Sacro Song 3 Father Stan Fortuna, CFR Three Stars At a Glance: Everyone's favorite rapping priest, Father Stan Fortuna is back to complete his Sacro Song trilogy with Sacro Song 3. A mix of rap, jazz, and spoken word, Fr Stan brings us an album that leads the heart to reflection on love, service, and the Pope. If you’ve never heard of Father Stan, let me fill you in. He’s not just a priest, he’s a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal (also known as a CFR). The CFR’s started as a religious community in 1987, working with the poorest of the poor in the South Bronx. These guys are hardcore spiritual warriors, living in total poverty and service to God. Father Stan isn’t just a rapper, he’s also a jazz musician known for making beats live at his shows. His jazz influence bleeds into his rapping and his beats on Sacro Song 3, and it leaves you wanting to hear some real jazz tracks mixed in with his rap. He brings an old-school street corner flow to the album, rapping with schemes that remind me of beatboxing rap battles in college. The variety of musical styles on Sacro Song 3 means some people may only like a few tracks depending on their musical tastes. Lyrically Fortuna pulls no punches, extolling us to serve the poor and disenfranchised, and to be humble servants like St. Francis. (Too many people caught in the cultural snare wanna be a millionaire / All the dough from my cd’s go to the poor to help ‘em get off welfare). Pro-Social Content: The song “Jesus Talks� uses the beat and chorus of Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks.� Normally, I am completely against sampling an artist and then referencing them in your song (see KJ-52’s “Dear Slim�), but Fr. Stan’s lyrics drive home a deeper point than a message to Kanye. He asks if we can see Christ in the places we’re afraid to look. (God is with the cries of a mother/ who has infected her child with a disease / that will take the lives of them both / can you hear Him now?). A lot of the album is about the great Pope John Paul II. Honestly, it brought my heart back to meditate on the Pope that I grew up with. I think this is one of the best things about Sacro Song 3, because we can often forget about the love that JP2 had for us, and how amazing he was. “The Great One� features Righteous B on the second verse, speaking about the Pope: (The Cross was his way and he was never ungrateful / he showed us how to suffer find joy in the painful / and then there came us the object to every verb / he spoke hope to the hurt when we were kicked to the curb). Objectionable Content: Absolutely none. Summary: When it comes down to it, the thing that holds this album back is production. The lyrics are intelligent and well timed, but the beats and production quality separate it from the artists like Kanye or Diddy that can spend millions of dollars on the sound behind their flow. That being said, there are a lot of great tracks on this album where the rhymes will pull you into the music no matter what kind of rap fan you are. “Ima Do Me� is one of my favorite tracks, as Fr Stan highlights some of the new talent coming out of the Bronx with a beat that’ll keep your head nodding the whole time. Sacro Song 3 is undeniably Catholic, musically diverse, and really draws the heart and soul to prayer. Even with its hiccups beat-wise, it’s still a good listen and, most importantly, is completely uplifting to the soul. - Greg Iwinski