Gospel/R&B songstress Shei Atkins is back with a new beat-filled album that is bursting at the seams with heartfelt music. The two disc Girl Talk expertly mixes the contemporary sounds of today's pop music with Atkins' mature purr.

Atkins, who's life was forever altered at the age of 13 when she was hit by a stray bullet at a party, may douse her songs in the same gyrating grooves as secular hip-hop and R&B artists, but there's a heavenly light shining through the cracks. The Texas born and raised singer/songwriter is using her voice and music to help spread the good news of Jesus Christ.

While Girl Talk is not a full on gospel project, it contains a positive vibe, something the hip-hop and R&B communities are not exactly known for. Life isn't all sunshine and flowers, though, and Atkins is wise enough to know this and let it influence her songwriting in the right way. From the opening strains of the symphonic "Get On My Level," a bombastic hip mover, to the disc-closing ballad "He Can Fix It," a sparsely arranged spiritual number, Atkins offers a balanced life view.

Tracks like the palpitating "Man Tan" and the electronica heavy "Trunk Banging" would be right at home on mainstream urban radio stations. Both songs wouldn't be out of place on a Destiny's Child or TLC album, either. The latter features a rap from Lil' Flip. "Hot Head" finds Atkins rattling her religious cage. The singer takes a heavy-handed approach in sharing her faith, but it's still a real one. The song features background yelps and wails by Tragedy.

Most of Girl Talk spins like a secular release, but tracks such as "Lord, I Love You," a percussive tune filled with praise for Jesus, and "Romans 10:9," a soft strings and piano ballad, are obvious gospel numbers. Atkins has surrendered her life to Christ, and she's not afraid to let everyone know. The programmed "Ghetto Princess" celebrates the fact that God can reach people from all walks of life, no matter where they were born. Here Atkins proves she's as good a singer as anyone on the pop charts today.

Whether she's wearing her Christian heart on her sleeve, or burying it underneath hip-hop and R&B regalia, Atkins is a positive role model in a genre that desperately needs one.

By Todd Sterling