The Switch-The Tale of One called Mali Music

Hello Saints,

 
You know, as a music lover, singer, writer and enthusiast, it's hard to come across artists who you believe represent you and identify with what we go through in this life as a Christian. I mean the real stuff. Yes the blessings, the presence of Jesus and His overwhelming Life in us; but also the struggle- with self and the enemy, the suffering and the process of changing and transforming your mind to reveal Christ's mind. At the same time, an artist that expresses the diversity in musicality that only few artists can achieve. And I believed that Mali Music is that type of artist.

   For years, he had joined the ranks of my favorite artists list and was on my cloud and every music player I had. As an artist myself, I even felt  the music God has given me reflected similarly what God had given him. A special connection I felt. There's a kinship that is felt among artists whose sound differs from popular/mainstream gospel or any other genre.

   SO you can imagine my surprise and disdain upon finding out that Mali Music is switching from Gospel to mainstream. I mean I was hurt... truly hurt :( . I mean I didn't want to judge to quickly  so I waited when a couple of years ago I had seen him on BET Music Matters. And when I heard he'd signed with Akon in 2011-12- I knew then that the decline had started but I didn't want to jump to any conclusions. I was hoping, maybe God was calling him to a bigger platform to share the gospel. Maybe---he can still maintain his integrity by upholding the gospel in a secular venue (although knowing the very impossibility of that statement). I just began to pray and continue to say "Maybe", hoping that his heart had not changed. Because I had not heard him say it out of his own mouth, I could not judge it.

   But there is no discrepancy anymore. Out of his OWN Mouth, on two separate interviews (one for a secular venue (www.youknowigotsoul.com/interview-mali-music-breaking-through-the-glass-ceiling )  and one for a Christian venue (www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjmOY27_Fb8 )) he basically admitted to switching to secular. He pulled a Lecrae! Meaning that he changed up his response based on the audience-on one hand denouncing Christ by talking about the limitations of gospel music and on the other hand stating that he wanted to be considered one of the greats / hall of famers like Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye and so on for HIS music. In one interview he shared that he had to remove the cross from his neck and change his message in order to be considered one of the greats (paraphrasing); while in the other interview he said that he's not "changing the message"  or he's "not switching to secular". Mali you've lied long enough to us and sad to say, I believe right now you are lying to yourself.

See the Hall of Fame we all must aim to join is really the Hall of Faith listed in Hebrews 11. It's a different type of hall because it lists those who despite extreme and sometimes near death experiences and circumstances, these people trusted  and chose God, even to the point of death.

Out of his own mouth, I heard him speak the biggest word in the alphabet..."I". Sad to say, there's another who used that word a lot too-Lucifer in Isaiah 14.

And my questions to this young Christian brother is this: 
-Do you REALLY believe that the devil will allow you to promote Jesus or any semblance of Jesus on his turf? 
-How do you reconcile when it says to love not the world nor the things of the world ... in 1 John 2:15-17?

-How do you justify it being God's will if there are no lyrics that point and glorify Jesus directly- the name above all other names?

-Is your music pointing people to Christ or to you?

-And because it is the world, how long do you think that the devil-who's the god of this world with a little "g" (Romans 1), will let you prosper in his world? 

He HATES us because he HATES our FATHER!!

 It was so disheartening because in both interviews, I heard him talk about nothing but himself. And that's one of the greatest tricks of the enemy- to get us focused on self instead of God- our lives, our "opportunities", our advancement instead of the advancement of the Kingdom and Christ's will and Agenda for our lives according to HIS Plan. It's God's music, not ours.

I can't judge the young brother because honestly he's not the only one who has done the switch and nor will he be the last either ( I just recently heard today of a prominent Gospel artist-at which I am not at liberty to share.. shhh!-who is contemplating leaving gospel for R&B and is currently working with a prominent secular artist in hopes of that transition now. This move I promise you will wreak of irony-that's all I'm saying). And I'm not even saying that just because you are in the gospel industry that it's holy. Most times it's just as secular as the secular industry.

But why is our youth leaving God to join the ranks of satan's army to promote his agenda? from doing the work of God to the world to be deceived?

Why is Jesus alone and all He stands for not enough?

And why and how do we justify pleasing God when we mix what He's given us to do with selfish ambitions and the world's rewards? Are we any better than Cain?

Please pray for this brother to not be consumed by this world. Please pray for him and others in the industry to see the Light because if we don't, we'll continue to see a falling away like never before and some great soldiers for the Cross will be lost in the process...

The Genre Discussion

I recently went to a concert that was more traditional gospel in nature (you know-hand clapping, toe tapping holy ghost filled gospel!! in my preacher's voice). And as I'm sitting there trying to be ministered to through the music, there were a bunch of people talking and the person at the mic was singing "This is the Day" like it wasn't; and it just felt like a bunch of confusion. 

It got a little better after an hour and people were hushed. Groups with the quartet and traditional gospel & blues sound would get up to sing. To my surprise & maybe even my dismay, some of the same culprits of the loud talking and even yelling across the tables (yes even yelling) were now getting up to sing and expected full attention. There was no surprise, however, that there was no anointing present when they sung.  Don't get me wrong, they put on a good show that might be considered by some as soul-stirring. They had loud music that'll make you want to move and even very charismatic sayings that will catch your ears to want to hear them. But Holy Ghost Power in music and delivery, no. I thought , well maybe it's I'm not that into traditional gospel. But there were some groups there, that as soon as they opened their mouths, the Spirit was present and felt. And the God in them, moved the God in me and ministered, despite my preference in music. While others simply fell into category of "sounding brass tinkling cymbals". 

Paul talked about this in 1Cor. 13-"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." People almost always think about instruments in this text but he was pointing to something specific that the Corinth church would know about. Translated in the Greek, Paul was referring to the Echoing Bronzes, a famous set of Sounding Resonators used by the Romans for people to hear better in the arenas. Stone is not a good reflector of sound and so the Romans would use these resonators to help people hear, but they were empty vessels. Paul's declaration to the church is that without love (God is Love), they're saying all the right things with no power behind it. And like some of the groups at the concert, a whole lot of feel good music with no power.

Stay with me here, I'm getting closer to my point...

Why would I say this about a style/genre that has historically in the past 3-4 decades been considered traditional gospel music and almost synonymous with the presence of the anointing? 

This brings me to a conversation I had with my dad, who still questions Jesus but loves traditional gospel music. He said that music today doesn't have any Spirit in it. That people back in the day could listen to it and get saved or "filled with Holy Ghost." Besides the obvious point I wanted to make of "if that's the case why are you still questioning Jesus, dad?" Wanted to say it, Thank God I didn't. But the Lord quickly pointed out something that really stuck..." When he was young, traditional gospel music as we know it, was the new kid in town. And people older than my dad, said the same thing about his generation of music- they thought it was the devil and tried to connect the authentic power of the Holy Spirit to one style of music (at that time, it was hymns).

Does one genre have the monopoly of the Holy Ghost?

While there are songs that are classics, and ministers no matter who sings them (Total Praise-Richard Smallwood always causes people to fall out in worship). Ministry and Power in song, is usually directly connected to the personal relationship with Christ of the messenger/vocalist and the personal connection to the style of music it is packaged in. God knows exactly what He's doing by having different styles of music with the gospel in it. Somebody might not get "He's Sweet I know" but might get "Sweeter" by John P Kee, or "Sweeter" by Sean C. Johnson. Same message... different delivery.

Music is a language that God uses to help His people to understand Him and live for Him. But music does not replace the Spirit and the power of the Spirit to transform the hearts and minds of those who desire to live right, and even those who don't. No one genre has the monopoly on the Spirit. Music is the vessel, it's the vehicle, but without the factors of the presence of the Spirit in the one who sings it, it's just a good soul stirring song, nothing more, nothing less.

After Mt Carmel...

I meant to post this last year in September and it never posted. Well I thought it might be helpful...

Hello People,

I've been in a cave for like a month. Well a month and a half. After my Label Launch event (that was extremely successful and anointed) I kinda have been hidden for a little bit. I was planning to go to Connecticut to sing, but did not pray about it and because of a number of complications, never made it there. One reason being that it was prophesied that the enemy (the devil himself) was seeking to take my life through a car accident had I went to CT. He was trying to thwart my destiny and the furthering of the music God has given me. Another reason, was that I for a brief moment lost touch in hearing the Inspiration (God) for my music and thought it was about me. Just a moment. But many of us know it only takes a moment for us to receive the wiles of pride as we begin to ascend to the pedestals of our mind. Only to find we are fallible or "Fall"-able.

So for the past month, being scared out my wits, I retreated and put the ministry on hold. Does this sound familiar?

I wonder how many of us, after we have had a high anointed experience, begin to retreat to depths of entrenched depression and away from the Christ and the Power that saved us, emboldened us to stand fiercely and was well able to keep us if we only continued to trust Him? Much like Elijah after the Mt Carmel experience (1Kings 19), we run away at the instance the enemy has threatened our lives. But aren't we supposed to be able to stand in difficult times, or when the enemy threatens us? I was really upset at the thought that I was not able to go, but even more upset that I didn't stand. I believe Elijah was an example for us to learn from not necessarily follow. We don't have to run from the enemy and waste precious time that the Lord could be using to help us minister His word across nations. We must make a conscious decision to let God rule and reign in our life. And if we do that effectively, then there's no room for fear. Perfect LOVE casts out fear. 1John 4:18

Much Love Fam,
RR

A New Take on "Planking"

It's so funny how the silliest things can take wind in the world and people just jump on it so quickly. I know you all have heard of this new phenomenon called "planking". Planking or "The lying down game" is a fad which consists of people lying face down in an unusual or incongruous location. Then someone takes a picture and post it online for all to see. Believe it or not, some people have gotten seriously hurt or killed from this. Probably not something I would consider myself doing anytime soon.

The reason why I thought about this fad is that recently, I've had to experience my own form of planking. Let me explain. The other day I was in the Word and the Lord led me to Matthew 7. The first verse of the chapter was very clear: "Judge not, that ye be not judged..."v.1 I continued reading in the chapter that read:

For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. and why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to you brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye', and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Matt 7:2-5

Then I read the definition of plank and planking and found that another form of planking is gathering a bunch of planks and laying them aside in a group. And then it hit me: How often do we judge people for any reason really, and we have the same problem or the same issue? I think it's time we start removing some planks.

How does this relate to us as artists?

Many times we look at people and for whatever reason (they look better in the dress you wanted, they have your job, their not doing their job right, they can sing better or can't sing at all, they have an anointing on their life, etc. etc, etc.) we judge them, not realizing that we TOO struggle with the same issue, maybe in a different area or way. I've been to many concerts and midnight musicals where people are dressed to the nines and they only come for the purpose to see what other people are wearing, singing, sounding, dancing. The purpose of the gospel is lost when we #1-take our focus off of God and the reason we are there in the first place; and #2- focus on others and ourselves in comparing ourselves to what others have or do.

Another plank that can we can easily move is that we also judge the validity of someone's else ministry in music because it does not minister to us. Now this is a sticky one, because while there are clear signs that a song is not about God at all and even doesn't uplift Jesus, we are not in a position to judge whether it is effective or not. I'm not talking about songs that cause people to focus on themselves persay, moreso, those songs where it is clear what the message is and because it has a different sound, new beat, and we're not used to it, we say it is not anointed. Even for those who are more inspirational in nature, we cannot judge who it will reach and how. We cannot unrighteously judge the artists who make it. And we should embrace anyone who has taken up the cross to follow Christ, denied themselves, and answered the call to minister through song, despite how different the sound.

I think of some people, some of whom I have sung beside like Tye Tribbett, Jai, and Mali Music and how different their ministry is but very effective and anointed. I imagine they must have had a rough start getting people to even receive their music let alone listen to it and buy it. and now they are ministering to nations. I, too will one day joins the ranks of unashamed and unabashed artists whose main purpose is to preach the message of Christ in song to the nations.

But first, I have some planking to do...

Much Love Family,

RR

The Dangerousness of Jay-Z

I was talking with a coworker today about the song "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z & Alicia Keys. I mostly listen to gospel myself and never really cared for Jay-Z years ago when he called himself "J-hova" or Hova (a blatant disrespect of God). But even I must admit that the song has a great beat and seems to have a positive message. SO after looking at lyrics (not the full version), I thought it was a good song to introduce to young people I work with. My coworker admonished me to take a closer look at the full lyrics of the song and I will see why Jay-Z has become his "enemy". And after searching for the complete version, I then saw it in plain words what my coworker was talking about. With lyrics like, "the city of sin is a pity on a whim" and "Jesus can't save you, life starts when the church ends", it's a wonder why Christians haven't lined up to protest.
Why haven't we? And why does it matter?

People could easily come up with it being about freedom of speech and everyone has the right to their opinion. So why is this song so dangerous? It's clear that Jay-Z does not know, love, or care to know Jesus, so why should we be concerned about his songs?

Good questions. And I will attempt to feebly answer why it affects us as Christians, and especially as Christian and gospel artists.

-Regular Airplay: This song, because it represents the city of New York in an intimate way, has become an anthem of sorts and has warranted the amount of airplay it receives. We hear it walking down the streets, on the radio stations, on tv; it has become mainstream. And even though its talking about the NY, many people relate to it (there's even a London version of the song!) This seemingly innocent anthem subtly inserts a blatant denouncing of Christ. Despite mainstream songs having suggestive lyrics that refute the church and Christianity, I don't think we've ever had such a widely accepted song openly refute Jesus as Savior. This is indicative of the times we now live in and brings home the reality of the End Times like never before.

-The Kids: Because of its widespread airplay and acceptance, kids hear this on a regular basis. They hear this song and believe it. Why? They see church folks constantly not having the answers to life's problems. They see them being hypocrites and doubting the very God they claim to serve. On the contrary, they see Jay-Z and others like him, who have come from where they come from; been in the trenches, grew up and is very successful but also transparent. He is considered one of the nobles of hip hop. SO they begin to believe that "life starts when church ends". They start to slowly entertain that maybe Jesus can't save you because He didn't save Aunt Judy who is in church everyday of the week, talks about Jesus all the time but also talks about everybody else and treats people wrong. They take the bait of Satan in the form of one of the world's angels of light- a hip hop god who rose through the ranks of success: a few houses, a pretty wife and a few grammys.

-The Beats: This song has nice beats!! This is where it gets messy for Christian and gospel artists. There are so many songs by artists, that use beats and sounds that are frequently used in the world to convey the message of Christ. But's that not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about artists, who shall remain nameless, who mirror the world in its flagrant beats to package the message that seems like it may include Christ, but highlight things that have nothing to do with God and are contrary to the Word. Songs that focus on us, the creation, as opposed to the Creator Himself. We are no better than someone like Jay-Z when we wrap pseudo-Christ centered messages in a crazy beat. We practically prepare the way for kids and impressionable Christians to stray because we have compromised our message and compensated it with a nice beat.

I do not have anything personal against this man. I've never met him, he never slapped my momma, or anything like that. And honestly, he is free to choose what to say and who he will serve. However, I am concerned,as a Christian artist, about what message we send as Christians when we choose to actively listen to those who denounce God and when we are not cautious about the messages given to the young people intrusted to our care. I almost made that mistake. The message that Jay-Z sends through this seemingly harmless song is the same message that Satan gave to Eve in the garden: one of doubt, that questions the very nature and essance of our God. Jesus' name MEANS Savior. And to package the enemy's message in a nice beat, surrounded with personally encouraging lyrics about America's beloved and traversed city- New York, is dangerous. But what's even more dangerous is when we, as Christians, like Adam, openly accept songs that make our flesh feel good and has nice beats without thoroughly investigating what it says. Then like Eve, we pass on the fruit of carelessness and selfishness through the medium of music that was created to uplift. That my friends, is the most dangerous thing of all.

How To Move Forward...

What a hell of a year! 2009 was tough for everybody I think. With the economy, there was a ripple effect that caused eveyone to feel it. I had to put everything on hold with music: my job was laying people off left and right, lost my boyfriend/almost fiance', lost my grandmother, my friends and family lost key people in their lives, had a myriad of health problems that kept me in and out of the hospital, and then on top of all that I gained like fifty pounds from stress (why couldn't it be the other way when I lose weight because of stress??) What a stressful year!

Despite all of these obvious life changing moments, God has given me a renewed hope and expectation for the new year. The last couple of months of this year have exploded! I have been requested more and more to sing (and with the songs God has given). Even though I lost a woman who has made an impact on the lives of everyone she touched, her life has inspired me to do the same and don't waste time. Her death made me think about my life. For every negative situation, I got a song out of it that touched people. I started grad school, got a new job to start next year, got other people jobs when people said it wouldn't happen, I have a new business, and a new love interest. Even as a country, we became more cautious about how we spend money, more compassionate to people who were struggling because of our struggles and more involved in the world outside of our own minds.

Many times, we have difficult situations that seem to overtake us and shake our world up. But on many occasions I am left to believe that these things come to show us the opportunities that existed all along; the ones we didn't see because we got so comfortable with our current situations. These things come to shake us up, but if our foundation is strong (the Lord and the Word), it only shakes out those things that hindered us. So as you approach this new year, think about what you will take from the shaking of 2009. How will you move forward and whose life will you choose to impact? Don't let the lessons that were shook into us be forgotten! You can begin a new year with a new resolution that you will be inspired to keep, especially if you had a shaking that woke you up like it did me. Forget it! No more resolutions! It's time for revolution! Are you with me!?!

What Makes Great Gospel Music?

As I sit and contemplate what's going on in the music industry, it makes me think about what people look for. What makes great gospel music?Is it what's new and fresh or is it about the anointing? Or Both? If it is about the anointing on a song/psalmist, then why is it so hard for good anointed music to reach airplay?

Most people I'm sure would say it is the anointing- the Power of God that makes gospel music great. It's what separates most secular artists from gospel artists. Even they would have to admit that when you're listening to gospel music it makes you feel good. But so many gospel artists are consumed with a sound as opposed to the message. Anybody that knows anything about music knows that the message will eventually supercede the melody... So have today's gospel artists forgotten that?