Album Review: L-FRESH The LION - Become

In part two of his documentary series Becoming One, L-FRESH The LION speaks on the hate he received during his first national tour in 2009, where he supported some of hip hop's greats.

Shocked and dismayed that his could happen at a hip hop concert of all places, he nevertheless resolved to keep at it rather than give up the mic and the pen. And two albums in, L-FRESH shows no signs of slowing down. His second effort Become is full of self-affirmations that are likely to resonate with people from all walks of life.

That doesn't mean that race and politics are glossed over, though. Over dark Metro Boomin bass hits, L-FRESH describes the everyday racism he experiences on Be Cool. "They tell me to go home but I come from here/I can see it in their eyes they don't want me here," he raps on Get Mine, which doubles as a mission statement. The most political song of the album is Never Alone. Calmly didactic rather than preachy, L-FRESH walks us through the lives of important figures in his people's history and the struggles they endured. The jazz instrumental doesn't quite fit the subject matter, however, and a general complaint of the album is that is adheres too much to traditional hip hop sonics rather than the exotic sounds the lyrics suggest.

On Become, L-FRESH comes across as a human first and a Sikh-Australian second, not defined by his experience but still affected by it. But he's made of tougher stuff than to let it stop him rocking the mic.