Malachi:I can tell you're a very well read person and you love books. I’m the same way, I love to collect old books too. I even have a few by W.E.B. Dubis. What are your 7 favorite books?

Sho Baraka: Oh Wow, Umm, I would say in no particular order, I’d start off with (The) Lord of The Rings, the whole trilogy. I just call that as one book. I just believe the creativity and the imagination in that book is just like an amazing journey. And then also when you think about the morals, the social and the spiritual nuances in that book are so thick, so rich. Tolkien did an amazing job. How Should We Then Live? By Francis A. Schaeffer is just another book that I love. It gives a very healthy balance of this whole secular, sacred but then also how should a Christian live in this world and culture that’s constantly changing. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. is a book thats always challenged me. It’s all about leadership, it’s all about a man of sacrifice and wisdom. That book is amazing. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis is another one. That’s one of these books that you have to read like more than once because theres so much, oh my God, it’s so thick...

Malachi: (Laughs) Like your new album?

Sho Baraka: (Laughs) Well thank ya sir for the compliment. Umm I’ma put two books together. Umm I would say The Talented Tenth but it’s a very short book. Im’a partner that book with Souls Of Black Folk By W.E.B Du Bois. It’s just powerful man. When you think about coming out of the oppressive times that they were in and then thinking though, how do we processes this new life and this new struggle and this new world that we have as African Americans in this world thats not really accepting of us? I think a lot of this stuff is pertinent even today. Umm there’s a whole bunch of other books, I just read Frederick Douglass’ autobiography which was good. Ohhhh Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller. That book is amazing. It’s a book about idolatry. So yeah, those are the books I would say are my favorites.

Malachi: Well you named a few that are my favorites actually. Lord Of The Rings. Anything by C.S. Lewis, I love. Soul of Black Folk is amazing. If you haven't read Dusk Of Dawn by W.E.B. Du Bois, you should check that out.

Sho Baraka: Will do. I’m trying to read all his stuff.

Malachi: Ok. Now moving on to emcees. Who are your 7 favorite Emcee’s?

Sho Baraka: Awwww man. In no particular order, number one is probably Common. I always appreciated Common. He’s one of the few artist I appreciated before I became a Christian, and even after I became a Christian. He talked about things that I felt that mattered in life. He’s probably one of my top emcee’s of all time. Then I would probably go with Jay - Z. Lately he's fallen off, but when it comes to how he communicated and puts words together, Jay - Z for me was unprecedented. Lupe Fiasco for me is up there. I feel like, even now socially, I feel like the stuff he talks about I appreciate. Lyrically, his cadence, his delivery, he’s original you can’t really trace him to anybody. The Phantik from The Cross Movement. A guy who is just a beast and a wordsmith, cadence. Some of his bars are just unprecedented so he’s definitely one of my favorite dudes. I would say just over all artist and talent wise I would say Kanye West. No matter how crazy he is, as an artist and a musician you have to appreciate what he does, because he’s changed Hip Hop, some for the bad (Laughs), but as far as musically he killed it. I would probably have to go with a group, I would say Tribe Called Quest. They were one of those groups I fell in love with when I was younger And I would say Andre 3000 is up there too. And I don’t know how many I named but I would add a newcomer, Swoope.

Malachi: You know, a lot of the artist you named, I can hear the inspiration when I listen to your new project. I hear some Common. I definitely hear some Lupe. So I see the connection.

Sho Baraka: Yeah I think its good to be inspired by artists and then make it your own, as long as its not like, “Yo that dude just bit that”. I mean when that happens there’s a problem. Because you want to have your own identity as an artist, but everyone is inspired by somebody.

Malachi: What are your 7 favorite album or mixtapes?

Sho Baraka: Ok, this is even more difficult. Well I got to start with Common because One Day It'll All Make Sense is probably the one album changed my world. And it’s funny because I wasn't a Christian when I first got a hold of this album because I was a young dude and I was listening to it. But felt like as i was listening to it, this dude understood me because I wasn't a gangster but I wasn't like this choir boy. I was in the middle. I was struggling with identity, I was struggling with religion at the time. I was struggling with listening to nonsense rap, because that was a time when gangster rap was big too. So I was like I don’t want to listen to this nonsense, but I’m also like, I’m not a choir boy so I was struggling in this identity crisis. That album kind of gave me a direction of social strength where it was very conscious. That album to this day, I love. The Solus Christus by Shai Linne is one one of my favorite albums. You talk about top to bottom album that’s just amazing. One of the first Cross Movement albums was Human Emergency. That album is just amazing. That was my first introduction to Da T.R.U.T.H. Oh I forgot to name him as one of my artist. Late Registration by Kanye West is a crazy go to album, And The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is definitely one of my favorite albums of all time. Really, she’s one of my favorite artist in general. Continum By John Mayer. I can listen to that album all day long. Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder. That album is classic. But I don’t listen to much Hip Hop right now. The last real Hip Hop album that I played a whole lot was Lupe’s latest album. I’ve been listening to a lot of Jazz right now. I’m all over the place Brah.