Welcome to the first recommendation of 2019! As I’ve written previously, we don’t do traditional reviews but recommendations. If you see an album on the site, we like it and think you should check it out.
With that housecleaning out of the way, let me tell you why I love Hurry Up & Wait by Jered Sanders.
First, this is Jered Sanders 4th album since aligning his music and his faith, and his first with the label God Over Money. So in this subgenre, this is his major label debut! We will discuss his previous albums at another time… Go get those as well!
While this is his first album on GOM, his sound has not significantly changed. The polish on mixing, production, etc. can be noticed, but nothing is a drastic departure from his earlier music. The most notable change is that more tracks have a mainstream sound to them. This isn’t a negative, as the tracks are still very good, but something different from his previous works. The beats continue a trend of increased complexity that began on the album Nobody Famous. “Rain on Me”, “Fear of Flying”, and “Fear of Falling” are stand out beats highlighting this increased complexity. Also, Jered is the undisputed champ of interludes and media clips, and that continues on Hurry Up & Wait. In particular the interludes on “All Year/Daddy Duties 3” and “Hurry Up & Wait/Mitchel & Blessed III” are highlights.
To dig a little deeper; I look at the album as having 3 chapters. Chapter 1 is from “Prelude” to “Long Way to Go”. These tracks are characterized by topics about the Church, the Body, discipleship, Christian infighting, and growing in faith and trust. In this chapter “Prelude”, “Outside”, and “Different” stand out. “Prelude” is a concept track where new Jered, kills the old Jered, because our old selves must die. “Outside” is about how followers of Jesus are to go outside and share Christ with the world that is in desperate need of Him. Also, as he’s done in the past, Jered mentions a controversial figure who is usually ridiculed, but states that they need to be prayed for, just like anyone else. I appreciate that he does this, as the Church can sometimes be the first to judge someone and count them as a leper to the faith. Lastly, “Different” is a track, introduced by a great media clip, discussing how we are called to be different. We are to be different from the world, which takes courage, and also those in the Body are all different as well.
The second Chapter is tracks “Fear of Flying”, “Fear of Falling”, and “Rain on Me”. These are tracks around themes of fears that come about when we do find our call. We can become afraid of the heights the Lord could take us too, and cling to old ways and temptations. Also, we can embrace the call and where God is taking us, but become focused and afraid of what happens if we stumble and fall and become a meme for christian artists. Finally, “Rain on Me” is where the balance of those fears happens and we develop an assurance that “if it’s on the line, will I give up on God, no way… even if I fall 50-11 times… I know I can call on Him any time…rain on me”. In particular “Rain on Me” speaks to me as it came at a time when I felt I was getting to a place of peace in Him and truly trusting Him, no matter what. “Rain on Me” is my personal favorite track, and I believe it’s the album’s best as well.
The third, and final chapter, is from “Get Money” to “Hurry Up & Wait/Mitchell & Blessed III”. This chapter is about the day-to-day living and seeking the Lord. Topics in the chapter are money, staying close to the Lord, recognizing His faithfulness, and waiting on the Lord. “Faithful” is basically a hip hop worship track, really thanking the Lord for His faithfulness, especially when Jered/all of us are far from the Lord. The title track, “Hurry Up & Wait/Mitchell & Blessed III” continues Jered’s tradition of final tracks that are 2-parters. It is also the most overtly personal track. In it he discusses how, through life events, God showed him that he’d “played it safe long enough” and “it was time, shrugging off the play clothes” with his call. Jered also discusses all the difficulties and thoughts that go with losing your job. When I was jamming this album last year, this track really spoke to me as I I’d gone 6 months without a job, and could relate very directly to all that he was talking about. While I didn’t sign with a label at the end of it, the Lord has definitely made it clear to take the play clothes off and get to work for Him.
As I mentioned at the start, I wholly recommend this album. Great production, lyricism, and wisdom; all you can hope for in a hip hop album.
As always, please support the artist by BUYING the album. I love streaming too, but nothing supports an artist like buying their works.
Be on the look out next week for an interview I did with Jered.
In the meantime, God bless, and run to win…
I like the way you broke the album into chapters. Much like the way Psalms is in sections.