Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

Following on from her debut full length album 'Soul Food' earlier in 2018, Seattle-based Keasha Beard has released an EP that sees the independent rapper continue to plough her own furrow in the field of Christian-themed hip-hop. Beard has teamed up with Farro Jarro - an Atlanta-based producer who gets name-checked at the start of almost every one of this EP's six tracks - and the combination of FJ's inventive beats and Beard's skilful and disarmingly honest rapping simply works. Fittingly given its title, every track is different and Beard has an innate ability of offering up lines that sound worldly and sensual - the opener "Nectar" has the mainstream-sounding refrain "sipping on that nectar, dripping heavy like it's honey" - before turning each phrase on a sixpence and giving it some God perspective and, as a result, her work will usefully connect with audiences aside from the usual Christian circles. Having previously been an atheist with a dependence on alcohol and other substances before finding Jesus, offerings like "Vibe" and the title track are testimonies of sorts and candidly tell of the life lived before and the radical difference her Saviour has made to her life whilst the minimal "LVLD" - featuring some impressively fast rapping from Red Culture - speaks about her life now being on "another level". Beard herself is a talented deliverer of rhymes but guest appearances by other artists - especially in the sublime "Queenin'" which features Dice Gamble and B Angelique - adds the icing on the cake of this innovative and fascinating offering from the gifted Beard.

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