YESH Recordings
Release Date: September 14th 2018
Reviewed by: Jonathan Andre
HillaryJane– L.O.V.E. (iTunes/Amazon mp3)
Track Listing:
- L O V E
It’s been a whirlwind 4 years for hip-hop/rap/pop artist HillaryJane. From releasing her chart-topping and well-received EP Stix and Stones way back in July 2014 (that birthed the prominent and poignant songs ‘Chimneys’, ‘Stix and Stones’ and ‘Wild Side’), to becoming a Youtube vlogger and regularly posting videos about various topics, alongside being a married woman, as well as owning her own home with her husband; there’s been a lot that has happened in Hillary’s life thus far. And while I’m sure Hillary has wanted to release new music for a while (but probably couldn’t because of legal reasons or such), here in 2018, Hillary has released a powerful song in ‘replay’, and now also released not too long ago, another track called ‘L O V E’. Since becoming a force on social media of late, fans of her previous music have followed her presence on platforms like facebook and twitter, as well as following her presence on Youtube as well, as she speaks on topics like Christians and suicide, blame shifting, overcoming insecurities, micro-cheating, as well as why she’s getting baptised…again. With a wide variety of topics and things to explore on her youtube page, Hillary is certainly busy, and now with the release of both ‘replay’ and ‘L O V E’ Hillary doesn’t appear like she’s slowing down anytime soon. With her presence in the hip-hop/pop industry being very much welcomed by myself, when we know that this hip-hop/rap/pop industry is certainly dominated by males (think Lecrae, NF, Flame, Derek Minor, This’l, Tedashii, KB, Andy Mineo, Steven Malcolm, TobyMac, Trip Lee…you get the picture), HillaryJane and her music is certain to create a fair amount of buzz and anticipation, and a song like ‘L O V E’ is no different.
‘…hey what’s up, my name’s HillaryJane and I’m so excited to share my new song L O V E with you. I’m guessing you can guess what this song’s about, love. So many times, as we’re growing up, maybe it’s our parents, our family, ourselves, the media, the world that we live in, the music we listen to, teaches us about what love should look like. And so this song is really just to encourage and inspire you to live out a love that is Scriptural, that is biblical, and that God calls Christians to everyday. And whenever we live out this kind of true love, this is where hearts, relationships, souls, lives, really start to change, so yeah. Listen to my new song LOVE cause it’s the only way…’ With this quote taken from a behind the song video on YouTube, HillaryJane unveils ‘L.O.V.E.’, a song that is easily as poignant, maybe even more so, than ‘replay’ that released a little while ago. Though only standing at 3:19, the message the song sends is as timely as ever, as we’re reminded that as we show love- God’s love- lives will indeed be changed, regardless of how bad the situation is at first.
In an age where violence, judgement, worry, sin, things we can’t control yet somehow we are spiralling out of control, are all culminating in our lives; it is the love of God that will pierce through the darkness and find us where we’re at. And yet it is the love of God that shows no boundaries, doesn’t discriminate nor does it love with any condition attached. It just loves, regardless of who we are, what we’ve done, or even what we’ll continue to do. And as we’re ambassadors of Christ here on this Earth, our love for others ought to be unconditional, considering that this unconditional love was what was given to us by God in the first place (in the form of Jesus’ death and resurrection!). Hillary’s new song ought to allow us to bring our thought processes on love and what it really means, to the fore, as a melody such as this invites us all to carefully examine our lives and see whether our love for others is really reflecting Christ’s love or not!
‘…this song is about loving the way God says to love, and when we love THAT WAY…HIS WAY lives will transform, and relationships will be completely different. I think it’s important to know what God says about love, considering He’s the one that IS THE EMBODIMENT of it!!! …’ And that is that- ‘L.O.V.E.’. A song that may or may not get as much attention as ‘replay’, purely on the fact that ‘replay’ was indeed the comeback single from Hillary after a 4 year absence. Nevertheless, Hillary’s new song is catchy enough for it to be heard at least once straight through. For such a theme about love has been undertaken and recorded before by many different artists, yet an idea and concept such as love, especially God’s love, can never have enough songs about it. And this new one by Hillary is just another one added to the list. And so, if these two new songs Hillary has released is any indication about how forthcoming songs will be, then this new project by Hillary is sure to be her best yet. Infusing together hip hop, rap and pop together, and infusing them very seamlessly and uniquely; we are met with an artist very underrated as these new songs from Hillary fast become some of my favourite out-of-the-box songs I’ve heard in 2018 thus far! Well done Hillary for this track, can’t wait for the new songs, whenever they arise!
Score: 4/5
RIYL: Hollyn, TobyMac, Jamie Grace, Riley Clemmons, Flame, V. Rose, Stacie Orrico