684. How Has Christian Hip Hop Culture Evolved and Impacted the Church?

[00:00:02] You're on Pastor Phil. Welcome to Church On The Block, real talk about hip hop, that church and the streets with my great co-host Pastor Jay and Ruck Boy on Holy Culture Radio, Sears XM. You've got the right channel, yo you want the right station right here,

[00:00:30] channel 1 for 0 140 Holy Culture Radio, Sears XM and we are here with Church On The Block, real talk about hip hop, church and the streets. We're in the building, we're here with the phenomenal extravagant power for too much. I know too much.

[00:00:52] Great M.C. Great Leader, this is me and my brother, Aaron McKay and brother, Kenny, y'all know him as Kenny, what's up Aaron what's up man? Man what's up Phil, my first ball is good to see you.

[00:01:05] Second ball, thank you for having me all here but during the fall man, it's been a long time man, it's been a long time, I can't wait to come back down to Chicago. And the long time has been all on video,

[00:01:18] we gotta get to shake it up and hang in there. We had him person man. Yeah, oh yeah, so when we can't, I mean, I would love to get up saying it, hopefully soon by the summertime or something.

[00:01:32] Yes, yes, we try to plan that man, June 1st, June 1st, y'all heard of here, y'all heard of here. Oh my god, the house, the house relaunch baby, the house relaunch. Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[00:01:46] So because you know, back in the day, yeah, house was blessing, you know, saying like that, tomorrow was going crazy. Oh man, so the relaunch kicks off, June 1st. Yes, so we gotta move it. Okay, June 1st, first Saturday every month after that time.

[00:02:04] So it's a half month. Yeah, I got so many memories from the house man, I remember you been on stage I'm gonna new kind of rapper. Yeah, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[00:02:14] That's rhyme, you know what I'm saying? I remember, uh man, original house overseas, I remember Greek, uh, uh, uh, what's the call Omega, Omega, Omega, uh, man, scroll, Terence, you know what I'm saying? Anyway, that is just everybody. Like, I am my, everybody.

[00:02:36] It's so, it's so much history if we just know about the house in Chicago. It's like, and it's like different generations of the house. You know what I'm saying? It's generational, so, right? Ah, because it was, like even when I went back to college,

[00:02:48] man, it was still but it was still bus. Right? Right? Yeah, I can't, I can't wait to see who I'm going show up when you, when you realize it on the first man. So that's fine. Christian brothers, women in cats, the Christian brothers, man.

[00:02:59] Oh yeah, yeah, that's crazy. It was like, uh, it was like, um, uh, the dirty South of Chicago, and it was like, they was all came with that like, he mastered peace stuff. Oh, that's, I remember. I remember, uh, Marquez, he was up there. Who else?

[00:03:17] Uh, you had some coffee? Oh, I know, beer was still around, right? Yeah, it was still, it's still doing this thing, man. Still doing this thing, man. Yep. Yeah, you're around. Everybody, everybody, I'm what's up there. Man, uh, what's the called, uh, my my Brenda?

[00:03:33] Oh yeah, man, it's not out the word. Our, our, our, our, my, my, my Brenda man. It's like, that was like another mama, you know what I'm saying? Like she was it. This is like everybody's mama. We're the window to the walls. Who's up whenever, Paul? Yeah. Yeah.

[00:03:47] Oh, man, I remember, I still remember some of them lines. He said that made everybody listen. Somebody think somebody better think so. Yeah. Yeah. Ah, classic poem. Yeah, those get times. Classic, man. So yeah, we bring it back June first, man.

[00:04:03] If we want you to be there and we want, uh, you know, some, uh, um, uh, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, you know, who's been pulled on? Both from the culture, from the people from the fans. Um, how are you maintained um,

[00:04:31] the passion of what you used to when you first started. Like we first started, you know, I got Jesus in my hood, Jesus in my hood. And tell me, bring that back, bring that back. And you know what's funny? You know what's funny?

[00:04:48] I think I just, oh man, so I don't even know if I could talk about this. There's a certain television station that is interviewing me. And so I'm telling them about that time in my life. And I sent that video to him because I was doing it.

[00:05:11] Yeah, I sent that video to him. One of them made when I was in high school. Yeah. But also I sent them some clips of the house from back in the day because I was like, yo, can you show us?

[00:05:21] Some, can you show us some of your earlier, you know, I'm saying like childhood, like wrapping and church or something like that. Wow, I was like, yeah. So I sent them a couple of video clips.

[00:05:30] So when we was in the house back in the day, hopefully, hopefully they had like this June first. So that you know, I'm saying not only not, not only do you all get, you know, say, you got the pop off on the June first,

[00:05:42] but then you also got some TV coverage as well. So hopefully the time frame of sync up real no. Yeah. So yeah, my house put a burden. No, no, no. And this I don't. Put the time, John. Only you send me, send me them. Oh, it's actually not.

[00:05:56] I spent some put out in me. I'm going to tell them put out in me. So that way, you know, I'm saying, Yagatsome, I get some promo, but full June hit. And everybody show up on June. So yeah, yeah, yeah, send me those clips too.

[00:06:09] I like to get those clips, man. So yeah, I mean, I got them. Actually, they still on YouTube actually, what? I'm not having to sustain you the link. I might just see you the link. But yeah, I got you. I got you. They all look so free.

[00:06:22] I got you the. And we don't forgot the link. The YouTube has already get up in this section. So yeah, any of you got will be good that way, man. I got you. So so before we dive into some other things,

[00:06:34] man, just what is it that you do as an artist man? Of Christian artists, MC, producer, you know, do to maintain both, you know, the balance of the art. They intrude in that call and then the relevancy has things changed in your own life.

[00:06:52] You know, not, I mean, not knives. It was under 3000, you know, interview about his new album or whatever. And people like he did rhyme. And he was like, what am I going to wrap about? Like, I just, I know, colonized can be like, yes, rhyme about the call.

[00:07:07] It was like, be a sea was happening in the land and then create within your style, that move. But sometimes artists get lost in. And in, in the fact that there are relevant with what they're experiencing right now.

[00:07:24] And there's a ton of people who want to hear both to have either joys or struggles and their successes of life at that particular maturity. So how do you balance all that, man? And stay relevant in the context of your passion. Such a long, windy question. I know.

[00:07:39] And I know. We'll be sitting. We'll be sitting in a windy question. Hey. Oh, but I got you. I got you. I got you look. And people wonder, people wonder why I get it from. Right. You might not know Phil. Oh, good. Good. No, I love it though.

[00:08:00] Man. So I would say, man, and the most simplest way, I think we change as people we evolve as people. So I'm music should too as creatives. As we get older and as we mature, we should all.

[00:08:16] I'm music, I craft, our art, our approach to things, our perspective on life, should all some matures. And so stuff that I used to wrap about back in the day, I probably don't wrap about now because back in the day,

[00:08:30] I was wrapping about stuff that was relevant to me during that time frame where I was at, whether I was in high school or college. If I'm dealing with high school issues, I'm talking about high school. Right.

[00:08:40] If I'm in college, I'm probably going to talk about how I'm tired and I'm tired of working. And I wrote some songs like that. I'm broken, I got no money. Like, because I'm older, I'm talking about my life now.

[00:08:55] My involvement in the culture or my involvement within relationships or within the church. Or even outside of the church, what I want to do in my career musically. So there's just different responsibilities that come up now

[00:09:12] that I may discuss in my music because I have all of as a person. So I think to keep that balance, I think you just continue to stay true one to yourself but you position people. You position yourself around people that also know you for who you are.

[00:09:27] Like when I'm wrapping with Derek or Arm G, Derek know me. Like you know when I'm coasting on a track and when I'm just doing what's easy. So he goes on challenge maybe like, hey, I know you know you can get away with this verse

[00:09:39] but I'm not for the let you get away with this verse. You did this too easy. You ain't even challenged by this verse and I can hear you not challenged by this verse. So go ahead, go back and redo it

[00:09:46] because I know yes it'll work, yes it's dope but no. Like give me your best. So having people around me like that always challenges me. You're like we don't just going to studio and be like all right that's cool next.

[00:09:57] Like nah like it's like nah like give me your best. If it's way, if it's trash, it's trash, it's getting getting give me something that's actually dope. Cause when we got a live off this stuff, you know? Like right, right. This ain't no hobby for me.

[00:10:09] Yeah it is just ain't no hobby for me. Like I gotta live off music. I gotta, this gets me to the next point. A lot of times when it comes to my career where this another show, another interview, you know, another collab feature

[00:10:21] with another artist, whatever it might be, another look promotional look, whatever it might be like, for me this is life for me. So you know the quality got to be there. The standard got to be high. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:10:34] Yes, being a grab it, you never know. Hey, yeah, you know what I'm saying? Like which has already happened. Oh, I know. So we just, yeah, so we just, we just try to make sure the quality stay up they're the standard as high.

[00:10:48] But also just in life too, you know, just being able to have some brothers that can call me out on my own stuff, my own mess. I'm not perfect. I'm messed up a lot of times. But just being able to have brothers that can call me

[00:10:58] whenever and just be like, hey, so what's up? Like where you been at was life looking like how your heart looking, you know? Right. And when we had them real conversation, some music come out of them conversations. Yeah. So I'm not,

[00:11:10] I'm not trying to get on the record and talking about how much stuff the devil hit. Like, I'm trying to talk about how we gonna get through life. Like I'm mid 30s now and I'm like, look, life is real. I'm not talking about no hypothetical nothing.

[00:11:21] Like we gotta talk about was real, you know? But as I hear suffering and silence, you know what I'm saying? You got, you know, women who try to find that identity and what's what today, you know? You got on social media all type of women getting BBAs

[00:11:34] and all type of face lifts and what now you're trying to teach your woman that age beautiful to be natural. Right. We have a, I can't say conversations now. You know, man, you know, they get lot of stuff I've been talked about now. You know? So it's just,

[00:11:47] as you grow a mature, you know, perspective, matures, social content, you know? So you hear about the lady got the BBA and then went home and was feeling sick where they took her kid me. They gave her the BBA. I heard that while she was sleeping

[00:12:06] and took her kid me. I know, I got to my goal because I don't know about that one. Yeah, black market, I was like, yo, just trust that we're guys giving you and just work out, just giving shape. I don't know what to do about this. Excuse me.

[00:12:20] See? Yeah, now we got nothing done. You should just let for whatever the way it was, you know, I think a lot of guys like it natural anyway to be honest like, I would love to see that kind of become a thing now with just people

[00:12:33] loved natural look kind of thing, you know. But I mean, to each and all, I'm not gonna hit a judge people but kid you can imagine, I want the stretch marks. Don't be photo- Give it a stretch mark, you know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying?

[00:12:46] Ain't nothing wrong with natural beauty, you know. But when we put that in the media, man, I think the media got us on agenda. You know, we live in a capitalistic society where everybody got to get paid for whatever side or business they got.

[00:13:00] So, you know, it's always some kind of agenda put on the people just so that people can get paid as a business. Right. So, you know, if they can make a hundred versions of Kim Kardashian and people like to pay for that as a bit, you know. Right.

[00:13:17] So they're gonna make that money have it again. So as we talking on show, we're gonna talk about hip-hop and church in the streets and we can talk a different arts and things evolve and new musicians coming out of new thoughts are happening.

[00:13:29] What are your thoughts real talk about your music and the church? We'll talk about that. Like we talked about the show is church on the block. So, real talk about the church. Like in your music, what areas are you trying to challenge the church

[00:13:42] and encourage the church or the body of Christ universal in that way? Or not like just the challenges that you look at music editing or just conceptually to push the hip-hop about faith in the church? Yeah, yeah. I would say, my relationship with the church is still growing.

[00:14:09] I was known to start off in the church. I was known to, I mean, you know, Phil, I was at the house, I was at Liondale. I was at Liondale's, I'm a grandfather's church, a great away. You know?

[00:14:20] And then I went to Memphis and I joined other churches from the old. I've always had a place in the church but because of that, you tend to see a lot of things in the church that you might disagree with, that you might get hurt by, burnt by,

[00:14:36] burnt out from. Right. And I think my relationship with the church today before even connected to the music, I would say mine is one that's healing because I remember just me getting burnt out for a period of time from just church.

[00:14:49] Barked out from just seeing people have a lower standard than what they appear to have, you know, on a forefronts. Just seeing the church feel in different ways, you know, when a pandemic came around, it was hard to see how the church would respond

[00:15:03] certain issues, you know, even when it came to politics, it was hard for me to digest how the church just kind of was okay with certain rhetoric that was given out to our politics and was on on an immediate. So for me, I just,

[00:15:15] I've had a disappointment with the church over time but I'm learning to come back and realize like, okay, well we're not all perfect, you know, we all have our struggles, we're not all in the same place, spiritually.

[00:15:26] So, you know, there might be some areas where we all need to grow in, but I can only focus on myself. I can only focus on my own person to walk, where I'm at and hold myself accountable to where I'm at. Yeah.

[00:15:36] I get hold at the church of America accountable but what I can do is it's challenged to church with my music and that's where I'm at now where I'm like, all right, for those who are within that space who maybe have been burnt out from the church

[00:15:47] or they feel that they can't find where they fit in and the church. I got music for you, you know, if you know, when you got the guy who's just kind of like, man, I've been a church, but man, it just feels like religion.

[00:16:00] I don't really feel real. It don't feel like a real faith, you know, or man, I'm burnt by the culture of the church, you know, I'm like, man, I got music for you. Now, I'm not gonna give you a whole, you know,

[00:16:12] repertoire of music where I'm just angry at the church. But, yeah, but I will say, you know, I do want to be able to give music that will encourage people when they can sit at church, you know, and help them and help them redefine

[00:16:26] how to look at the church and how to build their relationship with the church. That's real talk. Yo, we're going to come back, man, we're going to check out some music in a second, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, can't imagine.

[00:16:35] Church on the block, real talk about hip-hop the church industry. Stay right there. See you six and one, 40. Hold on. Hey, baby, you so good. Let me get you all the same. You see, guys. Tell them to praise you, and me streets, tell them to praise you,

[00:16:49] and me streets. Thank you for being with this church on the block. I know you hear with this every Sunday. You can't even wait to get up to check out this show on church on the block. Taking a morning and a good afternoon,

[00:17:02] we're back at the church on winter. The church, uh, are making away up this morning of adhesive with some of the church's patrons over there and looking back and we're gonna go to the liking for about two or five days.

[00:17:19] Let me know if you have 2 to 6 Crochet crocheting I've never done this. You know, you're rocking a, you know, we used a rockatory to flip it backwards. He was like, I thought she was redeeming it. Yeah. That's the way. It's worth right. We coming in. Hey.

[00:17:37] Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, and even I swear, like I didn't, I didn't even know people used that word in the director's way to loud cats in the south. Good black people. When I got to the south, it was like, it was like, what's your name?

[00:17:48] I was like, spooked. It was like, nah, we can't do that here. You can't be here. You have changed your name. You can't be so. Yeah. If I had any wife coming around here, calling you spooked. All right. We got us one.

[00:17:59] If we got us one, we got us one right in. Yeah, he didn't even claim it himself. Oh, that's so funny. We said, I spooked. All right, we wrote a holy ghost. Spooked. We got it. All right, we wrote a man. No, no, no. That was fun.

[00:18:13] I mean, but it's for me. I mean, still a nickname. If you, if you was around me doing that time, like, I still, I still asked to have. You know what? They used to be like, spooked. You know, I spoke, you know, I spoke, you know. So.

[00:18:26] All right, remember that. But that's just, yeah, that's, that's still a childhood nickname for me. That's, that's still a love it. Yeah, yeah. Like, you got a family reunion. That's, that's, that's gonna be coming up. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. So, what is your take on, like Christian hip-hop culture?

[00:18:47] Like the, the, the, the evolution of it. I mean, you've been in it for a long time. Like, like the, the place where it is now. Cause at one point, we talked about this all the time. Oh, hands have been around for me.

[00:18:58] And man, you, there was no way to find Christian hip-hop music. You had to find it in a bookstore in the bottom shelf. And you had to, maybe an African American-led bookstore. I know Chicago passed the Meek's head of bookstore, other folks.

[00:19:10] It wasn't on the radio as much. I mean, I had a radio show in Kent, in Chicago. And it came to city and we was playing all the time. But now you got boosted that fan. You guys still playing all over the place, right?

[00:19:20] And you got, it's the holy culture radio rocking it, right? And so you got movements where it's been pushing the envelope. And now you got cast winning Grammys even more so in an attention around that. So what is your perspective on on the Christian hip-hop culture?

[00:19:37] Man, well, I would say, I'm, I'm proud of the culture. I'm proud of a lot of the artists that are out now. You know, when it comes to a culture, obviously it evolves. So you know, it's always going to be new generations of things.

[00:19:54] You know, we had, remember, back in the day, you know, you had T-bone and what's your color? God spoke to youngsters and, you know, truth and truth is still spinning to this day, you know, playing across movement, all of them.

[00:20:12] You know, and so it's evolved into so much of what we see today. I think the heart of Christian hip-hop has always been, we're going to be bold about our faith. And I think that's always been good. I think sometimes what was disheartening during the time

[00:20:35] that I was coming up was, I would hear songs where it just kind of felt like we versus them. A lot of times where it was like, you know, we over here, y'all over there.

[00:20:45] And, you know, it almost kind of seemed like we separated ourselves from the world to a point where we acted like we were almost higher than until the degree with how we came about things, laterally with some songs. Yeah.

[00:20:58] And so it just kind of felt like, you know, even in my comment section sometimes, you know, I would back in the day see like folks arguing, you know, about what is, what is culturally okay, what's not okay, what are you allowed to do, what you can't do.

[00:21:13] Right. Right. Right. And so, you know, I would get this vibe of like, um, fair and sad, cool self-righteousness to a degree in the coaching. They just feel people are going back and forth arguing. Um, and for me, I think that was always like,

[00:21:33] I think that was always disheartening. I mean, for in a small period of time, like I thought it was dope at first and like, man, I ain't normally around folks is want to just like go ahead and like deal logically, you know, but then after awhile,

[00:21:43] you just kind of see folks like, it's like it becomes the thing was like, they just want to be right when you just want to be heard. You just want to be seen. Yeah. He's want to be seen.

[00:21:50] That's a light of who knows a lot about their Bible, but you don't really love people. Right. And so like for me, like I just, you know, I'm just kind of like, I got this appointment with Christian hip-hop for a period of

[00:22:00] time because I'm just like, when do we get back to the, you know, love people? Love guy. Love people, you know, when do we get back to the, I'm going to have to serve and give my life to the cause wouldn't like only we give.

[00:22:13] And so like, you know, but, you know, it's evolved, you know, there's different generations of that version. And so now what we see, I think is just a land that playing. Yeah. Now what I feel like I see is just another generation of young folks who love

[00:22:29] God, they love God within culture. They love their faith. They love to communicate their faith in culture. You know, and I think I appreciate it because it gets people to freedom and talk about their faith. Right.

[00:22:42] Now I would love to see more people talk more about like what's going on in a life in real time, right? Not what you used to do 20 years ago or not what you, you know, hope to do, but like, what are you actually effectively doing right now?

[00:22:54] How are you, how do you get through your struggles, how do you get through life? You know, like how do you, how do you wrestle with pain bills on time as a full-time artist? Right.

[00:23:04] You know, like, like, talk about that, you know, I would love to see more like Jay Z, like artists and the culture where you got more old Jews giving you game. Like how do you get a Grammy?

[00:23:15] All right, if you're going to get a Grammy, how you tell us how do we get one? If you got five, you figure something out. How do we get one, right?

[00:23:21] You know, but I, you know, so I would love to kind of see that a little bit more, but, you know, but at the same time I'm not going to get an artist already happening.

[00:23:31] So, you know, I think, man, it definitely has encouraged, you know, people from time to time. I got fans that are strictly Christian hip hop, you know, fans, right? But I also got fans who are not with the Christian hip hop,

[00:23:43] but I know, Christian hip hop is definitely had this place and it's still thriving. So, you know, so I doubt to everybody doing it now and every artist that's out now, they killing it. Oh, and the women are killing it, too. The women are killing it. Yeah, man.

[00:23:58] I like CC, push the love on day like, let's go on. All right. Like it's just, it's so many female artists, oh, don't know. No, you know, it's so many female artists just killing it right now.

[00:24:13] Like in, and if I tell your love, she can manage, she got a step as joint. Like it's so, it's a lot of dope females just killing it right now. Which was different back in the day.

[00:24:25] I didn't know a lot of female Christian hip hop artists like that back in the day. You know, we knew Dre up back in the day. You know, saying she would get on virtual virtual, you know, you know,

[00:24:36] Sam, but like it was, I didn't know, you know, and also like my high genie, John said, I'm a high genie, John. She's still going right now. She's still going crazy. She's been doing stuff with, uh, uh, what's the call? The union.

[00:24:48] It's almost like they got a group in upper stevia. And uh, uh, he signed Lee, uh, what's the call? Uh, uh, real miles like they get a whole, they got a whole situation going. So I just feel like the women are like, they create their own presence.

[00:25:06] You know, and I think that's dope. You know, because a lot of times you just see the men in the front, you know, doing anything and the women don't get a lot of shine. Not a women starting to get that shine that they deserve.

[00:25:14] So it's good to see that evolve in the culture. Right. And it is. And they didn't ask you nobody. They, they coming in. They coming in both, you know, they coming in hard. Yeah.

[00:25:22] And we want to do a whole show on several, uh, uh, Christian, uh, female MCs. And then we take them one at a time back and forth, but just to introduce more people to them in that way. Man, you know, you're right.

[00:25:33] You know, was it time and Christian hip-hop? And ministries and churches were the places where folks felt that that's where I'm going to perform. I'm going to run. That's when we approve. Yet those particular churches and places aspire to a particular theological perspective, right?

[00:25:48] And yet, um, and because hip-hop didn't start in the church, it was always shun and suspecting from the beginning. You could have been rapping every, you could have been rhyme and genesis actually in the bit of kid. Number to the run and you could have been, well,

[00:26:01] and correct me. Why did you say it? You didn't say the apocrypha. Or anybody, oh, folks would have had issues. So it held back what was, uh, a purity hip-hop, which is both being real relevant,

[00:26:14] you know, and respectful like what's going on in this end and how do I bring hope to it in this context, right? And so, and some stuff, man, some stuff and always going to be as comfortable for the church to hear even though, uh, it's, it's true.

[00:26:26] And so, so then you got this, you got this kind of controlled narrative of what cats are going to rhyme about because who's going to buy this? I mean, who's going to get this out there or who, he's going to even if they don't

[00:26:36] buy it, who's going to pump it up and support it. So when we cats rhyme about what was right to rap about, uh, in the word and, and it have, oh, what was right to rap about theologically to a certain group of people,

[00:26:49] uh, most of the time, white evangelicals in that context too, you know, and so, and whether they had the purse strings or whatever. But then you find certain cats every once in a while, leaping out, Corey Red, you find, you find, uh, only in a vocier,

[00:27:04] a cat from New York, his stuff will come out. Then you find, uh, my man, um, gospel gangsters, Teemo kind of shifted a little bit after gospel gangsters, I'm going to came out. So tunnel rats who's not rapping all the time.

[00:27:16] So you're going to rap and you're going to rap and you're going to rap and you're going to get it. You find that evolution. I think just like gospel music, it abs and flows when you got, when you got the

[00:27:25] traditional music and then you got Thomas Dorsey coming, uh, who was, who played bass and jazz and all the kind of some keyboards. And he brought in that to the church and the church was, oh my gosh,

[00:27:36] piano is a music in the church. And then I said, and then, but people came back to faith. And then, then I became a norm. Then you got a different contemporary, got Andre Krauch, Andre Krauch come with O'Happy Day.

[00:27:46] And a bunch of people left the church to come back to the church. They next, that last and a while, then Kyrfranck was stomped. I was sitting and beginning to be, oh my god, and then another group. So God uses the remnants of people in the music.

[00:27:58] I think in several times, I was saying, the black gospel context to bring people unawareness and cutting for God about you. We just got to be bold enough. Not to worry about the industry. You got to be bold enough to be relevant to what

[00:28:08] guys call us to be, you know, spaces, you know? Yeah, and I would also say like, you know, like, I think back in a day, people were really looking for the approval of their youth pastors and the youth leaders

[00:28:23] for them to really beat out on their own as Christian, rabbi artists sometimes. And you know, I'm glad like now today's artists they're not as concerned about that. Like they're trying to step out on their own.

[00:28:37] You know, and that doesn't mean that they're not like, you know, without a covering, you know, like with a spiritual father. But, you know, but it's good to see that they

[00:28:48] will then step out on their own. Because a lot of times, a lot of that pushback wasn't from the culture. It was from folks really outside of the culture. Right. And I'm saying a lot of that

[00:28:59] pushback was from people that really didn't understand the culture. And you know, and I remember I should, I remember you, you know, I'm saying having to, you know, talk about this stuff about man, you know, people having an issue with church, what we'll hear pop in the church.

[00:29:15] I remember having had, you know, you have them had conversations. You have from Smith, you know, and it just became a thing where it's like, man, like, why do we even have to like,

[00:29:26] why do we even have to explain this? You should know that God can redeem all things to himself. Like why are we having this conversation? Like, you know, you just got a personal vendetta against

[00:29:36] to something. You know, you're all you just don't, you just snout up on the times or what's going on. But it's, it's just good to see that people revolve. They're not really worried about

[00:29:43] that no one ain't tripping about that. They don't know your own thing. So, right, right. And, you know, nothing changes because somebody was waiting on it to change. I mean, when people double

[00:29:54] Dutch, they're not waiting for you to slow the rim thing. They got, I got in and they get in that German. He's so in a country. What should what I believe is is, you know, what's with your

[00:30:08] call to in that space? Is the answer to God's prayer with what they say to the Lord's prayer, really the prayer that Christ taught? His disciples, only thing that disciples asked of you taught

[00:30:17] was how to pray. And, and he said, you know, God, you're what we don't on earth as it is. And, so God said, I went down here to look like up there and hip hop. I went down here to look

[00:30:29] up here with senior citizen ministry with handicapped ministers, right. With folks on the street, down here to look like up there. And so I say that, there is a there's a prompting in your heart

[00:30:40] and whatever field of especially a music that you're in, they got to say that, come it down here, don't look like up there in this style of music and the messages. Don't be waiting till the time

[00:30:52] is right. Go for it because there's a rim of the people who's like with Thomas Dorsey, Archie Krauss, a curve Franklin that have been waiting like finally. Ha, that's what I need. You know, some cats need that height. They need that, um,

[00:31:05] the glow shell of that glow shell of I got to go. Yeah, if you're the same like, it's a lot of the miles minute with how to sell a better way. You look saying like he's doing this thing.

[00:31:13] Like, like, God called us to be upright. Not upright, even saying like, he called us to be upright. Not upright like but she, you know, feel me and say because you want to get gas up, you know,

[00:31:24] feel me. No, but not like, but not I think, like we've had to come, we've had to come a long way which is being able to just find out own identity in this space because there are, I mean,

[00:31:40] those points of times like people were trying to recycle the same type of artists because they thought like that would work or the people were trying to recycle the same type of marketing

[00:31:49] because I feel like that work. But now you just got people from different kinds of platforms. You got miles minute going to West Coast but then you, you got, you know, Caleb from what's the

[00:32:00] called? What's the called? I'm John Blanz. I'm thinking about everybody at the same time. No, but but you, but you got so many artists now, man, that have their own flavor. They own style.

[00:32:14] And then, you know, they bring their own thing. You know, everybody not trying to be on the same way. That's something we get caught up in the same way, but

[00:32:22] but it's good to see so many artists up on their own right now. So, right? Right. I appreciate it. I appreciate D1. You know, we had D1 this year for the firefest and we had my man La Russo at a

[00:32:32] Relay or California, right? So we had a cat from the end. Yeah, Relay or California speaking true demand the man, so much real hip-hop stuff. He'd bring it. I had to bring him out. I believe all

[00:32:43] true this guy's true whether you claim it is a nut and it was powerful. You know, D1 came in spit his beans bad and we did some more stuff with him, but like just being bold by that. Hip-hop has always been that movement of that level of bonus

[00:33:03] and in that context and you can't wait for it others to approve your boldness and then you go for it. It may not even be, it may seem bold and it may seem normal to you because what's on your heart.

[00:33:18] Mugs start catching football with one hand now. That wasn't the thing in the 80s. Mugs just wanted to throw a bomb all the time, right? And have a good arm. Now, Mugs is catching

[00:33:28] and practicing having plays late out where they catch a pass with one hand. Somebody stretch him over. Somebody push the envelope and I'm saying if you're suspecting until they're ready

[00:33:37] for you catching pass to the one hand then no never be ready. Yeah, we're going to be right back and we got to hear some music. We got to hear some music. Church on the block real talking about

[00:33:44] hip-hop of the church in the streets. Now we hear with Canon, Air McCain, Church on the block. Man, Church on the block we in it today. We in it today, man. You are listening to the right

[00:34:01] space. Channel 140, Series XM Holy Cultural Radio, man. We hear with Canon, Air McCain, good brother, good friend and love him. Not if a 20 years or so, man, great friend, great family. And that to me is a foundation of what is a platform of any artistry. Like you

[00:34:19] gotta have that rule, you can't be funny kicking it. You can, but it's going to catch up with you one day, man. You know? Man, we talked to people about some music. What we got to listen to

[00:34:30] that, what's the song about to listen to right now? Man, so the song on the play for y'all is called Home Run, you know. I mean, the whole premise of the song is man just keeps swinging,

[00:34:40] you know. Like you keep swinging that life, keep swinging that chill mental health, keep swinging that chill, your identity. Like keep swinging that chill, spiritual health, keep swinging that chill, physical health. You're going to always have some folks in the crowd as booing you. You know,

[00:34:52] y'all are going to have some folks in the crowd that's going to be hating on you. But the thing is, man, you keep swinging until you get from base to base to base and then until God call you home.

[00:35:01] So when it's joined, it's called Home Run, man. And the thing is like, you know, we've been doing this for a long time. That's why I'm saying we're being hitting home runs. I ain't got a slap.

[00:35:09] I'm taking my time. Going getting your bag. I'm going to get in my time. So I'm just saying like, you know, this is just stuff that I've learned within my faith. Like you got to continue to push through.

[00:35:19] You got to continue to overcome. You got to continue to keep swinging that life because God will keep don't carry balls but his is for your good. You know? So whether you want to try

[00:35:28] it or whether you want to feel right now, keep swinging. I love swing. I love that because you never know once you swing, where that's going to go and what that's going to take and

[00:35:40] lead you. But if you didn't swing, you'd be like, man, I don't know why I'm still in this same spot, but you keep swinging. You realize there's so much more grace on the other side of that. And

[00:35:49] you would have never fully experienced that if you were to help back. If people listen to the song and they have familiar with my music, you might hear it sample in there and I threw in there.

[00:35:59] Just to kind of give a nod to some of my older music. A long time ago, I came out with a song called Motivation and I pulled that out with a... Yeah, yeah. I did that joint with social club,

[00:36:10] but Marty and Furn. And when we did Motivation, it was just like this cohesive, like, like I remember I had this birthday party. They came through as a house party. I was like,

[00:36:19] yo, let's go to the studio real quick. Let's go upstairs in the studio. Let's listen to some records. And I played Motivation for him. And it was like, yo, what is this? I was like,

[00:36:25] and I just produced this, which you think. It was like, we got to work on this together. I was like, bet I'm going to send you to try, we're going to work on it. We're going to do something.

[00:36:31] So we did, we made Motivation, but then like, man, like almost like 10 years later, I come out with home run where I use that same sample. And then I kind of mix a little bit above.

[00:36:40] So like I like to use some of my older beats and mix some of my new stuff through and kind of create a new vibe with it. But yeah, that's one of my favorite songs right now. Honestly.

[00:36:49] Yeah, that's probably that's what's up. Now they can get there right now. That's something out right now. It's not right now. It's everywhere right now. It's everywhere right now. Go check it out.

[00:36:57] All platforms is out. All platform. And you can get it here, special before they pissing off with the fact, no, no, no, no. Facts. We're all getting it. So man. Oh, getting it. What are you? What is your, your take on

[00:37:12] on on the Grammys and stuff like that? I know that was a, you know, few weeks ago now, but like, what is your take on it? Like, I mean, I think I think it's good to see again on new way of

[00:37:26] artists that are coming out. You know, and I'm gonna be here. I like I didn't see the entire Grammys. Yeah. I saw a good portion of it though. But the parts that I did see I loved. I love when Jayce

[00:37:40] got up there and he gave his speech. You know, just about like, man, you gotta show up. You got to continue to show up. And I love what he was saying because there's been parts of my career. I'm like,

[00:37:51] I don't, I don't see the need to show up anymore. Why? Like, our men sounds getting burnt out wanting to quit rapping because I'm not seeing the results that I've worked hard for. And, you know,

[00:38:04] times what I felt discouraged like me and maybe I shouldn't even come to them. Maybe I shouldn't show up no more. Maybe I shouldn't put out record. Yeah. Why even do this festival? Why even do

[00:38:13] these conferences anymore? Why even perform the churches anymore? Like, well, I'm not seeing any rebenefit for myself. And I just remember being discouraged and looking at everybody else around me and then looking at myself and just wanting to quit many times. Right. But then like,

[00:38:30] realize in like, man, you don't get anything that you didn't put no work into. You know, my mama was taught me nothing, be the failure, but a try. So you gotta continue to keep trying. Keep

[00:38:40] don't stuff at the wall until you see some stick. If killer Mike can get an award, can get a Grammy. The reso can you, you know what I'm saying? Great. He got, yeah, the Craig got five. You know what I'm saying?

[00:38:54] Like, you don't necessarily have to be a certain type of artist to get a Grammy. But I will say, you know, sometimes Grammy, I feel like some time people make sure a little bit more favoritism.

[00:39:04] I don't, man, look, I don't even really listen to Taylor Swift, but she got her Grammy. You know, she got tons of them. You know, but I love what Jayce was saying just about like, man,

[00:39:12] sometimes the metrics don't add up and I'd be feeling that way sometimes too when they come to like, you know, I reckon, nation in the culture sometimes, man. You, you feel like you got robbed

[00:39:22] or, you know, or you, you feel like something just, you know, stole whatever you was trying to work on. Whatever it might be, but I love the fact that he continued to show up as an example.

[00:39:34] Whether he felt obligated to, whether he was doing sort of to, you know, support Beyonce and that, I think during that speech, man, I really felt connected to what he was saying. So a lot of performances, you know, I think the tributes were really, really good.

[00:39:50] You know, they gave a lot of tributes to like folks who are not artists who are no longer here now. I think that's always important, man, because you want to give homage to people who paved the way.

[00:40:00] You know, and again, going back to with Jayce, he said, it's like, I won't try to get it right. We just, we just really won't try to get things right. And I think that's even even within the church,

[00:40:10] I applied that, man. It's just like as an artist, as a black Christian artist, when it comes to just, you know, people supporting our music, the church support, and I'm using it.

[00:40:18] Just like, I'll just get it right. Like, you know, put us on the right stages. You know, we don't want to have to set the same category with, you know, CCM or gospel. Like give us our own

[00:40:27] situation, you know, right. Um, you know, just like get it, get it right when it comes to the culture, get it right when it comes to who we guys are, just in what we represent.

[00:40:36] In other words, gets a no less, you know, become a part of it. You know, have a hand in it. I mean, you know, I think that like, at one point the Grammys didn't even look at no Christian

[00:40:50] artists and not like that right and mugs had to have their own award shows. I think that the uniqueness of what an artist is going to bring and the freshness of it. Like Jake J. Quest,

[00:41:06] you know, he just, his life was like good music, just make good music and you make good music. I, for the fact that you have a message, you have a word, you have inspiration in you that you

[00:41:17] want to get out and in and of itself that creates, man, what does that sound? What is that? And what that's a Christian, that's cool. And I think that um, that you start with that, right? And then

[00:41:30] whatever, you know, you don't, you know, nobody's making music to get on a word shows. It's like something in me has got to be bang. You want to make it, you want to make it excellent,

[00:41:39] you want to make it high, you want to make it, you want to all the flavors in that gumbo, but in the context of of of you loving it and the people who are loving it with you,

[00:41:50] that's great. You don't make it so that one day that gumbo is going to be like on TV, that that comes at comes, right? I think sometimes sometimes the weight of what those shows may

[00:42:00] do and brain can kind of give kind of a false positive in some regard, right? Or false negative even like your stuff ain't no good because it was on it. Now in the case, it's just the community

[00:42:12] people vote on it. That's a different kind of edge that they may have in this way. Right, you know? Right. So talk a little bit about like if you can, I know some stuff may not be able to talk

[00:42:23] about what's going on, but do you have some stuff that you want to share that you work in them? Yeah, yeah, I mean we always work in a new stuff, man. Like when I've been working on this

[00:42:37] kind of buying for, I know my fans are probably like Canon at Project is never coming. Yeah, I'm saying this for me. Projecting never coming. Not like it's on the way.

[00:42:48] But we had to put a pause on that so we can get something else ready. We got some dead work and all for like three years. I can't talk too much about what it is and what's it called?

[00:43:01] Obviously it's another project but I'm excited for it because man, we get a chance to just talk about like just real life as it is and how life has been, you know people who have been healing,

[00:43:13] people who have been challenged to lead and be putting positions of being heroes and leaders. Man what I want to do moving forward is it with my brand and my platform is to be able to highlight other leaders, highlight other folks who are putting themselves in positions to

[00:43:30] help their community build up the people around them for the better. You know, and I'm tag team with my brother on all of this and you know, I just I want to be able to say like

[00:43:42] there's a lot of people who are doing significant work in their communities but a lot of times they don't get a lot of shine. A lot of times they don't get a lot of like a lot of love from the

[00:43:51] outer world and I want to be able to use my platform to say hey not all heroes were capes. You know, check out these folks what actually doing real good work, you know shout out Phil Jackson,

[00:44:02] you know what the house and the fire house, you know, you know people who've been doing it for years and years and years and they get they love and they get they props but they'll never get

[00:44:14] enough roses. They could never get enough roses and so we just want to make sure we take time to highlight folks and give me the roses while they still alive. Not try to do this memorial

[00:44:22] when they go on but yeah. So man like you mad at a work that you do has been seen it's it's shown time after time after time we see it so new music hopefully man we want to get back back on a road

[00:44:35] you know more tours to come and we we work in on podcast content like it's a lot you know a marketplace where records type stuff how can people get you how can people get on the

[00:44:48] discord I don't know how hit you one time you said we're gonna do yeah yeah so yeah we got we got we got discord man all right so like we wanted a place where we could centralize our people

[00:45:00] yeah our fans our supporters listen as I think like us that feel like us that identify with you know our similar struggles we all have and we just wanted to centralize and we give them a

[00:45:13] safe space what they can engage and interact with us and so we created the discord shout out to Derek man he actually kicked it off Derek minor big bro you know he he kicked it off and

[00:45:25] man we we utilize that space just to connect with our fans social media can make it really difficult now to you know connect you with with the people that really like your music you

[00:45:37] know it can be difficult with the algorithm and whatnot so we wanted to say all right well shoot whenever we want to type in what our fans we can whenever we want to type in what our people

[00:45:47] we can there's a space where we can so in a discord man we we we we work on these videos we try to encourage people every Monday we put out a video put it out on YouTube on our

[00:45:58] vigilantes united page and you know we we just try to give like a quick minute to five minute to five minute to six minute video just encouraging our audience and then Tuesday night's man we we discussed

[00:46:13] that video and talk through the topic of the night and so it's a good challenge it's a good way to connect but also to if if it's fans that are really struggling with some stuff in life

[00:46:25] we can have a direct conversation on the Tuesday night and talk through it you know send us a message or whatever but you get to be in the discord and have a voice there so yeah I like that I like that so

[00:46:35] the discord people get to the discord how how they get to they may already know I'm just saying it's a book with a special invite only you got to that you got to yummy yeah you got to you

[00:46:45] got to DM me you got to DM me you got to DM me for the link you know I think we got about 350 some people in our discord now I love so like but you you got to DM me and I send you the link you know

[00:46:57] this is a safe space it's a safe place for people who guys really need a space you know yeah that's a sweet we this yeah we we try to filter out who who is able to like really get in

[00:47:09] and who's gonna take it serious because if we feel like you're not gonna really take that time at that space series yeah or at least get along with the people that send that space to this man that's my not being

[00:47:18] a space for you yeah yeah well man I'm blessed to know you as a man a man a guy and blessed a journey with you on this travel man is as guide guide is an honest journey man and about the

[00:47:29] destination is about the journey the journey it's a good thing and God leads us in those spaces man and always want to have you on a air talking as you have new things going on as you want

[00:47:40] to challenge the folks listening yo here's my bar for the show man in May of 1985 a young brother named Randy Reed was working on a water tower in Chicago and he was standing on a scaffold he

[00:47:52] unloosen his safety clip thing or whatever and reach for a bar to do some of a well-diminated scaffolding tip he slipped and fell 110 feet into a dirt pile the man fell he just had lunch

[00:48:06] had it but only sandwich would have a and fell 110 feet into a dirt pile now when an ambulance came he complained about a sore back and his back was a little tense but he still had a little humor

[00:48:19] in him right the man fell 110 feet and he's jokingly with the ambulance driver saying hey don't drop me quote unquote he's going only to a three foot height of a board they're gonna put him on

[00:48:34] to put him in an ambulance and he's saying don't drop me that is funny sometimes we resemble that same construction worker God just saved you from a hundred and ten drop a hundred and ten foot

[00:48:46] drop but you suspect God don't fade for a three foot drop God you just delivered this you just impacted you got healed this God you restore this God this happened but you don't remember that

[00:48:59] when it comes to this three foot challenge just faith challenge your much challenges you two you is step into it go ham go crazy trust in God God I believe is bored to death because we have

[00:49:12] instead of in a faith walk that wakes him up to say now we're about to open the sea now we're about to bring some healing to your family now we're about to have conversations with people

[00:49:22] in your household on the block that you never thought would come together to bring peace yo don't let 110 drop of healing the God is broad be suspect over three foot challenge of faith

[00:49:34] and you'll walk with the Lord your as pass a feel church in the block I'm amazed thank you for listening to church on the block real talk about hip hop the church in the streets with back here same time same day next week come with us