Now a mostly Latin music making artist, T-Bone, aka Boney Soprano, aka the Boney Bone Corleone, was pioneering Christian hip-hop in the early 90s.
There are a few discrepancies as to what year T-Bone’s Redeemed Hoodlum officially released, but according to the back of the CD (currently in my hand), it was in August 1993.
The debut album for T-Bone was produced by LA Posse, whose credits include Ice Cube, LL Cool J, and Ice-T.
The reason this album was so important is that it provided one of the first, if not the first, truly raw and uncut sound of the West Coast on wax and by a Christian. T-Bone’s raps were aggressive and more advanced than many of his early CHH counterparts. His Latino vibes made his music more akin to the styles of Cypress Hill but with the Christian message as fervent as NWA’s black power. Not to mention, the rapid-fire flows that fit him in with the Heavy D new-jack-swing.
This was T-Bone’s intro that would propel him to his nearly 30-year career doing music. It also was the beginning of his legacy as an OG in Christian rap.
Purchase here.
Tracklist:
1. Baseball Intro
2. Saved To Da Bone Prelude
3. Jabbin The Jaw
4. Redeemed Hoodlum
5. Rugged Rhyme Sayer
6. Commin Of Da Judgment
7. Lyrical Assassin
8. Saved To The Bone
9. Da Protecta, Da Fixa
10. Virginia Watson Interview
11. Divided We Fall
12. Barrio Blues
13. Gloria Estefan Interlude
14. Predicador De La Calle
15. Hoodlums Prayer
