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Before Mike REAL ever rapped on Clear Sight Music’s Jesus or Nothing project, he used to wrap burritos.
At the West Florissant Taco Bell in Ferguson, MO, REAL regularly rubbed shoulders with two of the most respected and well-known artists in the CHH movement.
“When FLAME and Thi’sl were grinding in the studio, they used to come into Taco Bell every day,” REAL said.
At that point in his life, REAL would have never guessed that a song that he co-created, Sanctuary, would be featured on FLAME’s Royal Flush album. Nor could REAL have guessed that he would one day be an artist on Clear Sight Music.
Trugoy of De La Soul said it best, "Investing in fantasies and not God. Welcome to reality, see times is hard." Sometimes we would prefer a cheap carnival trick over actual magic. Ironically, we cannot see a real unicorn unless she's been placed in a costume horn first. It is as if we have to make life fake before it gets real.
Inspired by Peter S. Beagle's novel of the same name, The Last Unicorn, is a rap story about pain and selfishness and regret and repentance and petulance and desire and unicorns. It is a record about running away and never being able to escape, all at the same time. The unicorn is at once without bounds and a prisoner simultaneously. Humanity is the same -- trapped in the discomfort of our own skin. Prophets tell us that our freedom literally comes in bondage.
Candid: Oprah Winfrey, 64, has opened up about the final days she spent with her mother, Vernita Lee, who died at the age of 83 on Thanksgiving Day
Oprah Winfrey has opened up about the emotional final moments she spent with her late mother, Vernita Lee, who died at the age of 83 at her home in Milwaukee on Thanksgiving Day.
The 64-year-old media mogul sat down with People for a candid interview about the days she spent with her mother before her passing, admitting that she initially struggled to find the right words while saying goodbye.
‘In hospice care they have a little book about the little conversations,’ she said. ‘I thought, “Isn’t this strange? I am Oprah Winfrey, and I’m reading a hospice care book on what to say at the end.”‘
The intro track "The City" says "And when you're born...with drugs and money launderers, now a husband and a father, that's proof that God loves you." A track that was previously part of the Humble Beginning compilation, "Beautiful Pain," finds its way onto the Art Ambidextrous tracklist as well. Propaganda speaks of things that are painful but are beneficial in life, and end up creating something amazing. One of the prime examples he uses? "Like hail Mary full of grace, she was proud of her stretch marks, how her skin expanded to bring forth the Son of Man, that's pain, but it's beautiful." He sees truth in the darkness, and, like "Beautiful Pain," finds beauty in the painful aspects of life.
“I want people to feel proud about what they have. If you have little or much, there is hope. The comparison game tears down houses. If there’s anywhere you belong, it’s home.’”— Canon
Read more at Reflection Music Group
Christon Gray - Clear The Heir
Best Song On The Record:"Gray" has so much depth lyrically, it touches on recent social issues and calls the church to more action. It is an Ohio all-star show featuring Gray's brother Taelor and Tragic Hero. It isn't a song that can be listened to once. It is a song to sit with. The chorus is an exhortation to the listener, "There's a Heaven and we all wanna go/Does anybody wanna fall on the sword/Take my hand, I just want you to know/Healing begins when you call on the Lord."
Christon Gray is a rule breaker. He does not fit neatly within one genre. Rather, he blends them together, making something that can only be his own. His journey over the years has been the tale of the underdog. This is an artist that should not be counted out or brushed aside. Clear The Heir is an album that will be revisited years from and considered groundbreaking in its own right.
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Malachi @ The_Oracle_Mag
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