Jacob Sahms

You might expect that John Reuben is a child of De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and others, but would you expect him to be into Bjork as well? With his latest release, Reuben launches onto experimental ground, with reckless abandon and unrelenting energy. Flashing between pop, rap, spoken and sung lyrics, his range has gotten wider and wider since his debut on Tobymac’s Gotee Records in 2000 with Are We There Yet? Whether working with fellow rappers Ill Harmonics and KJ-52 or rockers Matt Thiessen or Tim Skipper, Reuben has retained his sense of humor and his optimistic outlook on the world and being human in Word of Mouth.

Children’s voices sing out O-HI-O in typical Reuben style as “Sing It Like You Mean It” kicks off the album, but it’s not until “Focus,” that he really mixes it up. Having already bashed money as the lifelong goal of some (“Make Money Money,”) he attacks misplaced priorities, and mocks common assumptions. With “Miserable Exaggeration,” Reuben dances over keyboard notes with his jangly hook, while later he’s found dodging down into the disco to bring out “Good Evening” in true funk form.

While music is his main claim to fame, his words aren’t half-bad either. As self-deprecating as before, “Word of Mouth” doesn’t mess around when it comes to Reuben’s latest outing. “How many ways can we package the same concept?” he raps, “it’s all the same, so mundane.” Like the writer of Ecclesiastes, Reuben’s putting out the vibe that anything not God-focused, is worthless. It’s not just pro-Christian drivel though, because he’s knocking Christians who have their joints out of place. In “Universal,” he raps more ‘traditionally’ about how believers should “talk to God like it’s obvious, not the politics or the apocalypse.” That’s just clever! Reuben’s emphasis isn’t on the right or the left politically, but he’s calling listeners to a relationship with God—not an agenda.

With “Curiousity,” he’s again challenging what we think about real religion, but in “Cool the Underdog,” we find him both cynical and subtle. “I hate to interrupt your fantasy, but that chip on your shoulder is self-pity,” raps the Ohio artist. “Self-awareness became unhealthy, close your eyes and enjoy the scenery.” Maybe we should get in more touch with ourselves: how can we know God until we know our place?

Reuben himself explains, “Like most artists, I write from my own experiences with the understanding that my experiences can translate into other people’s lives. It all breaks down to hopes and dreams, human depravity and good times.” A rapper I once dismissed for dancing between excitable and pertinent, meaningful and exaggerated, and often falling too close to silly for me, John Reuben Zappin is the real deal.  This poet-rapper tells life the way he sees it with wit and humor, and that’s good enough for me.

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