Hmmm...

I'm not gonna talk about this just yet...I just want to put it out there.

Destiny Praise

The last time I preached from a pulpit, I preached from John 8:1-11. I spoke about adultery against God, having to go through stuff that God didn't plot for you--please don't get it twisted, not every problem you go through is brought on by God; sometimes it's your fault--and recovering from being outside of the plan of God.

That was on April 20th.(I'm terrible with dates; I actually had to go look that up).

Anyway, it wasn't two days later when I heard this song, which basically sang EVERYTHING I had preached about. It was one of the best confirmations I had ever gotten in my life.



This is the group that sang it. I will say that for that particular single, I'm not excessively impressed with the production or the quality of it, or the arrangement. I think it's because for most of the verses, the snare they use is a snap, and...I don't know...it feels kinda low. Personally, I would have made different instrumental and mixing decisions. But who am I to talk, right?

The group is actually pretty hot. And I'd heard the instrumental for "Broken" before, but I didn't know that this was the group it was attributed to. I will say that this beat is crazy.

If you're any sort of gospel head, you'll recognize "Changed" as a redone classic, and "Lion of Judah" as a slightly different version from Beverly Crawford's version, and I'm sure there are others. I don't mind, because they did take ownership of the songs, did them their own way, and it wasn't a reduction in quality nor was it cheesy, like most artists like to do.

Check 'em out.

Also, cool beard, dude.

Soapbox Derby: Gospel Music

A little something to chew on for the weekend. I wrote this maybe a year ago as my "about me" on youtube, and I figured it'd be interesting for you to look at.

"...I selected "Gospel" because it's my driving force. Gospel is how I seriously learned music, and it's one of the reasons I am where I am today. It's where I get a lot of my riffs and chords and what not. I don't, however, like the direction that the Gospel music industry is headed in, and I hate the notion that all "gospel" music is inherently good, because it's all made and grouped by flawed humans. Who are we to even say what kind of music God likes? Know what I mean?

The entire nomenclature of Gospel Music is tricky. The Gospel literally is good news, and is traditionally associated with the overall good news of Christianity: that Jesus is our Savior, died on a cross, was resurrected, and is coming back soon to take His people with him. By that definition, though, a lot of preachers don't preach the gospel very much anymore. Granted, they preach the Bible, and the overarching theme of the Bible is this Gospel story that I described. Yet, preaching verse by verse is not necessarily good news based, especially if someone takes a wrath verse from the Bible and describes God's *bad* news. Know what I mean? And not every gospel song mentions Jesus, but that doesn't mean it loses its ability to minister His name to people.

I just don't think that the genre of Gospel is as untouchable as many people want to make it. Plus, I believe that people can be ministered to through all sorts of other man-made genres of music, because God is not a respecter of person, so He'll work through what He chooses.

In terms of my original tracks (that you probably haven't heard if you haven't been to my myspace page; /revkris) my main goal is to not put the same stuff out that's been out forever, and my influences are any artists who try to be different for a purpose. It's not enough just to be different, because being different just for the sake of being different is about as mindless as falling into the fads, except for the fact that you're now stupid and lonely. :)

But anyway, I'm not just Gospel. And I have no problem saying that. I'm a musician. That's all. But in every note I play, every chord I form, and every song I bang out, God gets the glory. That's what's most important to me."

The Naked Truth

Hmmm...

This album will present a lot of problems for a lot of people...or at least those who haven't completely deleted Ton3x from their playlists, and still yearn for the old Tonex.

About a year ago, Tonex (before he became Ton3x) released "The Naked Truth" on his myspace page--I guess people say it was "leaked" because it wasn't promoted. But mind you, this was no accident. This was, in fact, a realease (this was actually a typo, but I think I'll coin it) of the things that Tonex had gone through in the church, in the gospel music industry, and in his life.

The mixtape, however, though 20 tracks long, is not simply Tonex complaining about how church people suck, etc. And I could say that the music is a deviation from what we expect gospel music to sound like...but first of all, I could say that about anything, and secondly, this ain't gospel music. By connotation.

What kind of gospel music tells you that taking advantage of a woman because she's not what society describes as a beautiful woman doesn't make you macho; it makes you an @sshole?

What kind of gospel music has the singer admit "I still smoke weed, did I mention that"?

What kind of gospel music calls church-goers "niggas" and "motherf#ckers"?

It's not gospel music, plain and simple, because gospel music--or the current industry--doesn't allow you much room to be real.

And bear in mind, there is a time and a place for "gospel music." There's a time for inhuman ministry. For example, you may have been to a church where the preachers and choirs wear robes when they minister. And though the robes look intricate sometimes and a bit extra in design, the original intent of the robe (or so I was told) was to serve as a covering to the man, so that the man doesn't distract from the pureness of God's word. Basically, it was so that God can speak as clearly as possible through the minister, and the man is made blank before the congregation.

And as I said, there's a time for that. The problem with the robes, though, is that they take away the human element from the Good News, and can sometimes make it so unreal and so out of reach for listeners, when in actuality, the Gospel story is very tangible. Or at least, that's why I believe it. Because it's relevant. And though putting the Gospel behind a robe purifies it, what we need to remember is that there's a huge part of this Gospel that ain't a bit pure, and it's us.

And that, I contend, is part of Tonex's message. If you took the Gospel for all it was, and not the cookie-cutter ish they feed you on Sundays, would you still be able to handle it? If you really took into consideration that the whore you passed off a few years ago could make it into heaven before you--hell, end up ministering to you--could you still serve our God? If you saw how filthy God's hand had become from scooping so many people out of their mess, if you saw how absolutely effed up it is for us to make a messiah out of a dude that was crucified as a common criminal, a dude that couldn't even breathe long enough for the soldiers to break his legs, could you still bow down and worship? Have you really thought about this mess? Or did you let church folks do it for you? Do you even KNOW why you go to church on Sunday and not Saturday?

So here comes Tonex with this release. And it's so freaking weird at first...but you just have to be patient and let it play out. But it's a true mixtape; everything runs together. And you can dissect the tracks on second listen, but I'd advise you to get a good hour to yourself and listen to it all the way through once. It's a real testament to the talent and creativity of Ton3x. And it takes you on a journey.

He catches us up at the beginning of the album with "Searchin'," which basically depicts his search for his role as a minister, and his freedom in the industry, which is all most of this controversy has been about.

Then, you kinda float through the album...go through the Vintage Galaxy, slide through the Drunk Boy interlude to get to On We Go (featuring E.B. Williams/Mama), suffer some Shock Therapy, etc. It flows.

Then you get to track 19. The title track. What. The. Hell.

It was weird when I first heard it, because I didn't expect it to come so close to the end of the album. It's SO different from everything else. And even though I've heard it and I recognized it (much like many of the songs on here) from stuff he had on his myspace, it was still weird hearing it here. It was like a wake-up call after the rest of the album got you used to enjoying the melodic aspects of Ton3x. After all this, the Naked Truth still snuck up on me and beat the living hell out of me.

And it gave me an idea of how serious all this is. Every song in this album was a different view of the Naked Truth that is Ton3x. The truth about who he is, the truth about his message, the truth about the God he serves...the truth. The naked, damn, truth.

And apparently, Ton3x is pretty secure that he looks good naked. This here's a hit.

Top 5 picks: Elegant Simple, Blairtree Road (listen to this one at least 3 times), The Love, I Noticed (it's an interlude, but listen to what he's saying...lol) and On We Go.

1. Searchin'
2. Vintage Galaxy
3. Drunk Boy
4. On We Go (feat. E.B. Williams)
5. Shock Therapy
6. The Love
7. Bi Our Love
8. Never (Single)
9. Same Ole
10. Take 2
11. Water
12. Creepin'
13. I Noticed
14. Jenny Jones
15. Gone
16. Blairtree Road
17. Elegant Simple
18. Casa De Oro
19. The Naked Truth
20. FREEDOM: Truth

N3V3R

This single is extremely weird. But hey, that's what he's going for. And he's pushing it.

Tonex--gospel artist, gone secular, gone crazy, gone gay, gone back straight, gone out of his damn MIND!--released the Naked Truth mix tape a few days/weeks ago, and I finally ordered it. The review is coming soon.

I just hope he doesn't say "Naked Truth Mixtape" on every track.

"Pati3nt" is a pretty hot joint here. It'd be crazy live. (Idea for my choir maybe? Very likely.)

Did I mention I had a choir? I'm sure I did. But yea. I'm a choir director. Just in case you forgot.

I'm done. Enough random statements. Click on the picture.

Soapbox Derby*: Meet Boo

Genesis 3:11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"



[Warning: Strong language. May not be suitable for the faint of heart.]

"I ain't no fag. I'll fuck you. And you can suck my dick. But ain't no man fuckin' me. It's like a bitch. I can fuck her, and she can suck my dick, but a bitch can't fuck me."

The DL Chronicles is a series of stories that surround what has come to be known as the down-low "phenomenon": men of color who have sex with men, usually under the cover of a marriage or long-term heterosexual relationship.

This down-low phenomenon has been sensationalized as "the reason so many black women are contracting HIV/AIDS," and the suggestion that a man isn't on the down-low unless he's married and having sex with another man. I had never really focused on this phenomenon, though it has been kinda rampant in the church. But being able to sit down with some friends and watch some of these stories really began to open my eyes to the truth of the down-low, and what it really is.I say "began," of course, because 2 hours of television couldn't possibly educate me totally about a societal situation that's been going on for years and impacting billions of people. Anyway, I ended up watching three episodes of the first season: Boo, Robert, and Mark.

The definition of "down-low" will vary from person to person, and it usually depends on what you have to hide. For example: Robert is a homosexual man who tried to get married to be "cured" of his homosexuality. It didn't work, his marriage ended, and he had been hiding his sexuality from his daughter well into her twenties for fear of her losing respect for her father figure. Mark has been with his man for three years, and they have been living together, but posing as heterosexual roommates. And Boo is an uberthugish figure who seems to detach his sex life from his reality, though his sex life is really the only reality we see on the show. Boo's mother just assumes: "you just sleep with everything that set down to pee." And though his level of activity is a cause for concern, along with his dangerous sex habits--no condom--we learn that Boo is hiding a lot from a lot of people.

What'll be important for you to see here is that the DL really comes down to one word: deception. Whether it's under cover of an ubermasculine stereotype, a muscular facade, a "normal" family life, a spiritual life, or a wedding ring, the fact remains that these are all covers at the end of the day.

But how real can the DL phenomenon be? I mean, maybe it was a certain way for other folks, but when each episode was over, I didn't feel like I could go outside and walk right into what I had just seen. I didn't think I'd go see Boo sitting out on the block with a bunch of thugs, one of which he would see every so often under the cover of night. I didn't think I'd see Mark and his roommate sitting closely on the couch, about to kiss, but playing it off when a neighbor passed by an open window. I didn't think I'd see Robert trying to cover his tracks with Austin, his lover, in front of his daughter. And why should I expect to see it? I mean, the DL Chronicles delves deep into the bedrooms of homosexual and heterosexual couples, exposing what most daytime shows just assume will go on behind a closed door after a date.

However, there is still the closed door. I wouldn't go out and see an ubermasculine facade that tries to convince itself that he is not gay. I could, however, go out and see an ubermasculine stereotype. I could expect to see a normal family life. I could see men and women sitting together in churches day after day after day. And I could expect to see a couple with a wedding ring. And the sad part is, the DL is just as real as the situations that cover them up and shield them from view. Under that lie I am telling you is the truth, and a truth that can be even more dangerous and threatening than the lie I used to cover it up.

With that, I contend that the DL goes beyond sex. Why? Because deception goes beyond sex. There are many things I could be deceiving you about right now. I could be deceiving you that I truly love the Lord; I could be deceiving you that any of the stuff I talk about on this blog matters to me or to you, and I could be deceiving you that I'm straight. And if you wonder why any of that info would matter, then you're way ahead of the game.

On the other hand, as I said before, even though there are people who believe that the DL only occurs among married men, the truth of the matter is that many of these folks have way more than a marriage at stake in their lives. For some folks, they feel like they have to choose between homosexuality and a job, respect, love, acceptance, and for many, God. I remember Boo's mother watching "all these gay people on TV." I couldn't help but chuckle when she said "the world has gotten so corrupt. But when Jesus come back, they all gone have to give an account..." And I laughed because I didn't know what else to do.

It's a cultural thing. And all the covers I've mentioned to you today are cultural. By decision of culture, it appears, a man has to be emotionless and cold, to the point where he's about to burst from trapped stress. By decision of culture, a woman has to be so submissive that she cannot think for herself. After all, there are only a few things you can do with a "bitch." By decision of culture, people have taken advantage of ageism, assuming that wisdom comes with age, even to the most ignorant old bag that decided long before reaching old age that they had achieved the pinnacle of wisdom that could ever be achieved by man. By decision of culture, sticks are sexy. By decision of culture, the word "f*ck" isn't as powerful as the word "fuck".

And by decision of culture, all that has been deemed unacceptable by "our" culture must hide itself from the rest of the world to avoid persecution based on issues ranging from sexuality, to body image, to race, to creed, to gender...

...to the very nakedness that started our humanity in Genesis 1.

I'm not going to blame a specific culture, because the many cultures that shape Western Society (the only society I have liberty to speak on) have intertwined to become what we call Western culture today. However, know that your culture--whatever it is--has played a part.

Black culture is just as guilty as White culture.
Heathen culture is just as guilty as Church culture.
Generation X's culture is just as guilty as the previous Generation's culture.
They have all played a part.

And like a potter, we have tried to shape culture into the perfect representation of what a society should be--a utopia, if you will. Of course, with pretty much everything that falls into human hands, culture has become an outright disaster.

And now, the very people who were given "dominion over the earth," and the very people to whom it was given to shape their own culture through the guidance of God, now must cower in fear of it.

And so we hide.

And so we deceive.

This, my brothers and sisters, is the down-low. In all its glory. Strip away the culture, strip away the notion of the "marital bed," the notion of "cover your shame," and what you are left with is a subculture of human beings that have been made the Esau to our Jacob, the servant to his brother culture...the "background to my foreground," as Bernie (Angela Bassett, Waiting to Exale) once put it. We suffer through cultural ranking; who's better than who. We struggle to make our own culture and to reforge our way of life, so that we will not be second to someone else. We run to America from Britain in search of "religious freedom." We focus our energy into making this country the land of opportunity--unless you're a Mexican or a nigger, then we don't want your sorry asses here. We pass all sorts of laws that we say come from Bible principles, and others of us try to pass laws that aren't based on Bible principles, sometimes in an effort to remind the world that this country will never agree that it is one nation under any sort of god. We try to redefine our thinking to be hip to the next big philosophy. We push the envelope. All in a cultural battle to be accepted and respected by our peers.

And the sad part is, in the scheme of things, and more importantly, in the eyes of God,

None of this matters.

So, what are you hiding from now?

*The other day I was talking to Chase about a situation I had intended to blog about. I'm not going to tell you what the situation was, because it'll ruin the blog when I finally decide to post it. Anyway, after I had vented about the situation for a while, his response was:
"Why don't you write a letter, Mr Passionate?
And while you're at it, you can send them the soapbox you're standing on so that they know you mean business."

And while it was a cute joke at the time, I realized that some of the entries I do on this blog will be complete soapbox entries. I mean, I intend to share my opinion pretty much all the time, but sometimes, like in the entry you just read, it'll be nothing but soapbox. I don't think it makes the entries any less legitimate.

I figure you guys could figure out what I meant by "soapbox derby" as time went along, but I thought the comment was funny at the time. So there you go. Full explanation.

Stand Out

“When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.” Isaiah 59:19

Track Title	Rating (Out of 10)
Stand Out	5
Hold On	8
Look Up	7
Bless the Lord	9
I Need You	8.5
Prodigal Son	9.5
All Hail the King	8
Hallelujah	9
Let Us Worship	8
So Amazing	7.5
He Has Made Me Glad	10
I Made It Through	10
Chasing After You	10
Well Done	10
Good in the Hood	8.5
Average Rating (per song)	8.5
Album Rating	9.2

I had been waiting for the release of this album since Victory Live! came out a couple years ago. As a musician and choir director, I’ve grown to love his style immensely. He’s active. He’s radical. He lets it all hang out. He falls on stage in the middle of his songs—on purpose. He’s out of the box. He even said at one point that he and his group have been kicked out of churches for their at times scary new take on gospel music.

In short, he’s weird. And I love it.

But there was always some speculation as to his comments concerning the status of homosexuality in the world and the church, and in exposing myself to the many kinds of people there are in the world, I’ve learned that sometimes, just saying “don’t be like that” or “stop doing that” isn’t enough to represent the gospel properly.

By the way, I once mentioned “homosexuality” maybe 3 times in a 25 minute sermon, and I was asked afterwards if I was gay. Am I? Well, you may have questions, but I don’t. And to me, that’s all that matters.

But yea…the church has been known unfortunately to sanction hatred, and lately, the scapegoat has been homosexuals. I generally can’t stand hatred and rejection in the church, because the church is supposed to be that one place you can go to when you can’t go anywhere else. Even the “Prodigal Son” (the 6th track on Tye’s album) said “at least I can go to my father’s house.” So I’m always a bit aware of when something seems slightly hateful and loftily rebuking.

Then I heard the title track on this album. First of all, it was kinda dull to me. I saw the visual on his website and it was more active, and I think it needed that visual aspect to appeal to me. Aurally, it's also grown on me. But being familiar with Tye’s work, the “war cry” he screams for sounded a little sheepish. Not sure why, but that's what I felt.

Even these lyrics sparked some anger among the bloggosphere and among many listeners, I’m sure:

“How you gonna be the praise leader
when you listen to r&b
And hip hop is on your ringtone
Trying to tell you God ain't pleased
And since when did it become cool
For you to live together unmarried
Men with men, women with women
Telling you God ain't gonna have it”

Now, is there a problem with these lyrics? Possibly, depending who you are. I personally have a problem with people saying “don’t listen to hip-hop” or things like that, and I’ll tell you why in more detail later. But these comments—not even the homosexuality, because that’s traditional church so I see where it comes from—but the hip-hop and r&b comment are comments that I’ve known to be personal opinion from Tye himself. And when you’re in a genre that people expect to be infallible, mixing any sort of opinion in it--obscurely--is a dangerous thing to do. So it was a bit of a turn off, and I almost didn’t buy this album.

But thank God I did.

Tye and Soundcheck have proven themselves as outright musical geniuses. They took almost every chord progression you could possibly think of and reworked it just a little bit more than most bands out there would. You could tell just by listening to the record that they enjoy what they do, and they take it seriously.

They called on Kim Burrell yet again to lend her soulful power to “He Has Made Me Glad,” the closest thing they have to a traditional track. She, of course, was amazing. The choir on this one reminded me of James Hall. GA’s pretty versatile if you listen closely.

[Quick comment: Do you remember on Victory Live! when Tye and Kim tried a run together, and it didn’t quite work out? Well, of course, they redid it on this album and got it right. I thought that was cute.]

“I Made It Through” is Soundcheck’s reinvention of shout music, and the main reason I love them so much. It’s New Orleans Jazz mixed with church shout music mixed with…all sorts of crazy mess. They made every effort to put every possible run and change in the song as possible, and it worked because they could resolve it. Some people may argue that he was doing too much. As a musician, I would disagree wholeheartedly. Of course.

“Chasing After You” is my second favorite track on the album.

What really stuck with me about this album is the fact that though Tye does some opinionated stuff sometimes, though he goes against the grain in what may be a questionable way, and though he's made enemies and friends and whatnot, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter to him. The track "Well Done" sealed that for me, and it wasn't even because of what the choir was singing, or what the musicians were playing. It was because of this comment during a musical interlude:

"Most of us have plans for this life. We have a blueprint of our business and how we want our future to be. And it's good to have a vision and a plan, for 'without a vision, the people perish.' So that's a great thing. But let's be mindful as we pursue our dreams and as we pursue our goals, that at the end of all this, the reality is, I'm living my whole life just to hear two words, and that's 'Well Done'"

I don't have time to preach on it right now, but suffice it to say the album is well worth the purchase. If you’re worried about hateful remarks and excessively opinionated statements, don’t be. Tye's human, just like everyone else. It happens. But he also ministers. And this album ministers.

Go get it.