Fight For Your Mind combines influences from a broad range of enticing influences - Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, Bob Dylan - and effectively bridges the narrowing gap between hip-hop and pop rock.

The songs are built on smooth bass grooves, soul-drenched singing and intense guitar playing. The listener is instantly able to enjoy the music by simply falling into its timeless trance. Harper's crisp vocals flow effortlessly over his highly efficient slide guitar work, proving he is more than a loyal student of the blues.

He is a master.

Harper is shooting to make what he once referred to as the "New Blues." In other words, he isn't just another Kenny Wayne Shepherd, ruthlessly pillaging Stevie Ray Vaughn's song catalogue for old ideas. A good listen to Fight and you'll appreciate his determination to come up with something of his own. The respect for history is there, but it isn't getting in the way of innovation or modernity. "Excuse Me Mr." is a rap song as much as it is a blues song. Again, the bass is thick. Harper's voice is clouded in dark effects. And the attitude is bad.

The album's lyrics, on the whole, are exceptional, lending themselves to serious inspection by covering some pretty heavy subjects: God, racism and love, to name a few. Harper tends to preach more than other artists with similar mindsets, but the presentation of his beliefs and politics is quite compelling.

In fact, the singer's words have an unusually universal appeal. During the ballad "Give a Man a Home," he asks: "Have you ever worn thin? Have you ever never known where to begin?" His voice is frail, his emotion stirring. "Have you ever lost your belief, watching your faith turn to grief?" By the song's close, we share the singer's burden of lost love. We are caught in his web of self-pity, his pasture of endless hurt and pain.

It's unclear why Harper hasn't become a household name. There are at least four songs on Fight For Your Mind with chart-topping potential. The production is smooth and the presentation simple, but smart. In the end, the lack of public acknowledgement shouldn't matter to us.