So, the story behind the night of April 7th 2013 actually started the night before…
Picture it, it’s about 7pm on a Saturday night & Staten Island, NY based emcees Quest The Wordsmith & Redeemed of Freestyle Fam, along with Rkitect, Buck Barnabas, videographer Steve Carmona & myself are in this cozy Spanish Restaurant in Park Slope, Brooklyn NY, enjoying amazing plates of food while engrossed in an intense yet specific evaluation of evangelism through hip hop, who’s qualified to do it & what dictates their ‘mission field’. Earlier in the day, the six of us (along with Righteouz Knight, DJ Numan & Swinn da Example) were shooting a music video for a track off ‘Fam’s upcoming project. Now, over steaming rice & beans, I’m watching Quest’ & Buck’ mostly dominating the conversation, both anxious, even impatient in trying to make valid points that either agreed or countered each other’s while Steve, Redeemed, ‘Tect & myself only interjected when necessary with pivotal points. Before we parted ways though, a couple of conclusions were established. Often times we look at certain styles of hip hop done by Christians & make assumptions that if the lyricism isn’t wrapped in deep theology & scripture quotes or comes off aggressive, it’s not anointed enough or if your rhymes are speaking of God overtly that you can’t rock a ‘non church’ audience…
We all agreed…more or less…that those conclusions were false
…& it was proven emphatically the following night.
Now it’s Sunday night. It’s 7:25pm & I’m standing outside of CLUB PYRAMID (101 Ave A. NYC) where NYC’S longest running hip hop open mic/showcase known as “End Of The Weak” makes it’s home. I’m there at least an hour early before the doors open, it’s usually smart to do that, or else you’ll find yourself going on stage at some ‘God awful’ hour ‘cause you were second to last on an open mic list that works on a ‘first come first serve’ basis. Originally Me, Freestyle Fam & Rkitect (who by the way was visiting from Florida) planned to come through on this night for weeks now, but then RUSLAN, solo artist & member of THE BREAX, texted me that weekend to let me know that he visiting from out of town & that he was trying to get up with me & as it turned out, he was booked to rock ‘End Of The Weak’ that same night. So now, we had 5 Christian emcees about to hit the stage of this “secular spot”, but then I was lead to raise the stakes just a little bit more. Before I got on the F TRAIN to head to Club Pyramid in the 1st place, on my Facebook chat I see Queens emcee SEDA online. I say hello to him & then I thought to myself within seconds, “He should be out here tonight too!!!”. So I quickly invited him to come down if he was free. SEDA being strategic (as most rappers are) inquired about the audience demographic, I answered that it was a ‘mixed bag’, but in end I assured him…
“Ultimately, who’s in the crowd doesn’t really matter…just be dope!”
It’s approaching 9:20pm & it’s almost showtime, and by God’s Grace, though Freestyle Fam & Rkitect & Seda got there late, they SOMEHOW made it on the list. Ruslan was already good to go based on his prior booking, so now everything was pretty much set. Also in the house was Bradford Davis, a writer/contributor for Holyculture.net who came with Ruslan & a friend of his & remarked that being in this dimely lit spot full of ‘hungry’ emcees & a well stocked bar reminded him of a scene from the iconic hip hop coming of age flick “8 MILE”. Davis wasn’t too far off with that comparison, especially with the fact that tonight, in addition to an open mic & Ruslan’s showcase, there was also an “MC Challenge” going on too. The “MC Challenge” is essentially a rap battle in the form of a skills competition & believe me when I say that the addition of that segment completely worked out for what God ended up doing…but more on that later. Before I tell you about the open mic, let me give you a backstory of “EODUB” so you can understand what kind of environment we were in. This open mic is one the best open mics period for any artist to showcase and/or sharpen their lyricism, songwriting & stage performance. “EODUB” has had everyone from underground legends like IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE to TALIB KWELI rock that spot. JIN & DATIN, now Christian emcees, built their reputations as lyricists at that spot & yes, there’s smoking, drinking, profanity of varying degress on and off stage & intelluctual, revolutionary & thugged out rappers (black & white) who aren’t exactly ‘church folk’ at THAT SPOT…Understood? Ok then. Finally, the open mic begins & due to their lateness FREESTYLE FAM & RKITECT go up first since it was the only spot left. The trio “KILL IT” doing the song they shot a video for the day before. Redeemed & Quest ‘go in’ with their verbal assault but with a verse that compared his delivery to “KRUSH GROOVE” & “OBAMACARE”, Rkitect really connected with that crowd & they set the tone. Freestyle Fam’s been to “EODUB” before & they’ve been recognized as incredible rappers who are undeniably Christian. I think the crowd though that would be the only talk of CHRIST that night after FAM’ & ‘TECT left the stage….
Not exactly…
Five rappers after my peoples, yours truly hit the stage as the 7th emcee with the song I never rocked live before, which was “THE MACHINIST” (Video coming soon). I’ll be honest with y’all, with the six of us in this spot I WANTED & EXPECTED GOD TO MOVE in a major way, so I wanted to keep that momentum & it ended it up being brilliant. The crowd responded with repeated ooooohs, aaaaaaahs & OHHHHS to nearly every punchline, double entendre & slick line I spit on that joint. My showmanship urged them to have their hands raised to ‘the father’ & they didn’t even know it until it was too late ‘cause by then, they were HOOKED! They were asking for contact numbers, they wanted build afterwards, they gave props, they were rocking with this “JESUS MUZIK”, these same thugged out or wanna be thugged out dudes. It was a pretty epic scene. Later on, in comes RUSLAN to do his set & I can’t lie, this brother’s IN-CRE-DI-BLE. I have his music obviously, definitely been a fan but I’ve never seen him LIVE. Mark my words, you need to see Ruslan LIVE people, he puts on a great show, his beats BANG & he had that same thugged out crowd saying “JESUS CHRIST IN MY HEART, S.D. ON MY BACK!!!” when he closed with “In My Heart” off his solo album ‘Carry On’. At that moment, everyone in that building along with the hosts of the event quickly recognized that so far 5 emcees just brought THE GOSPEL to this open mic & ‘BODIED IT!!!’. I even heard cries of “Hallelujah” in the background. This mug just turned into ‘CHURCH’.
And yes, it got even BETTER…
Turned out SEDA couldn’t get on the OPEN MIC, but he did have a shot at the aforementioned “MC CHALLENGE” which REDEEMED also signed up for, and after they both won their rounds to get into the “FINAL FOUR”, this is where it got really interesting. Allow me to take you guys there, since this wasn’t caught on tape to my knowledge. SEDA & REDEEMED (The two Christian emcees) were going against a dude named RADO & this other rapper whose name I can’t remember, but hailed from STATEN ISLAND & earlier, while outside with his crew (who looked like the teenage sons of a mob family with their chains & cigarettes) basically swore up & down that he had this competition ‘in the bag’. Problem with that statement was, though homeboy was pretty good in his own right, he didn’t count on the stiff competition verses from REDEEMED & SEDA were about to apply on his chances on winning…& he would feel it too, especially in the 2nd round. In that ‘acappella’ round, SEDA spit first, he did a written verse that ‘morphed’ into a freestyle about Christ’s redemptive power & crushed it! Right after that was REDEEMED who honestly probably spit the best verse of that whole competition. The rule was that they was supposed to be ‘NO CROWD REACTION’ until after the artists’ verses was done. REDEEMED made everyone break that rule in spades. People couldn’t help but react to his phenomenal poetics about God’s saving grace. That pissed the dude from STATEN ISLAND off, his spirit wasn’t having it & he let us all know it when he stepped on stage for his turn & said indignantly…
“F*** OUTTA HERE WITH THAT POETRY S***!!! THIS IS HIP HOP”
Word son? That’s how you feel huh?
Bradford was stunned. Ruslan gave him the side eye with a smirk, Rkitect looked like he wanted to rush the stage but we all held our composure. I laughed to myself personally, ‘cause I knew what just happened. This wasn’t just an MC BATTLE anymore, this was spiritual warfare, no cliche. Before the show started, these cats from STATEN ISLAND we’re looking to OWN THE NIGHT, word to Selah The Corner. God had other plans though & between SEDA’S freakishly great punchlines ‘on the fly’ & REDEEMED’S wordplay that blew people’s minds while repping JESUS, it was a wrap. RADO the other rapper in the competition was really great too, so great that he ended up winning the “MC CHALLENGE”, but GOD had his way in that too, ‘cause in accepting his award, he said the following…
“Yo, I wanna shoutout SEDA, he honestly could’ve & should’ve won this challenge so I’m a share this with him, you gotta understand this, AT NOT ONE TIME IN THIS COMPETITION, DID SEDA COMPROMISE HIS RELIGION (JESUS) IN THIS BATTLE…you gotta respect that!!!”
Not only was that a class act by RADO, but it showed that him & other people were paying attention to us & our message. It blessed them, they were curious afterwards, we shared testimonies with people, we sowed seeds & we built new relationships by being EXCELLENT AT OUR CRAFT, TRANSPARENT & OBVIOUS WITH OUR FAITH. We also angered some spirits in there as well, but that’s part of the territory too & we can’t be afraid or not expect that. In short this night had striking parallels with the discussion that was had the night before.
In closing, I’ll say this, the word of God says that our gifts will make room for us & that night at “EODUB” drove that point home. But it’s not limited to rappers, musicians or other kinds of artists, that biblical truth is applicable to ANYONE with a specific gift God gave them. Truth is, it doesn’t even have to carry a ‘CHRISTIAN BANNER or LABEL’ either. You being dope at what do & doing it with excellence can put you in positions of influence where you can have an opportunity to share the gospel with people. Joseph interpreted dreams for kings after being jailed for rape accusations & became influential and rose to power in the Old Testament, who’s to stay you can’t gain that influence at your job, your school, your sporting arena or your community by being great in your gift but with a purpose? Think about it.
The culture is curious about this God we know personally,
maybe even possibly open to receive him…
we gotta engage it.
‘Quest
P.S. I’ll be doing a Radical Departure Spring Tour 2013 date at “End Of The Weak” (101 AVE. A NYC) in MAY 2013, if you’re nearby you may wanna be there. Stay tuned tohttps://radicalexposure.tumblr.com for upcoming details.
