Words I Did Say

Rick Ross, rape and changing the environment

Christians are all up in twitter-arms this week because Kanye is teasing an album title that I doubt anyone truly takes seriously or expects to be pressed on wax. All this faux outrage is going on while controversy swirls over Rick Ross’ guest verse on Rocko’s “You Don’t Even Know It” track. No need to impress your friends by acting like you knew who Rocko was before all this…I’m sure not going to bother. The line in question, coming in the second verse, is when Ross brags that he ”Put molly all in her champagne, She ain’t even know it / I took her home and I enjoyed that, She ain’t even know it.” For those unaware, molly is a more common street drug in close relation to and sharing elements of Ecstacy, being name dropped in rap nowadays like codeine and its z’ed variations were a short time ago. 

 

Let me say this right off the bat: The line is disgusting, offensive, irresponsible, repugnant, inexcusable, dangerous and genuinely worthless. If someone were to suggest something similar to what Ross said about a female in my life that I had even the smallest ounce of care for, I’d have little to no problem degrading their quality of physical life. That’s the easy part. The hard part comes with interacting with a culture where contradictions are comfortably lived with. 

 

Bloggers are often labeled, at best, sideline reporters who write either wistfully or bitterly about a game they will never participate in. So is simply calling the song foul beyond redemption and boycotting the musical of all involved enough to fight the cultural mindset that birthed and will ignore Ross’ rape co-sign? There are plenty of other ways this conversation can go than the one that changes things. Some of those paths, passionately ran down, will get to the acid-beating heart of the issue. Others will be unwitting distractions from the point of all this controversy. The deteriorating effect that hip-hop has on America’s youth will be testified to. A retweet here, a rant there to ease the conscience of those detached from the culture that “I’ve done something.” But is what you’re planning to do going to change anything? More importantly, will your actions change anybody? 

 

I fully recognize the fantastical nature of hip-hop, especially the bloated hedonism that dominates the modern airwaves. That will no doubt be the excuse those who support Ross through this will post in caps lock. Real recognize real, they say. But that usually tells me more about those who do the recognizing than those being recognized as authentic. And although the culture’s climate is quicker to offer an excused explanation for irresponsible action than a damning judgment, this should not be the case here, especially on this topic of rape that, to the damaging detriment of the victims, is found to be gray far too often in the public eye. Personally, I’m not looking for an apology from label or rapper (Although I fully understand why those petitioning for it are doing so). What I am looking for is a catalyst to end the lack of engagement with those who will be hearing and digesting the song; primarily our youth. 

We can take the line as a starting point to say enough or we could label it ignorance and throw it in a maggot-soaked pile of feces never to be seen again. Or we can be the change in the areas that house those who will be posting that line as their Facebook status. (That’s both suburbs and ghettos, just in case pre-conceived notions had brought to your mind only the latter). 

Is that a frustratingly vague mission statement? Maybe. But once you are in this culture, it’s ailments are painfully obvious and what needs to be cured becomes apparent immediately. Involvement, coaching, conversations and engagement are where it begins. Where it ends is up to those of us in the trenches. So vocalize outrage over this misogynistic vomit instead of the illuminati elements of Beyonce’s halftime performance and get involved in the change that you see the field needs.

For a more detailed exposition of Ross’ role and the rape culture that the line was preached to, read this quality article - http://bit.ly/106oOF1

Alan C. Duncan - “Dying for You (Remixed)”

W.L.A.K. Week Part 4 - We Live As Kings Review

Since the beginning of time, humanity’s positional view of self and belief of how his creator views him has been both the most foundational and the most crippling truth to dictate the daily steps of mankind. Think of yourself as the center of your sub-universe and you walk around with arrogance cloned over airwaves but rarely respected in person when you get to cursing out those who eclipse you as you’re escorted out of a South Beach stadium.On the flip side, if you see yourself as the lowest of the earth (Either proudly or depressingly) the adjectives, or lack thereof, that people tag your Facebook pictures with will be what defines you, usually for the worse. In the Christian life, view of self is no less mangled. Does the mirror show you a filthy, repulsive sinner who traces ‘chief of sinners’ in your recurring pile of vomit like sand on the beach or a person forgiven for life who abuses the freedom of the Cross to feed Pharisaical gluttony? The Collision Records roster (Dre Murray, Swoope, Alex Faith, Christon Gray & producer/A&R Wit), while acknowledging the reality of the previous examples, presents a mindset grounded in Scripture: That believers are kings through the blood-stained cross. Their goal isn’t a solid-gold altar to self but an exhortation the brethren in everyday life in light of truth that will eventually see our crowns returned to the one who bestowed them on us, out of gratitude. Because, according to Scripture, We are to Live as Kings.

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W.L.A.K. Week Part 3 - Christon Gray ~ Body Art

      

 ”There is a time for everything,and a season for every activity under the heavens…”

When I say that Collision Record’s Christon Gray has a voice and vocal range not unlike the suave charisma of John Legend paired with the confident unorthodoxy of Frank Ocean put together in a singer/emcee suit and tie bought from the same warehouse that Childish Gambino shops at, don’t take the references to other vocalists to imply that what we have here is nothing more than a hybrid dreamed up while listening to light urban radio. On the contrary, Mr. Gray is arguably one of the most talented individuals in the subgenre. He can sing better than at least half of who these rappity rappers enlist to belt out a hook for them and his rhymes flip words and metaphors like a college-educated Gabby Douglas with a final scorecard that rivals your favorite rapper. And if you missed the handshake that was his Collision Record’s debut, read on to tempt you to click that download link.

 

Album opener “Life Is,” produced in-house by Swoope, sets a smooth stage for the coming experience. The freshest part of the track is how seamlessly Christon drifts from crooner to spitter and that ease impresses the listener. “Clear the Air” is a Ra Charm blended cocktail that satisfies with just a few sips of the intentional drum taps and piano riffs. Christon’s bars serve as an expose of the ‘christian celebrity’ that ice the lip of the serving glass. “Captain America” is a grown man track in that it requires patience, if not repeated listens, for all the notes of the smoky jazz template and the additive that is DJ Promote’s succinct scratching to properly infiltrate the nostrils of the listener. When Wize, of Frontlynaz fame, steps into the booth on “Momentum,” I almost didn’t notice because the capable guest and Christon sound so similar while spitting. What I did notice was the oncoming wave freeze-framed in mid-crash that the chorus is and how easily the 3.5 minutes go in and out of my ear buds.

 

“Dodge,” with snappy production from Red Lettaz, is a satisfied slow burner that again requires patience of the listener that’s not common in modern hip-hop culture. “Blue Skies” gets off to a much faster start when label A&R Wit’s cute samples loses its inhibitions in a frantic bass line while every member of the Collision Roster (Dre Murray, Swoope and Alex Faith) dive into the tornado that is the studio booth. One of my top tracks of 2012. “EWEWU,” boasting a chilling sample from “Even With Evil With Us,” Christon’s 2011 indie album, is somber in tone. The U.K.’s own S.O. trades mics with his host and spews what may be the best wordsmithing to be found on the entire album, stealing the show. The mood of “Good Mourning” is sobering but blessed by ecclesiastical perspective that gazes out a window fogged over by labored breathing instead of outside chills. Swoope paints with broad strokes of keys and longing drums whose template is as bittersweet as tears snaking down a face with a smile. The call to mourn is certainly Biblical and rarely discussed, let alone talked about in such an articulated way as it is here.

 

More than anything else this year, I think I’ve complained about the lack of quality hooks in our subgenre. So maybe it’s no coincidence that “Ask,” my favorite song of the year, features an etheral vocal hook by Kelly Kelz that could be hashtagged stadium status. Christon prays for healing and help in his quality verse while risking his grip to reach down and help those below him to the plateu that he is at. But the best part of this song of the year is Dre Murray’s concluding bars. They’re laced with the same transparency that ran through the veins of his Hell’s Paradise series this year and the emotive rhyme scheme is the final ingredient to blend in with Kelly’s angelic chorus and Christon’s grounded perspective. “Autumn Leaves” is a breath of fresh fall air in that it births chills, thanks mostly to guest Lauren Heatherly’s angelic chorus, and refreshment in the stark, almost nude, musical landscape populated only by elevating horns (real ones), drumsticks and some bare guitar strums. “Cry No More,” featuring female vocalist Word Perfect and state-mate Kambino, is another bounty of perspective wrapped in Christon’s terse bars  with the bow of Kam’s monster of a verse. “The End” is a fitting closer, using yet another quality sample, this time dreamed up by producer Vanilla, and Word Perfect’s lingering notes as the fuel that keeps the treadmill that Christon the rapper runs on for 3 minutes at 6.5 speed. You’ll feel like you know more about Christon the man than you did before you played track 12 and will shout “Maybe it will never be big business to you / but as long as it’s my Fathers, it’s bigger than you!” along with the emcee on repeated listens.

 

There’s no official thematic connection between “Body Art” and Solomon’s poetic reciting of all of the seasons of mankind’s life in Ecclesiastes 3 , but I see one. In the midst of Christon’s elevating choruses, acrobatic wordplay and genuine reflection is a wide array of life experiences that surely triggered them. For every positive (‘Blue Skies’) there is a negative (‘Cry No More’) interconnected through the entire experience of “Body Art.” In doing so, the LP remains firmly grounded in reality and the every day life of its listeners while offering hope stronger than a grab bag of cliche. Not to mention, “Body Art” is a satisfying musical treat as high quality as the name brands, fully deserving to be enjoyed by the listeners who gravitate towards it. Download it free of charge here. 

W.L.A.K. Week Part 2 - Alex Faith ~ Honest 2 God

From my incomplete Best of 2012 article:

An old Dave Chapelle routine begins by asking if you’ve ever been walking around and glanced at a crew of black guys walking around, “not just any old black dudes, we’re talking thugs,” with a member of the caucasian persuasion as a part of the clique. “Well let me tell you something about those white guys…(they’re) the most dangerous…in that group. There’s no telling what kind of crazy sh** they’ve done to get those black dude’s respect, but whatever they’ve did, it was wild.” If that’s true, then special admiration should be given to Alex Faith of Collision Records, and not only because he sounds nothing like Mr. Mathers. Just a few minutes into his label debut, “Honest 2 God,” any mystery about why he has earned respect in hip-hop circles disappears as quickly as memories of where you’ve heard the southern-bred emcee before (Sho Baraka’s “Barakology” mixtape from way back when and, most recently, label-mate Swoope’s “Wake Up”) will pop into your head.

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W.L.A.K. Week Part 1 - Swoope ~ Wake Up”

Quiet as kept, Collision Records has been compiling a roster of emcees, producers and overall talent in the label’s short lifetime. The talent level in comparison to the competition is formidable and the upcoming musical collective, just the label’s fourth release, releases this coming Tuesday, March 5th, on laptops and smart phones everywhere. If you had seen my incomplete “Best of ‘12” list, you would see how much of a fan I am of every artist on a roster that includes Dre Murray, Swoope, Alex Faith and Christon Gray. Just for perspective, I had Collision taking Label of the Year, a smattering of tracks littering the top songs list (Christon Gray’s “Ask,” “Blue Skies,” Swoope’s “Dreamslave,” and Alex Faith’s “Dreams” and “Video Games”) and every album in the label’s stable scattered throughout the Top 15, most notably Swoope’s “Wake Up” at #2. And that doesn’t even include Dre Murray’s work pre-Collision. 

All that to say, the upcoming “W.L.A.K.” (We Live as Kings) release is highly anticipated, both personally and culturally, with a level of excitement that rivals “Watch the Throne,” in potential for cultural impact and expectant quality as solid as the gold that encases the album cover’s emblem. In anticipation, I’ll be posting reviews of every major release of Collision Records, up till Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. when we’ll all get the first listen. First up is Swoope’s “Wake Up,” which I reviewed for the quality Rap-Port magazine that you need to check out, first, because it has the most detailed interview with the Ohio emcee I’ve read and, second, for how dope they made my plain words look.

The stats tell us that about one-third of our lives are spent in exhaustion induced, R.E.M. enhanced slumber. Some people relish sleep more than they do the lives they live outside of their dreams while others detest it as a necessary evil and preach ‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead’ from their stained coffee cups. “Inception” turned the concept of dreams on it’s metaphysical head while “The Matrix” had us all wondering if our caffeine amped lives were nothing but a dream we counjured up in our subconcious. Add Akron, Ohio emcee Swoope, with his Collision Records  debut release “Wake Up,” as the latest to take the concept of sleep (or lack thereof) and translate it into a detailed concept of potentially classic status.

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A Theology of Christian Criticism

“It’s sad that some people are so convicted by the lyrical theology that they feel they have to bash an awesome album that has touched many people.”

“I think its funny that the poll to the right of this article asks ” Do you think Christian Hip hop is on the same level as mainstream?” This review is the reason why its far behind.”

 ”It seems more like you are working against the movement of pushing Christ’s message forward rather than encouraging others along the way…There’s a line between preferring a different sound over another and letting the devil use you with your word choice.”