bronx, NY based emcee takes the listener on a journey with diverse production, potent lyricism, storytelling, and heart. The project features known lyricists such as Bumps INF, GS, and Kambino.
The lyrics and delivery are what make this album stand out. Joey has a great gift for painting pictures with words and making his message clear to the listener. On “Israel,” he paints a clear picture, “I’m from a place where poverty’s at its highest/goons on the block are eager to start a riot/ pistols get em excited/ caskets are multiplying/too many people dying and we can stop if we try it/.” On “Worship,” he and Kambino exchange bars about worshiping. Joey delivers some clever punch lines, “While you trying to throw your life away/ you headed for destruction like metal plates in a microwave/ hell is hot with no fire escape/ boiling point is the price you pay/.” On “Ventilation,” Joey gives some transparency on struggling to stay grounded in Jesus. “I’m chasing the truth, Lord increase my speech so I can be close to you like the letter v/struggle with the flesh I tussle with the hardest/ the shame leaves me faceless like Marvin the Martian/.” Joey is an east coast emcee that fans of artists like R-Swift and Eshon Burgundy will definitely enjoy. In addition to the bars, the hooks on this album are catchy and not cheesy or corny. On some songs like “Going Home,” Joey even harmonizes the hook himself, which gives the album diversity.
Another element that makes this album so good is the production. The beats on this album are diverse and all of them are of high quality. The opening song, “Starving the Flesh,” starts out with a drum pattern and slowly builds up with horns and gothic hums and strings. The soulful “Play Ya Part” has a funky bass line with electric guitars and drums. If I went through song for song, each one has a different feel to it and from epic, soulful, to street. One thing that I like is that the album didn’t have any songs that have that typical 808 drum n bass that many artists seem to be doing now. I’m from the south and don’t dislike that style, but it’s becoming to sound repetitive and was glad that Joey had original fresh tracks for his project.
As a new artist, it’s important to make a good first impression for new fans. Joey Prophet’s Starving the Flesh does an awesome job at that and then some. The lyricism is on point, the concepts are creative, the beats are ridiculous, and his delivery kept me interested throughout the whole album. Of all the songs I can say there was only one I really didn’t like. Other than that, it was beginning to end without skipping. The only con I can say is that some people might think 19 tracks are too many, but for me, I didn’t mind because they were very well arranged songs. To the person reading this review, do not sleep on this man’s album. It is classic material, and I urge any Christian hip-hop enthusiast to add it to their collection. I definitely see Joey growing to be one of the premier artists in our genre.
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