Richard Taylor once said, “Often our ambitions are not beyond our capacity but beyond our discipline, some of the greatest minds will never rise above mediocrity because they fail to sacrifice that which superiority requires.” One does not become an excellent rapper by spending all of their time on twitter, facebook and watching television. If you want to become a better rapper you have to daily put in work to perfect your craft. It is my conviction that artistic excellence should be viewed as a responsibility in serving others. As Nicholas Wolterstorff observed, human life is impoverished without aesthetic delight. Scripture says, that we are to love God with our heart, mind and strength and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Providing aesthetic delight through quality music is providing joy and pleasure to our neighbor. We take art seriously because we take God seriously. One way to improve your craft is setting time apart each day for writing. Set a goal (Ex. I will write atleast 1hr each day). I recommend avoiding all forms of social media, facebook/twitter, get rid distractions and stay focused. If you do not like a verse, re-write it. If you think you can do better, re-write it. Push yourself. Ask artists, “what areas do you think I can get better in?” And each day work on getting better. Listen to other music to get inspired to improve your craft. Just know that it is hard-work! Do not be a lazy Christian rapper, give your all for the glory of God.
Music Business, Relationships, & the Importance of Keeping Your Word
Christian hip-hop is a small genre and word travels around quickly. You do not want to be known as an untrustworthy person. If you continually break your word eventually some people will be hesitant to work with you in future projects. Do not let your character hinder relationships and possible ministry opportunities. One way to avoid this is by keeping a calendar. Do not only use calendars for big things, like “events” but small things like Aug. 23rd, email X, Y, Z producer/artist or contact X, Y, Z Radio-station. If you think you cannot commit to something, say “no.” But, if you say “yes” by all means keep your word. If you say you are going to call someone around 6PM about a graphic-design, mark your calendar 5:59 call this graphic designer. If you say that you are going to be at a sound-check at a certain time, be there. Early is on time and on-time is late. Get your CDs, merchandise and everything ready “before” the day of the event. Make sure to leave early just in case you get caught in traffic. Keep a calender close to you! Write down everything to make sure that you do not forget. If you continually do this, you will be known as a trustworthy artist. People are more-likely to be willing to work with you because you can be trusted. Recognize that other artists have deadlines and do not let your procrastination and forgetfulness hinder their future projects and possibly opportunities. Also make sure to give updates and constant notifications to whoever you are working with. If you are working on a verse for a persons’ album, email them throughout the month. “Hey, just messaging you to let you know I am working on my verse and should have it done by this date, Lordwilling.”
Thisl Artist Tips – How to Sell Records
Thisl of Full Ride Music Group shares tip for aspiring Christian rap artists on selling records.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZtGAGU4p7GE
The Christian Artist and Contentment
As an aspiring independant Christian rap artist one may be tempted to look at the success of established artists like Lecrae, Shai Linne, Trip Lee and others and become envious our jealous of their platform. Perhaps, you are saying to yourself, “My music is just as good as theirs, how come I am not establishing a large fan-base or receiving an equivalent platform in ministry.” If we are asking these questions we must first examine our hearts and ask why do we desire a platform? Is it due to self-ambitions and motives for self-glorification? Or is it the desire to use a platform to spread the fame of Jesus’ name, and not ours. 1 Peter 5:5-6 “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.” If you seek to be exalted God will humble you, but if you humble yourself God at the proper time will exalt you. The question is, who does the better exalting, you or God? We observe in the history of Christian hip-hop that God elevates artists who may not have the best CD packaging, marketing or promotion on social media. But they are servants who seek His kingdom first with a heart to preach the Gospel and serve their neighbors through the gifts God has given them.
Perhaps, you are an artist that does not have a lot of money and you frequently become discouraged due to the prices that producers charge for exclusive right instrumentals, or for quality graphics and music videos. Perhaps, you are saying to yourself, “God, making an abum is going to take me so long, even years. I want to be a consistent artist and drop a project every year or two, but at this rate it seems impossible.” We must also recognize that God is sovereign and always good and and we are not “entitled” to a consistent music career. To release an album is the grace of God, so we must constantly remind ourselves even if I am not able to put out an album as soon as I would like, I should be thankful because doing this is the grace of God. We must humble ourselves and recognize that God is sovereign and in control and He is using these trials in producing projects to prepare our hearts, conforming us into the image of Christ. We pray that God would provide resources and trust in Him to provide, and even if He doesn’t provide us with resources to make a “hot music video” or “quality graphics” and “the best mixing and mastering” He is still GOOD. But, let us be patient in prayer, continually trusting God, relying on Him.
How to Release an Album
Releasing an album is not simply announcing on twitter and facebook that you have an album out and directing people to purchase/download it. If you want reach a wider audience you have to invest in advertisement. I recommend having a promotional-outline. The one of the goals of pre-release promotion is building anticipation and post-release is to build appreciation. Several pre/post release options that you could use are: 1) Promotional Videos; 2) Music Videos; 3) Interviews 4) Give-Aways; 5) Testimony Videos; 6) Behind the Scene Videos and 7) Album Cover-Tracklist Revealed 8) Singles and 9) Album Facts.
PRE-RELEASE
After studying how Record Labels release albums i have made a couple of observations. It seems that one the purposes of pre-release promotion (PPP) is to increase anticipation. One thing to remember is that in PPP it is all about TIMING. You have to spread your promotion in which is constantly “builds’ the anticipation and does not make it decline during its release. You do not want to release a Promo Video 6 months before your album drops and then a single 2 weeks before your album drops. By the time 5 months have passed people have forgotten about your album being released. It is like a roller-coaster, you “slowly” build it up to a peak and then when you get to the top (drop the album).
1) Album Press-Release
You will notice that most record labels announce their albums about 3-4 months before the album releases. This time-gap is the period in which one can market and promote their upcoming album. First, I would recommend having an Album Press-Release via twitter/facebook about 3-4 months before releasing a project which will simply be an announcement to your audience that you plan to release an album on a particular date (Ex. Aug. 9, 2013). This press release could also include the title and concept. You may observe that many artists do this: Da Truth for “Love, Hope and War,” Lecrae – Gravity and Alex Faith – Honest 2 God. So, now that you have announce a release date, what next?
2) Album Cover Revealed
During this 3-4 month period is time for marketing and promotion. The first thing that you want to do is release your album cover and perhaps a brief description of the cover’s symbolism which shows the audience that you took time and effort not only on the music but the artwork which will increase appreciation. Some artists release the album cover and tracklist together but most first simply release the album cover. You are giving your fans a “taste” of what is to come. The point in pre-release marketing is building this anticipation, you don’t want to give them too much that is why you start little and work your way up. Now, after you have release your album cover what next?
2) Album Promotional Video
About a week after you released your album cover, it is time to release a “short-promo” video about the album. Notice, that you wait about a week, you want to create a sense of longing. Do not give them too much too fast. A short-promo video, about 30 seconds to 2:00 minutes long is fine.
Example of Promo Videos
a. Shai Linne’s (Promo- for the Attributes of God; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kY9In41R1A). This will
One of the top investements in releasing an album is having promotion and advertisement on rapzilla.com because it has a lot of traffic and unique visitors that will introduce your music to a wide-range of Christian hip-hop fans. Since, rapzilla is not required or obligated to put your music on their website make sure that your graphics, music and videos are top-notch in terms of quality. They have high regard for artistic excellence and are interested in getting traffic. Especially, if you are not an established artist like a member of Reach, Lampmode, Clearsight, Collission, ect. it will be hard to get on their without quality music, videos and single graphics. You may find information for advertisement prices under contacts.
Lyrical Theology as Regurgitated Information?
Currently, I am studying the art of album construction by observing the way Christian hip-hop artists put together projects, recieving constructive criticism from my previous project “On Word and Sacrament” and having conversations with fellow emcees. I am learning that music must be distinguished from lectures. In lyrical theology, the artist must present truth in an engaging way, however, doing both can be a challenge. We should avoid writing lyrics in such a way that it is simply the regurgitation of information or books in rhyme-form. In creating albums, thinking is just as important as writing, time must be spent not only on studying for a song but thought must be invested in its presentation. I have noticed that shai linne’s latest album (The Attributes of God) contains less featured speakers than his previous albums, and if there are speakers, the interludes are about 30-45 seconds long (The Atonement). However, I have noticed some artists tend to have longer amounts allotted to speakers on their projects. The question I have been wrestling with lately is a song’s distinctions between lectures, sermons or regurgitated information. Songs and concerts are not lectures or sermons, but concerts (although we may do speaking between songs or performances, which I believe is perfectly fitting).
But, I think there is a tendency among Christian hip-hop artists to treat music as lectures, especially the more didactic rappers. I enjoy listening to lectures, however, when I am listening to an album I tend to skip over some speaking parts (if it is too long, namely, if it is over two minutes) and go straight into the musical portions. I think this is applied differently to outros, I do not mind listening to long outros. But, in my overall listening experience I prefer listening to more music and less speaking on albums. So, when constructing albums I try to be aware of a person’s attention span. One of the qualifications for classic albums is that a person can listen to the entire project without skipping one track. If we have too many speakers — or speakers that are not presenting content in an engaging or creative way, listeners are more likely to skip the track. So, let us be mindful of the length of our interludes, and if not the length the way it is presented. I think we should also put thought into where we “place” interludes; if you have interlude after interlude or too many it could possibly disrupt the flow of the album when the listener plays it from beginning to end. However, I am by no means asserting that if one puts speaking parts on albums that are longer than one minute that it is wrong. I think it could be necessary depending on the direction of one’s album (See Early Cross Movement albums). The point I would like to mainly highlight is that we should be more mindful about the length, presentation and spacing of our interludes while keeping the listener in mind.
Examples of Creative Lyrical Theology
1. Atonement Q and A- Shai-Linne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RUciHVpCbw
He could have simply explained various theological terms but he presented it in the form of a conversation with Stephen the Levite.
2. Clash of the Titans – Christcentric
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBdxbKQdcqA
They could have explained Calvinism and critiqued the doctrine of classical Arminianism but they presented it in the form of a boxing match. I just gave a couple of examples but there are definitely more, listen and observe Hazakim’s album “Theophanies.”
#graceandpeace
On Beat Selection, Hooks and Mainstream Hip Hop – by Shai Linne
(Note: Quotation from shai-linne on a holy-culture forum discussion in his response to user named, “Intellek.” Also, this is not an original title for his post; it was untitled on the forum).
“Remember back in the day when there were only a few guest artists on records? Nowadays, there’s so many guest features that most albums look like compilations based on the track listing and credits. This is because back in the day, as one of y’all pointed out earlier, hip-hop wasn’t nearly as hook driven as it is today. One of the reasons why you see guest artists so much these days (besides label/ marketing politics) is because often, the guest is the one writing the hook. In fact, it’s gotten to the point where (mostly in secular but growing in CHH), when producers send beats to artists now, the beat often has the hook already written into it and often already recorded so the artist can’t mess up a good track with a horrible hook lol. I want to expand a little on what I was talking about in terms of making/ selecting music and writing lyrics that fit the idea of the song. This is something I’ve wrestled with for a while. I think this plays into the whole beat selection aspect.
I remember some ppl here questioning why there are so many “murder the flesh” songs in CHH. To me, the answer was obvious, and it wasn’t just lack of creativity (although that has probably played a part, too). Imo, the issue is that a lot of dudes are using a particular style of beat that conveys a particular kind of emotion. With many “crunk” south-type beats, that emotion is aggressiveness, passion, rowdiness, maybe even anger. If you’re a secular artist, you can take those emotions and use them to talk about whatever sinful thing you want- killing cats, going to the club and wilding out, street life, etc. As a CHH artist, if you want to use beats that convey those emotions, what are you going to talk about? The artists that choose this route often direct the anger at sin, i.e. killing the flesh. I think it’s the same as the demon killing phenomenon in CHH back in the day. Gangstas got saved and wanted to do music. So they did the same style and just re-directed their anger towards demons. Underground hip-hoppers who get saved often take the diss/battle thing and either diss/ battle false teachers or other CHH artists lol. I know this because I’ve done it. lol.
I’m not excusing the lack of creativity in doing songs with the same theme. But what that shows me is that a lot of artists choose the beat first and then decide what they want to rap about, as opposed to coming up with an idea and then finding a beat to match. So put yourself in the position of the Lecrae (I only use him because most of us are familiar with his catalogue). You’re working on your album. Someone emails you the beat for “Send Me” or “Go Hard”. You love it and want to use it. Now comes the question, “What will the song be about?” Well, you can immediately rule out a love song to wifey, a prayer of repentance or a song that explores your inner fears lol. Nah, the song is gonna be a straight up anthem that rallies cats. For Crae, he chose to rally cats for the call of missions, which is one of the things he does best. Now I do think a person can take a different angle even with those beats, but when you hear the instrumentals, it does tap into emotions that are good for the particular topics he chose.
For those of us artists who love “boom-bap”, we have to ask ourselves if that 90’s style beat is the best beat for what we want to communicate. Imo, sometimes it is. Sometimes it’s not. Depends on what you wanna say. But if you try to squeeze everything you have to say into that (or any) particular mold, you’re going to be limited in your emotional range of expression. Nothing wrong with being limited, but once you get to album #3, you’re about 45 songs in. And if all songs have been in the same general emotional range, that can get old after a while (For some, at least. Others love it and that’s cool). This doesn’t just go for boom-bap, btw. All cultural forms are limited in what they can express, especially when it comes to making songs about an infinite God.
I remember my man Donald Chavis had something in his quote to the effect of, “You can’t kill the flesh over no east coast beat” lol I disagree (to me, Killing Sin is the best album ever on that theme) but I get his point. His point is that “killing the flesh” takes a violent, aggressive mindset. Therefore, you need aggressive music to do it right. And southern “crunk” is the most aggressive music out there in his opinion. I see his logic. Personally, I lean towards being reflective and provoking deep thought. That’s my personality and is more true the older I get. Even if I convinced myself that I could do it well, “Crunk” is not gonna be ideal for the majority of things I wanna talk about or how I want to express them.
“Boom-bap” cats often express frustration with “Crunk” music. Me and Hazakim and Json have had this convo many times. “Crunk” is “jump around, get crazy” music. Boom-bap is “head-nod, ooooh at the punch-line” music. Many of us came up in an era where cats were at concerts with arms folded listening to every word to dissect all wordplay, similes, rhyme schemes, etc. And that was even true for some mainstream artists in the mid-late nineties. We’re (sadly) not in that era anymore. In light of that, the boom bap artist can either
a. Do nothing. Continue doing what they’ve been doing
b. Jump on the crunk bandwagon and look crazy doing it because they either can’t do it well or it’s not their understood identity, so it comes off as inauthentic.
c. Make some adjustments to update the sound while remaining true to who they are as an artist and doing it with excellence
d. Recognize that their era has passed, thank God for the season they were able to do it and bow out gracefully
e. Retire from music as an angry, bitter professional “hater” who is angry & bitter because the new era doesn’t appreciate “good music”
A few observations:
1. Notice that all the options except “a” sometimes and “c” sometimes are going to give you you a quick exit from the music game. I praise God for people who do “a”. I actually lean towards “a” in the sense that I don’t go into doing an album feeling pressure to stay “relevant”. By God’s grace, I’m able to do that because of a small but loyal support base. But not everybody can do “a” and survive. Unfortunately, those who do “a” often have to suffer the consequence of low sales and diminished influence.
2. One of my biggest frustrations as a fan of CM is that I felt like after “Know Me (Huh-what) became their biggest hit, they started to do “b” on their later projects. I think this wound up hurting them as a group imo.
3. I think “d” is a godly response, but I think pride prevents a lot of cats from doing this when it seems obvious that they should.
4. I think “e” is funny, but sad at the same time. And I’ve seen it happen a lot. CHH artists who do “boom-bap” need to guard their hearts against this kind of response
5. “Doing “c” well is mad difficult!!! Think about the people in the secular (and Christian) hip-hop who have attempted to survive an era change. Most don’t survive. The examples of those who do are few and far between. I think it’s easier in other genres of music that aren’t as closely associated with youth culture. Part of that is just natural. People get older, generations and tastes change. And hip-hop doesn’t seem to “age” well. This is seen in the secular where you have dudes like Em, almost 40 years old and releasing an project like Bad Meets Evil, where he’s still talking like a vulgar juvenile. Dr. Dre is close to 50 and has a 30 year old son.” – Shai Linne (via holy culture forum).
Why Do An Album on God’s Attributes? by Shai Linne
“Christianity today is man-centered, not God-centered. God is made to wait patiently, even respectfully, on the whims of men. The image of God currently popular is that of a distracted Father, struggling in heartbroken desperation to get people to accept a Saviour of whom they feel no need and in whom they have very little interest. To persuade these self-sufficient souls to respond to His generous offers God will do almost anything, even using salesmanship methods and talking down to them in the chummiest way imaginable. This view of things is, of course, a kind of religious romanticism which, while it often uses flattering and sometimes embarrassing terms in praise of God, manages nevertheless to make man the star of the show.” (A.W. Tozer Man: The Dwelling Place of God)
As the time approaches for my new album The Attributes of God to be released, I wanted to share with you about why I did it. This idea has actually been in the works for years. Those of you who have been following my music for a while know that on Grassroots Vol. 1, there was a song with myself and Timothy Brindle entitled The Holiness of God. That song was supposed to be included on the Attributes album that Tim and I were working on. The song Humility of Christ, which appeared on Tim’s classic 2005 release Killing Sin, was also supposed to be on the project. When Tim stepped away from public ministry in 2006, the project was shelved. As time went on, it wasn’t clear whether or not Tim would be returning. In the same way that I was burdened to do an album on The Atonement in 2007, I began to feel burdened in 2010 to do an album on God’s character. Since Tim wasn’t back yet, I moved forward with it as a solo project. Thankfully, Tim has returned, and we were able to include him on a few of the songs as we got near completion of the project.
So why was I so heavily burdened to do this project? The answer may be surprising to some, but here’s why I did it:
Because A Lot of Christian Music Is Not Actually About God
I don’t mean for this to sound harsh or overly critical, but have any of you noticed that the vast majority of music that would fall into the category of “Christian” is not actually about God Himself? I think this is particularly the case with Christian Hip-hop, but it can be seen in other genres as well. How can I say this? Well, most of the music I hear is more about US and our response to God, but not God Himself. Don’t get me wrong. There’s a place for music that deals with our response to God, but when that is the overwhelming majority of the music, we slowly begin to distort the truth about who the God is that we’re supposedly responding to. The Tozer quote above was written over 50 years ago, but could have been written yesterday. Our culture is extremely narcissistic and man-centered, and it seems that much of Christian music has followed suit. The Bible, however, is radically God-centered, and I believe that a radically God-centered worldview should be reflected in the songs we write. Because of our man-centered tendencies, the songs we sing about God usually deal with the things we like about Him (which are usually the things that directly benefit us the most), such as His love, mercy and forgiveness, etc. These things are glorious and we should write songs about them. However, if that’s all we talk about, we create an incomplete and deficient view of God, which is not in line with His self-revelation.
So, for instance, when was the last time you heard a contemporary song that echoed the ancient songs of David about the righteousness and justice of God (Ps. 11:7)? Which Christian hit on Billboard sings along with Nahum that God is “jealous, avenging and wrathful” (Nahum 1:2-3)? Who is producing songs that speak to God’s sovereign rule over His creation (Ps. 2, 115)? Can you direct me to a popular song that celebrates God’s omniscience along with Hannah (1 Sam. 2:3)? God’s eternality along with Moses (Psalm 90:2)? God’s judgments along with Miriam (Ex. 15:21)? These things are often spoken of in Scripture, particularly in the context of Biblical songs, yet they tend to be largely missing from our songs today. That’s not to say that no one is doing it. God has raised up an increasing number of songwriters who are expounding on His character. But when something so foundational and essential has been so under-done, it becomes important for others to step to the plate and contribute. The Attributes of God album is simply my attempt at one such contribution.
grace and peace,
shai
The Art of Rhyme 