Beyond The Turntable

Manafest is a Canadian hip hop/rap rocker Chris Greenwood. At only five years old, Greenwood lost his father to suicide. He struggled through life and was on the verge of a promising skateboarding career when an injury derailed that dream. While recovering, he got serious about rapping and writing, and was soon discovered by TFK's Trevor McNevan. The year after an indie release in 2003, I met him at Gospel Music week in Nashville. He seemed like a great kid, but I had no idea how well known he'd become internationally (even in Japan!). He released his first BEC label record in 2005 and remains on that imprint of Tooth & Nail.

Manafest's arlier albums were focused on rapping, but the new album, Fighter, continues the move to a harder rock sound with more singing, sounding reminiscent of Red, TFK, early Pillar, TobyMac and mainstream bands like Linkin Park and Sum 41. Producers Seth Mosley (newsboys) and Adam Messenger (Justin Bieber, Chris Brown) create an aggressive mood fitting the lyrical content. Addressing themes of loss, addiction and struggle, Manafest refuses to submit, telling each one of us to be a fighter. My favorite sequence begins with "Never Let You Go," a song of encouragement from God's perspective that mellows things down a bit:

I'll be your peace in the waiting / your strength when you're broken on the floor / hold on, it's all worth fighting for / cuz I will never let you go

That's followed by the higher adrenaline "Not Alone" (which reminded me of Red) and "Prison Break."

Manafest's prior album, The Chase featured Trevor McNevan on three tracks. While the TFK influence is still clear on Fighter, Manafest handles more of the singing vocals this time around in addition to the rapping. If you have appreciated Manafest or TFK in the past, you're sure to enjoy Fighter.

Visit Manafest.