'MOOD' EP  By Social Club Misfits 

socialclubmisfitsb.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710xCapitol Christian Music hip hop group Social Club Misfits  dropped their latest EP MOOD on April 5th. Peep it here and let me know what you think. Read More Here

Memoirs of a Perfect World By Selah the Corner 

Selah The Corner Breaks Down New Album ‘Memoirs of a Perfect World’

“[I’m] a man of God, I’m a rapper, and I’m flawed.”

Selah is a word found in the bible many times, especially in the book of Psalms and “it means stop and think and that’s what I want my listeners to do.” The second part of his name, The Corner simply refers to what happens when you come to a street corner.

“You follow the block and then the corner changes your direction. It doesn’t force you to turn. The street doesn’t grab you by your shoulders and physically turn you, but it doesn’t leave you a choice either. If you’re going to keep following this street, you’re going to have to change directions.”

As an artist, he wants to embody the street corner that doesn’t force you to change directions, but does not give you any room for alternatives. He wants his listeners to hear his music, and go towards God when they face the corner.

Selah The Corner’s new album is called Memoirs of a Perfect World, and “it’s basically expressing to the listener all the delusions that I have about life that God corrected. Memoirs are memories, and there’s no such thing as a perfect world, so my memories of a perfect world aren’t reality.”

The album cover may seem like it shows many things to a listener’s eyes, but it is simply an ink blot on a piece of paper. “What you see is based on what you perceive it to be.” Some may see an angel, a butterfly or moth, a beast with a face, but it is not a set image. This correlated with the album’s focus on seeing life through perspectives.

“When the smoke clears, what you see is what you see, and I want people to ask themselves, ‘Why do I see a moth? Why do I see an angel? Why do I see this?’ That’s what I do in the album.”

God Over Money Records’ artist Selah The Corner has released mixtapes in the past, but Memoirs of a Perfect World is his first album. “It took me getting my footing and understanding what my objectives were and realizing how much work it was going to take to accomplish the goals that I wanted to accomplish, and that was a lot of work.” He said that despite the challenges, creating this album has been a rewarding experience, even before the public had the opportunity to hear it.

“Memoirs” is the title track of the album, and features Selah’s father. “I thought that was important for me to do, to make my family a part of my album creation process. I had my family speaking about what it was like finding out they were having me.” He said that it was a surreal experience to have his father on this song, and wants to use this track to introduce the listener to his family.

“I wanted people to understand how close knit my family is. It’s something you wouldn’t know about me if I didn’t tell you.”

The second song is called “Masquerade” in which Selah The Corner talks about his concern that Christian hip-hop artists are doing whatever it takes to maximize their profits. “I’m from the street and there’s certain characteristics that I’ve let go of completely for the gospel, but there are certain characteristics that I’ve maintained, and one of those characteristics is loyalty.” He says that Christians should be loyal to God through all circumstances in life, because God deserves and wants that from us.

“You don’t have to understand why you should trust God. He gives us the opportunity to understand through His grace and through waking us up every morning.”

Selah the Corner says he blindly trusts God, knowing that God needs to always be trusted, whether or not he can see the fruits and effects of that loyalty. “Money is a necessity and it’s a tool, so it’s definitely necessary, but I don’t believe that you should forsake your foundations to get it and I feel like a lot of CHH artists are doing that. I’m going to follow this trend and that trend. I don’t see authenticity as I used to, as much.” In a masquerade ball, people wear masks to hide their identity. Selah says that he will not wear a mask and refuses to do what is wrong in order to please others or increase profit.

“Sticc and Moov” is “one of the songs I’ve been waiting on my whole life.” Selah The Corner loves the music of Eshon Burgundy, and this gave him the opportunity to make a song with the Philadelphia native for the first time. It is a song about brotherhood and camaraderie. “In the urban communities we have this term called ‘shooting the one,’ and that means a one-on-one fight.”

He says that in the gospel and among Christians, nobody is fighting alone.

“If my brother is fighting, I’m fighting with him. If he needs prayer, I’m praying with him. If he’s struggling with something, I’m right there with him.”

“SCL2” is is a sequel to a song, “Summa C** Laude” from Selah’s 2013 Hoodie Season mixtape. Summa C** Laude is a Latin phrase meaning “with the highest distinction” and is used to recognize the graduates with the top GPA in their graduating class. With this song, he wanted to show that Christian hip-hop has some of the best lyricists of hip-hop.

“The lyricists that operate in Christian hip-hop are some of the greatest on the planet. A lot of it is overlooked because we rap for Christ, but if you really are a rap scientist, you can recognize how much skill it takes to make record after record with no profanity in a world that craves profanity.”

The song features Dre Murray “who absolutely obliterated that record” and Kayla Starks.

Read More Here

You can follow Selah The Corner on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

You can get Memoirs of a Perfect World on iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play.

Eshon Burgundy "The Passover" 

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Philadelphia native Eshon Burgundy has dropped his  third album, The Passover  On May 27, 2016. Following 2015’s Billboard charting The Fear of God, This 10 song set, showcases an energized and renewed Eshon, masterfully fusing incisive and reverent lyrics with dynamic production. The theme of this album, Eshon explains:
 
…is loosely inspired by "The Passover" of Exodus. The story is a powerful one about God delivering His chosen people, held captive by Pharaoh in Egypt, out of bondage. As they obeyed His commands, they were spared - passed over unharmed by the death angel when it arrived as the finale of God's 10 plagues. This account in the Bible is about liberation and as a man once confined to the four walls of a public housing community, I share the experience of an oppressed people.
 
Growing up, my community, Passyunk Homes, wasn't designed as an outlet - it was more like a dead end. Living in makeshift houses made of cinder blocks and tar, I saw a world filled with drug dealers, drug addicts and crime. A few of my friends were killed - I was almost killed, but the Lord spared and delivered me. I'm grateful - that by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal death angel has passed over my soul – this album is an expression of that.

 

 

VIDEOS

OFFICIAL TRACKLISTING:
  1. Intro (Produced by Radley Raw)
  2. Bless Ya Name featuring Th3 Saga (Produced by J. Rhodan)
  3. What I Prayed For featuring ABIV (Produced by Nick Joyal)
  4. Dead Letter (Prod by DreKnowss)
  5. The Great Exchange (Currency) featuring Jeremiah Bligen (Produced By Wontel)
  6. Gunz x Rosez (Produced by Apollo Brown)
  7. Before I Chose You featuring Parade (Produced By Wontel)
  8. Pray (Extended) featuring Jeremiah Bligen (Produced by J. Rhodan)
  9. Can't Tell Time (Produced by Agee Boy)
  10. Smoke and Fire featuring Stef Silva (Produced by Carnegie)
Executive Producers:
Dee Black, Maison de Grace (House of Grace) & Agee Boy

ESHON BURGUNDY'S "THE PASSOVER" DEBUTED IN THE TOP 10 ON THE BILLBOARD TOP CHRISTIAN ALBUMS CHART 

It starts off with the Intro. It’s a bunch of hard bars about being passed over in different situations, and how its okay to be passed over. It’s not about our glory, but his glory. Bless Ya Name is a hip hop worship song. It’s about acknowledging how good God has been to us. It’s all about giving the Lord all the honor and praise. “Bless ya name, Lord”. What I Prayed For is actually about praying for your people and your situation. It’s about really praying for his Kingdom and that God’s will be done.

Dead Letter is a nice concept song about being dead to this world and being alive in Christ. Basically, if we not living to glorify Christ and lead the lost to him, we just dead letters. The Great Exchange, one of my faves, is a song about money, and the pursuit of it. Its about how we get confused and start focusing on getting paid instead of highlighting Christ. He say, “The bigger the bag the bigger my respect, these blue faces hunnids look like they holding they breath“.

Dig this verse from The Great Exchange

I’m out here yelling what I need faith for
I need to get paid more
You gotta bleed if I come to take yours
Got the money and the power
Dirty money with a shower
I’m doing laundry cool as Fonzie
What is yours is really ours
This is manipulation, humiliation and degradation
Playing God and saying to y’all there ain’t no Heaven waiting
My own emptiness transforms into wickedness
Press against you like a pistol with a clip stuck in your hip
This is all vanity Ecclesiastics 5:10
In light of all humanity’s failure to camouflage sin
Love is love to that love come with a slug
I gave that trigger a hug cause you wouldn’t give up the plug yo
Most people murdered by people they know
For currency and jealously man that’s just how it go
And yes even in this state my life He still wanna save it
I don’t know if these are my chains or the ones I got from the slave ships

He has another song called Gunz X Roses that highlights the good and bad, of operating in ministry. Everybody you deal with and the situations you’re in, may not always be pleasant, but you gotta deal with it anyway. Before I Chose You is a track about choosing to be with God and God already having been chose you, and just waiting on you to accept. He even talked about getting shot and how he was chosen because it wasn’t his time to die. Its about truly being free in Christ, because we are chosen.

Read More Here

Bizzle  “Light Work 2: Bars & Melodies”

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Stream It Here

Bizzle just Dropped the follow-up to Lights Work with Light Work 2: Bars & MelodiesYesterday March 29th.

Video -Bizzle – Way Up (GOM Remix) Feat. Datin, Selah The Corner, Bumps INF, & Jered Sanders:

Video – Bizzle “Shooter” feat. V. Rose:

Track-listing:

  1. What Now
  2. Lotto feat. Selah the Corner
  3. Way Up (G.O.M. Remix) feat. Datin, Selah the Corner, Bumps INF, Jered Sanders
  4. 22
  5. On the Low
  6. Never Know
  7. Prodigal feat. Sharon Ann
  8. Shooter feat. V. Rose
  9. Waiting on You
  10. Got for Me
  11. Your Way feat. Palace

Video – Bizzle “22”:

 NomiS “The Wretched: A Soundtrack Of Justice & Redemption”

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Play It Here!

NomiS “The Wretched: A Soundtrack of Justice & Redemption” track list
1. The Wretched
2. Look Down
3. End of the Day
4. Eponine Scream (Plumet Attack)
5. 24601 (Valjean’s Soliloquy)
6. Castle On A Cloud
7. The Blood of Angry Men (Look Down Prt. 2)
8. Barricades Arise
9. Thief’s Theme (Valjean Forgiven)
10. Who Am I
11. I Dreamed a Dream Deferred

All tracks composed & produced by NomiS
Acoustic Guitar & Co-Production on “Who Am I” by Ryan LaCoste
Guest vocals on “Eponine Scream” & “Who Am I” by Fallon Moore
Guest vocals on “Castle On A Cloud” by Sarah Dean

When NomiS watched the r movie release of “Les Miserables,” he was immediately inspired to create something that would reflect his love for the story and his love for Hip-Hop.

“My Mom would always show me musicals when I was growing up,” he remembered. “The vast difference in song structure between musical theater and Hip-Hop was something that always kept me from trying to combine the two styles, previously.”

NomiS was able to overcome the challenges of the two styles by borrowing from each one and allowing them to blend. “The incorporation of ‘Les Miserables’ on the album is far more than just sampling. Sampling would have been easier and safer. I wanted to push myself as a producer and MC,” said NomiS of the music.

Pushing himself is exactly what NomiS did, producing every track on the album. He certainly wasn’t afraid to break free from traditional Hip-Hop track structure, either, “Most of the time, I’m not rhyming over the same sequence twice within the same song; and there is not one single 16-bar verse on the whole album.”

The glue that holds together the blend between Hip-Hop and musical theater found on “The Wretched” is the thematic elements of the album. Said NomiS of the overarching themes of the album, “these ideas of justice, grace, and redemption just kept running through my mind when I watched ‘Les Miserables.’ I wanted to make sure that I touched each of them with this project.”

NomiS paid particular attention to the expression of faith in Les Miserables, “issues of faith consume the story of Les Miserables. This made for an amazing connection of expressing the dynamic of man’s shortcoming and God’s perfect grace, which allows man to be redeemed,” he explained.

NomiS has brought all of those themes to the forefront and packaged them in a unique musical experience that will appeal to lovers of Hip-Hop and lovers of “Les Miserables,” even if they’re only familiar with one or the other. Appealing to both groups was intentional on the part of NomiS.

“I wanted to create something that Les Mis fans could enjoy, even if they don’t listen to Hip-Hop; and something that Hip-Hop fans could enjoy, even if they’ve never seen Les Mis,” he said about the appeal of “The Wretched.”

Read More Here

Swoope - Two For One

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Two for One” is the new two-song EP by Swoope.

Peep it Out Below:

Tedashii - Never Fold

As the follow up to his 2016 critically acclaimed release, THIS TIME AROUNDNEVER FOLD continues the journey while boldly exploring new soundscapes and styles. Heralded by chart-topping singles like “Gotta Live” featuring Jordan Feliz and lead single, “God Flex” featuring Trip Lee—the 17-track project evokes the Texas-bred rapper’s renewed creative vision and commitment to persevere. The album also features appearances by LeCrae, Crowder, 1K Phew, Jarry Manna, Parris Chariz, Sara Reeves and Kam Parker. 

neverfold.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710xInspired by the pointed declaration of Luke 9:62, which states, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and turns back is fit for the kingdom of God,” NEVER FOLD gives us the Tedashii we know and love: fully transparent and self-aware. He’s a man who’s been tested time and time and again. And while he may have the battle scars to prove he’s been in the trenches, his infectious joy and strength remain intact. “I want to invite others to join me on this journey,” says Tedashii. “Not just to see what God has done, but what He’s doing now. Never Fold is a reminder to never back down.” Read More Here

Never Fold starts with a soft/slow intro track ("There’s a Heaven"), followed by "God Flex," a straight-up banging track that is a perfect start to this album. The track carries some amazing production and fire spitting by both T-Dot and Trip Lee in a song focusing on how big God is. The Texas native says it best, "It's about a time in my life when it felt like I wanted to give up. But the sun came out and it made everything new. God flexed in my moment and he can flex in your moment." The theme of never giving up, finding joy, and being strong at all times is ever present both in this song and throughout the entire album. "Get Out Of My Way" comes next and features another Reach labelmate, Lecrae, and the two combine for their best joint effort since "Dum Dum." The features don't stop there on Never Fold. As the album continues, you will hear the likes of Crowder, 1K Phew, and Jerry Manna - among many others - making for a complete hip hop album. In "Son Of Sam," (drawn from the recent Andy Mineo song) the rapper hits on the back and fourth struggle of trusting God at times, particularly when he remembers losing his son. The track is open, raw, and heartfelt. The follow-up to his lament is "Home," as the rapper cries out to God and just wants to be home again.

Other standout tracks are "Splash 2," a sequel to the equally awesome track from last year with 1K Phew, "Hold Me Down" that carries flaming beats and good spitting, "Full Effect" which is guaranteed to be played at your next house party, and "All in Love" which has me reminiscing about some wonderful 90's R&B. Each track, while unique, is great and worthy to be added to your playlist for this year. 

Read More Here

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Prince Malachi is the founder of The Oracle Network and the Streetwear brand Y.A.H. Apparel

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