Album Overview
Jesus Christ is The Antidote! That’s the theme of Corey Hicks’ latest album. I have to admit, sometimes its hard reviewing artists that you have never listened to, because you don’t know what you are going to get. What do you get with Corey Hicks you ask? A man with a passion for Christ! This is not just an album with a positive message. The Antidote is focused on Christ, as you can see by the name, and there will be no question that it is if you listen to the album. Being born and raised in New Orleans, Corey Hicks brings a different dirty south style to the HHH genre, which may take some getting used to for some people. I had to warm up to his voice myself, but after a couple of spins, everything was just fine! The lyrics in the album were good. You get scriptures thrown at you every now and again, you hear Jesus’ name throughout the album, and you get encouragement to live for and seek the Antidote! Production on the album was on point. There was a wide variety of different sounding beats which is always a plus because same sounding beats makes an album get old real quick!
The “Intro” track is hot! Starting the album off with a bang seems to be a popular trend at the moment in Christian hip hop. “Eye Rep” talks about reppin’ the Church. I can see this being an anthem track. “New Orleans” is about the city of New Orleans recovering from hurricane Katrina. In this song, Corey Hicks raps about how he went out to help and tried to give the people of New Orleans the Good News and prays that they put Christ first in their life. “Love Story” and “Step Into My World” both have nice and catchy choruses as Corey Hicks invites the listener to check out his testimony. There are some good features on the album like Young Josh (this cat killed the verse on “Tryna Say”), J. Johnson, and Godsent.
Overall, this album was good and will make a good purchase if you are looking for some new Jesus music. The only drawback I can see is having to warming up to his voice and style if you’re not already used to it.
Spiritual Significance
“Rejoice in Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4) is the theme of the song “Saved.” This song is about finding our joy in Christ and in Christ alone. Earthly possessions can help us to enjoy life while we are here, but they should never replace Jesus as our main means of Joy. Corey Hicks also talks about how even though we may be in bad situations, the believer needs to rejoice because we are “gonna live with the King!” Our inner attitudes do not have to mach our outer circumstances. No matter what the situation is, Christ with us and our security should be found in Him.
The song “The Antidote” presents different stories of people who need the Antidote to be freed from their bondage like pornography, fornication, depression, and drug abuse to name a few. They need Jesus to free them from their sin. This song touches on 1 Thessalonians 1:9 and Acts 26:20, which talks about what repentance is: turning from your sin and turning to God. Repentance has often been described as "doing a 180," meaning we turn away from sin and turn to God. This is the very reason that psychology and humanistic programs fall short of truly assisting people who are trapped in sin. They attempt to get the person to turn away from sin, but cannot instruct them to turn to God. So they are, in essence, instructing us to do a 90-degree turn. This half-turning is never sufficient to truly eradicate sin from our lives. True repentance is not only turning from sin, it is turning to God and serving Him. We should be fervent in our service because we have little time before Christ returns. We don’t know when He will come so we have to be ready when He does.
If we want people to know what the Antidote is, we need to hit the streets and go tell them! That is another major topic that is talked about throughout the album. “Whaazaaaam” talks about going out and making disciples like Jesus commands in Matthew 28:19. In “Mankind,” Corey Hicks exhorts that whenever we do go out and spread the gospel, we need to do it in love. John 13:34 tells us that we are to love one another as He has loved us! We are to love others based on Jesus’ sacrificial love for us. Jesus loved us enough to die for us! We may not have to die for someone, but there are other ways to practice sacrificial love like listening, helping, encouraging, giving etc. Such love will not only bring unbelievers to Christ, it will also keep believers strong and united in a world hostile to God. Jesus was a living example of God’s love and we are to be a living example of Jesus’ love! “Tryna Say” talks about going out and spreading the good news even if the people are not trying to hear what you are “tryna say”. “B.O.C.” again stresses the importance of the Church going out to reach the lost because the Church is God’s plan to reach the world.
Topics covered
- Jesus as the Antidote
- Having joy in Christ
- Spreading the Gospel and Making Disciples
- New Life in Christ
- Loving others as Jesus loved us
Key tracks
Intro, Saved ft. Levester White, Love Story ft. Kari Kirtland, The B.O.C. ft. Dre the Nomad, Young Josh