Hello everyone and welcome to a special installment in my Artist of the Week series.
This is different than what I’ve done before so without further ado let’s get to it.
A3 was last featured on this series on March 27th, that was more of a spotlight on him as an artist while this one will be focusing on his upcoming album entitled SACRED CALLiNG.
A3 hit me up wanting to know if he sent me this album early if I could do a writeup about it here on trackstarz and of course I said I would, so I’m gonna give y’all a track by track breakdown of the album and then a review of the album as a whole.
Track 1. “NO OPTiON”:
Opening up with a spoken intro talking about the Spirit of God and how it fuels our creativity. This track serves as the perfect opening for this album setting both the tone and theme present throughout it.
Track 2. “SACRED CALLiNG”:
The title track of this project, we’re introduced to what sacred calling means and what Aiden’s sacred calling is. The title stems from being calling to something that’s connected with God, and for Aiden his sacred calling is to lead people to the truth found in God. Through this track we see Aiden come to terms about his sacred calling, realizing that if it’s not from God he doesn’t need it. At his darkest moments it was then that God revealed that he was called for something important. We see him become free and chase after what his sacred calling is, choosing to where God leads him and realizing that his life is not his own but rather it belongs to God.
Track 3. “I JUST WANNA LiVE”:
The last single released from this album, we find Aiden tired of fighting and deciding to live freely in God while also seeking that freedom for his future family. Aiden doesn’t want his identity to be tied down to things of this world but rather base it in the freedom that God has given him. Being free from everything that life says our identity is based in, living in the freedom that God has given us and instead finding our identity in God.
Track 4. “LiES TRY TO TAKE MY LiFE” ft. 1K Phew
The second single released from this album finds Aiden once again fighting against the lies this world has taught, whether it’s “you’re not good enough”, “you’ll never be free”, “you’ll never make it”. These lies have kept him captive and tried to take his life until he found the truth in God, now willing to go to hell for people just so that they could have an opportunity to know and experience God, he’s truly free.
Track 5. “PiLLY” ft. Not Klyde:
The third single released from this album finds Aiden experimenting with a new flow, when asked about the meaning of this song, A3 had this to say:
“It’s about the pressures of trusting God to the point where I would get anxious because I grew up in a church where my faith wasn’t my own
It was my mom’s or my grandfather’s cuz he was my pastor but when I grew up and faced real stuff like life (bills, moving away from home and my gf) I had to trust God but it was scary.”
Track 6. “WHO U REFLECT”:
A strong standout track about making sure who you’re reflecting in this life. Aiden starts it off by declaring that he doesn’t want to go through anything unless God goes through him with it and praising God even if that’s all he gets. Determined to reflect God in everything that he does, pointing out you never know who’s watching you and if you slip up who are you reflecting through those mistakes.
Track 7. “FREQUENCY”:
“FREQUENCY” finds Aiden wrestling with the idea of if he’s supposed to be here, struggling to see himself as God sees him and dealing with fear despite thinking he had conquered it. This is super relatable and I think many of us can connect with these issues having dealt with them before. Asking God to help him believe, following Him and finally feeling Him breathe realizing that He’s near and hasn’t left him.
Track 8. “BEHiND THE CURTAiNS”:
A deep cut, this track finds Aiden not wanting people to see him hurting and not wanting them to see behind the curtains he’s put up over his life. Finding what faith is after praying, hating his rage and facing his pain, another personal track with themes that many people can relate to.
Track 9. “AFTER HOURS”:
The first single released from this album, sonically we hear Aiden taking a different approach with his music. We find Aiden living for clarity, faith and truth while declaring that 808s be his worship and Spirit’s melody. Realizing that he needs God and wanting to follow Him instead of needing follows, whether it be followers on social media or people who look up to him in life, Aiden comes to the realization that he want need it.
Track 10. “WOOHOO” ft. Noexcuse & Miggy
My personal favorite on the album, this song is such a banger, with a hard beat, dope features, this song will go insane live.
Aiden kicks off the hook with a simple reminder of how could we lose since we’re free, Noexcuse kicks off the first verse talking about how he had to step away from the church in order to truly find God, Miggy kicks off the next verse and I’ve never heard of this dude before but he absolutely killed it. Him and Aiden go back and forth and just kill it, this song is gonna become a new fan favorite.
Track 11. “SEE UR FACE” ft. Aklesso, Wxlf, Jon Keith and 350
First off, wow! What a stacked song this is, perfect song to end the project on.
With themes of seeing God’s face in what they’re doing, having a desire to bring heaven on earth and once again realizing what we’re called to be. Aiden starts it off strong with the hook and first verse, second verse sees Aklesso talking about how he’s a child of the Most High, won’t bow to fears and how you can’t stop his zeal. Next verse sees Wxlf talking about how God picked him up out of the mud and how people still try to call him a heathen, he follows it by thanking God that he’s still breathing, even though he thought he’d never make it out.
Next up is Jon Keith who spits a quick verse about living in worship and that that’s how he deals with the hurting and finally 350 is up to bat with the final verse, talking about how he’s been saved even though he couldn’t pay the fee to free himself it was already paid through Jesus. He goes on to talk about how he’s been building his faith up ever since he was living at the bottom, Aiden aka A3 closes the track out with some beautiful harmonies ending it with “it’s time to bring Heaven on down”.
SACRED CALLiNG is without a doubt A3’s best work to date, everything from the themes presented throughout, the features, his sound and flow, everything is top notch with A3 having a hand in producing a few of the songs as well as writing every song, this album perfectly showcases A3 at his best.
This album is not only going to change lives but I feel like it’s gonna help make a shift in CHH where more and more artists put God above everything and place quality over quantity, definitely Album of the year and it’s not even close.
When asked about the theme of the album A3 had this to say:
“This is a story about understanding my purpose on this earth. Many things have tried to cloud my judgment and make me doubt my purpose, whether it’s lies that I’m not as good as the next person or that my work willalways just be a hobby. I believe these thoughts stem from fear— fear of failure or even fear of success due to self-sabotage.
While working on this project, I came to fully realize creativity is one of the reasons I live.
It brings life to people like me, and I’ve been placed in this body, at this time, with the people around me, to ultimately serve them.”
With that being said this brings us to the end of this review, huge thanks to A3 for entrusting me with this, sending this amazing project to me early and for wanting me to do a writeup of it, I’m truly honored and I cannot wait for y’all to hear this amazing, personal and perfectly crafted album. Until next time, God bless and thanks for taking the time to read this.
