My Review: Must Listen! [4.8 / 5]
It has been nearly a year since the hip-hop world has heard from Reflection Music Group (RMG) Co-Founder Derek Minor. That nearly year-long wait came to an end on September 1, 2017 with the release of Your Soul Must Fly; the first installment of Minor’s new Up And Away series consisting of 4 parts set to be released over a 4 month span. Since Minor’s debut album, The Blackout, officially released back in October 2008, there has usually been two things you can count on from the GMA Dove Award winning artist: a positive message and monster door rattling beats. Your Soul Must Fly delivers on both.
At the risk of being a little trap sounding, Minor uses his first installment as a way to drill in his “Reflect Greatness” mantra through songs like “Take Off” featuring Ty Brasel, Canon (shout’s to Loose Canon Vol. 3) and KB. “Take Off”, much like the rest of the album, explores the idea of relentlessly taking life to another level and Minor vividly expresses this through lines like,
“The Devil’s on the prowl…he want to hold me down, he don’t want me way in the clouds…I can NEVER come down”.
Following the same line of thought Minor rips through a ferocious beat in “Anti-Gravity” in vintage Minor fashion while laying down his pathway to success and giving God the glory in the process. To end the seven-song EP, Minor concludes with titled track “Your Soul Must Fly”, which was notably produced by GRAMMY Award recipient STREETRUNNER. Minor dives into some personal reflection opening up about things he has learned over the years and obstacles he has pushed through in order to reflect greatness. Over a sobering yet intricate beat, Derek Minor encourages listeners:
“You were made for greatness and if I [Derek Minor] can do it then you can do it too”
With his last breath of the album, Minor implores his listeners that “your soul must fly”. Ultimately, Minor does not disappoint in this first installment of his Up And Away series while creating crazy anticipation for coming pieces. Constantly evolving but never lacking in positive messaging and energy, Derek Minor has struck gold with Your Soul Must Fly and in a stroke of marketing genius will hopefully hit platinum with the full release of the soon coming Up And Away series.
