Listening to The Well

This is my favorite Soaking Music online station.

http://www.live365.com/stations/thewell

It's The Well. They broadcast prayerful, meditative music - not much typical contemporary. Or rap.

This is calming and unadulterated silent worship.

Hope you dig.

Praise w. me . . .

Dear Father

I know that it is sometimes hard for human beings to share their worship life.

It can seem uncomfortable.

The world of worship is difficult to record historically -- but hallelujah! it is always archived eternally.

Regardless of these matters YOU are the Father, who we Praise!

We long to bring an offering.

We attempt.

Our heads fall.

Your glory is simply too Bright. Too magnificent for us to contain.

Receive our words of hope.

Our poetry and rhythms.

You are our longing.

And Strength. And destiny.

Our only value.

It Is YOU!



Jesus.

The 2nd full-length Praise Rap album

Read about In Rare Form from my (and your) most reliable CHH source - Sketch the Journalist

2 years ago RawSrvnt broke the mold by releasing this complete worship CD. Rare indeed...

Sketch the J's review is here and it briefly breaks down the extreme scarcity of jewels like this 2006 release.

I'll share more when I snag a copy later.

The Worth of Beats / Cont.

When music is a major factor in your worship life, I believe it cannot be un-listenable.

It must be a comfortable fit.

Do not feel timid in expressing a need such as this.

{ The Father in heaven can take it! }

I believe I will *always* be a music enthusiast.

God made me this. Why shy from it!

That is why it is so important to have beats that appeal to you as an individual.

Skillfully made, and solid.

---
So what does a worship beat actually sound like?

Honestly, we hardly know yet.

There are less than a handful of Christian Rap Worship albums.

I don't think there are any compilations either.

Or Mixtapes (!?)

But that isn't a complaint. It's an opportunity.

Super producers have a wide open field for flooding out amazing tracks for praise!

In its own way, beat making IS a communication through the spirit.

It is fellowship.

Inspiration.

Perfect opportunities to exalt His Utmost.

In fact:

The production realm for Worship/Hiphop is VAST

Boundless.

The Value of Beats

Music lover or not, I have to tell you:

There is GREAT WORTH implanted in the heart of the rhythm pattern, the percussion sound, the instrumentation of controlled movement.

Yes, beats.

Beats relate to humanity. They are an instantaneous part of who we are born to be.

"Ye that have ears, let them nod repeatedly."

There is something explicitly internal about what music does to us, how it molds and transforms you.

Words are of value. But we must FEEL.

---
In my mind, worship is no different.

I am inclusive of the idea that what we desire as people transcends willfully into our personal and corporate worship life. In most of our cases, needs must be met.

As a church goer, I personally see that denominational sanctions in the Christian church are defined today by a person's preference of sound and atmosphere, as they once were by theological dimension.

Ah, the Impact of Music.

So hence, my desire for a preferred STYLE of worship music. Hip Hop!!!

Conversational Worship Rap

Worship is a Conversation.

Yet, 95% of HipHop Lryix are neither of those things.

Why?

Simple.

Rap cats have a long and strong history of speaking AT people. Seems obvious.

But *WHO* does a rap speak *TO*? Directly? In the Second Person?

Does a hiphop verse ever tell somebody they're special? Or appreciated?

(I know, this question may sound silly to you at first.)

Does it though?

Does a rhyme ever express an outward adoration to another entity?

Example:

YOU are appreciated. YOU are adored. YOU are loved.

If you are a rapper, how do you talk to God when on the mic?

"I love God."

"I love Jesus."

"I am called to serve the Lord."

You know what: DON'T TELL US, TELL HIM! Command a response!

Use words that express and convey an OUTWARD adoration.

I mean, is that what we do? Do we write what we write just to explain things to people?

Is there more to writing rhymes than being an informer of the self?

Even more than a correspondent of the Biblical message?

Can we open our selves up beyond being "explainers?"

Picture this. Is it possible for you to say your rap...

in a closed room...

by yourself... and still have it truly matter to another?

Please answer these questions. Then reflect a bit.

Spit a new 32.

Talk TO God. (Not about Him.)

Intimate, personal, private.

Try.

See what evolves.

peace.

Worship Leader, Guitarist, Freestyle Soloist

First video I'm posting . . .

Tonight I give it all up for Austin rapper SaulPaul for introducing his 'Acoustic Hiphop' worship through this church session he posted a while ago.

Props!

The Need Inside

What I felt during my P&W metamorphosis was beautiful.

My hiphop friends were at a loss!

I began branching out.

I started to look toward more ambient sounds.

Groove. Folk. Adult Contemporary.

Softer. Slower. Quieter.

Even silence.

There is a lot to be gained in the world of quiet.

{ I have a more in-depth side to that story which I can share later. Don't sleep }

But, yes, I was older now. I was late in my adult maturing, but it was finally happening.

God was building a worshiper in me. A glorifier.

And so,

Could there be a side to that worshiper that still loved his first love? R-A-P? Maybe.

Actually I'm finding that out now. Today. This minute.

---
This is the time in my life where I see if God is totally calling me out of this world, or if we can still build something together.

I need to find joints that are edifying to my spirit. Else it's all pointless.

I have already loved Hiphop because it was heat.

That has changed. It's not enough to be dope. It must connect me.

And I know now that this will not just be for me.

I am sure there are others... Hip Hop Worshipers.

I want to help unveil the even-deeper level of rhymesaying there can be with the Lord.

I know it's there.

In Hiphop.

in us.

A New slave.

It was a slow process leaving CHH. {Abbreviation for Christian Hip-Hop}

CHH was on tha rise.

There were more artists than ever. Even more now.

Networking. Praying. Believing. Nurturing the field of souls.

I even aided ever so slightly in the growth of this ministry.

I was a rap music critic and an eventual magazine owner during this period. It was all I cared about in fact.

What dared me to progress was hearing this moving music, without feeling sustained any longer.

---
There was a New hunger. A longing for.

I wanted God.

In person.

Upclose.

Relationally. And Real.

My most daring hope was not to offend you artists who I still care for. But.

Feeling you was no longer enough.

My Story: Why It Died...

I'm slave. Former rap fiend.

I'm going to tell you the truth:

I fell out of love with hip hop years ago.

Why did I? For a sincere reason: I needed a deeper worship life.

And I wanted the Christian Rap music that I loved to play a major part in it.

It wasn't doing it.

Worship-centered Hip hop never seemed a priority for many Christian MCs.

Most artists had lyrics *about* God -- true.

Or love. Or salvation. Or sins. Or social issues. Or themselves.

But could true worship break its way through?

I'll be honest, I lost patience. I got tired. I stopped digging.

I fell off because there were so few Christian Hiphop albums that would let me just sit down and bask in God's presence, uninterrupted, while I listened to the entire disc.

In fact, there were none.

I was desperate for continual intimacy with the Lord in my music life.

And for Gospel rap, it no longer moves me where I need to be.

So I did what I had to do. I was out.

Worship Cutz Wanted!

:: Hip-hop Artists ::

If you blaze worship for the King on the mic -- then I ask that you please let me know how you glorify His presence.

Share your expression.

Send an mp3.

Send a video link.

Recommend an album.

Use your skills for lifting up God in the highest, most intimate manner.

I commend and encourage you.

Welcome to Worship-hop!

Praiseworthy Hiphop

So it begins

A Christian blog dedicated to the search for praise and worship life within Hip Hop culture.

praise GOD for starters

And so it begins . . .