I saw a few of my friends playing a game on their Instagram stories today. It required that they answered some random questions about themselves. One such question was ‘when was the last time you cried?’. Before this evening, my answer would have been September 2019 or the last time I was in an intense worship service. But on my ride home, I lost it on the bus and shed a few tears as This’l rapped his verse on the ‘Double Back’ song he was featured on by Flame. This basically typifies my relationship with good Christian art. I am usually lost for words and always in awe of the depth of revelation, the breath of the Spirit and the dexterity of the artist that is always present when I indulge in good Christian art. Feel free to classify this post as my Christian art appreciation post.

I have always been in love with art – especially literary art. From my childhood, I have been a huge fan of music too, especially rap music. I used to pride myself on the fact that there was no trending rap song I couldn’t rap along to from beginning to end. My friends knew this. They would always ask me to rap some popular songs to their hearing and I would oblige. One story I always recall and share with people as a joke is about an exercise we did in my Music and Dance class when I was in Class 5. Everybody was required to come up and sing a song. Most people went up to sing gospel songs or some popular R&B songs. We had this exercise 2 times that term. This was in the year 2000 and I was probably just 10 years old. During the first exercise, I went up to sing Sisqo’s ‘Unleash the dragon’ to the admiration of my friends. With all the controversy surrounding the lyrics of this song and the conspiracy theories, it was still the most popular song that year. During the second exercise, again, I went up with a friend of mine and we sang ‘thong song’ by Sisqo. I tell people that I didn’t even know what a thong was at that age, I only found out some years later. 

Not too long after, I started writing my own raps in jotters and on pieces of paper. Thanks to my guy (Skelly) who had a computer mic and a software that could record, we tried to record a few of those verses. I had a verse that almost all my friends could rap along to from A to Z. This made me very proud. Started rap battling in JHS, the big deal here is I could freestyle under pressure at that tender age. Throughout my Senior High School days, I used to sneak out with some of my friends to radio stations for interviews and then to the studio to record songs and then come back to school. I remember one vacation I recorded a few songs, put them on a CD as a mixtape and took it to school. I lost it when the CD was in circulation amongst my friends. I have been a (mainstream) hip-hop head for as long as I can remember until recent times.

The very moment I set foot in the university I began to take my Christian life more seriously. However, the dramatic change happened during my school’s vacation in 2010. I was bored at home and as if driven by the devil himself I was looking for ‘something’ to watch. I combed through every CD in the house until I discovered a CD that changed my life and taste in the art I consume. It belonged to my elder brother who had just traveled to the U.S to pursue his masters. I inserted the CD into the computer and there it was in all its glory, the stage performance of Hillsong Worship’s ‘Faith Hope and Love’ album. Something happened that day. I am writing 10 years later, and I can state boldly that I haven’t looked back on Hillsong music since then. I was moved by the lyrics. I prayed with the songs. I couldn’t wait to share it with my roommates and friends in school. That was when it all began.

Because of my past relationship with mainstream Hip-hop music, I never really gravitated towards its ‘Christian alternative’. Christian Hip-hop (CHH) was so corny and sounded very wack to me. I concocted biblical arguments against the genre. I even wrote and performed a poem in which I spoke against CHH. I remember having serious arguments with my roommates who were madly in love with it. They played it so much in the room that one day we had a big argument that I thought was going to put a strain on our relationship. But you know how boys are, we fight, and we makeup and become even closer. I hope they read this. During one vacation probably in 2011, the Holy Spirit ministered to me and literally the scales fell from my eyes (it literally happened like that and he spoke to me about it). I went back the following semester a huge fan of CHH. I owe my love for CHH now to my roommates and friends. Whatever blessing I have received from it I pray they receive a double portion of that.

Look at me now. I used to argue against Lecrae now I am a die-hard fan who has written reviews of his albums and songs. I used to think that hymns and worship songs were boring, but look at me now, I can hardly keep my eyes dry during worship. I spend a considerable amount of time during each worship session I’m in fighting back tears. I know it is a poor practice because the bible says we should LOVE God with all our hearts, all our soul, and all our mind. This includes emotions, so when you feel like crying during worship, know that that is probably the manifestation of what is going on in your heart at that moment. I cannot quantify how much God has comforted me through Christian art. I cannot. It wrecks me. It wrecked me this evening and so I came back home to write this. I can literally remember what I was going through at what point in my life and which song helped me through that period. When I had problems with staying pure, lust and my daunting fleshly desires it was songs like ‘Temptation’ by the 116 Clique that helped me. Now picture me last year, walking from Galloway Junction in Koforidua to Jacksons Park, playing this song and rapping aloud to it. It was an amazing experience. Also, it was a powerful song like ‘Murder me’ by Swoope that fed me with the idea that I need to be sadistic towards my flesh in order to awaken my spirit. Swoope sounded cruel in that song. He detailed his ‘evil’ desire to mortify the flesh in a way that I have never heard before. Those 2 rap verses in that song almost made him sound suicidal. He said, ‘ego straight to the guillotine big head gets chopped off’. This line has stayed with me for years. Paul said ‘those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh together with its desires and passions’. You must be intentional about it. Silence the flesh. Be wicked to it. And that is what I learned from that song.

Also, that ‘Double Back’ song by Flame ft. This’l I mentioned earlier is what triggered this post this evening. I couldn’t help it. These two rappers preached a sermon on the song about how Christians need to restore each other back to righteousness whenever any of us falls in sin. That’s the word in Galatians 6. One line moved me to tears. Flame said, ‘if my brother is riding on a flat, let me be the spare’. Wow! That is to say that if my brother has a flat tyre and he is still driving let me be his spare tyre. Now he didn’t say let me hand him my spare tyre, he literally meant you need to contort your body till it resembles a car tyre then you coil yourself around your brother’s car rim and be his spare tyre. Amazing! We are not sent to be comfort dispensers to those in sorrow. We are supposed to be their comfort. That’s the logic behind that line.

Somewhere in 2014, I was harboring some resentment against someone for hurting me emotionally. I felt like the most stupid person ever created for allowing my heart to go on a wild goose chase in a desert. I was bitter and hurt. Too embarrassed about it to tell a soul. My friends are probably going to read this and be shocked. In those times, it was Andy Mineo’s song ‘bitter’ that helped me through it. He spoke about failed relationships with women and the sore relationship he had with his dad. I also really went through some hard times in 2018. Scratch that, from 2015 till 2019, life hasn’t been easy for me at all. I pray and the problems disappear like magicians and reappear in new clothes. As if my prayer was part of a magic act to make them vanish and reappear in new apparel to the applause of the audience and to my disdain. One of the songs that got me through that season was KB’s ‘Sing to you’. The highlight of that song is how KB illustrates to his listeners that present in the Godhead at this very moment is a man who experienced the pains we go through in this world. This is Jesus. He gave a command to his followers to go and take up their crosses and follow him, and before we could obey this command, he went ahead to carry his and died on it. As such, when I pray to this God, I know he understands my plight and hears me when I call. I read about Jesus’ first encounter with his disciples after he resurrected. One thing I observed was how he seemed eager to prove to them his humanity although he appeared in his glorified body. Our God can feel our pain when we call out to him because he has felt our pain in the flesh before.

I saw a Lecrae interview by DJ WadeO some years ago in which he was asked whether he listened to worship music often. He said not really, and that was because KB’s songs ‘get him in that (worship) space’. I understood what he meant perfectly and feel the same way about KB’s songs. However, for me, I still go in for worship music. I love worship songs with onion essence that just make me shed tears like I misplaced something valuable. I have no mentor or anybody ‘discipling’ me directly as some people have Spiritual mothers and fathers. I have several friends who are strong in the LORD I can speak to though. But sometimes when I need encouragement, which I tend to need every so often, I get it from worship songs. It is overwhelming, Hillsong’s ‘Seasons’ and ‘Highlands’ have helped me tremendously overcome some tough seasons and mountains in my life in these past 2 years. I just want to send a big shout out to worship songwriters and ministers. They create the soundtrack of our lives every time they step in the studio to record. And for me, they create the soundtrack of my prayer life because I love to pray with some worship music playing in the background unless I get strict instructions from the Holy Spirit not to. When I wake up to pray, I’m usually spoilt for choice as to which album to play. I’m usually like ‘so what’s it gon be today? Joe Mettle’s “Wind of Revival” or Nathaniel Bassey’s “The King is coming”. Hillsong or Bethel Revival choir? Maybe my worship playlist (which has songs from a wide range of gospel artists from different parts of the world)’. I basically go through that train of thought every single time before I pray.

I am a spoken word artist myself, so I binge on good Christian spoken word as well. My favorites are the Poets in Autumn poets. Their skill, message and level of depth in revelation all coupled with impeccable stage performances have impacted my life in a million ways. I started writing spoken word poetry because I saw some of these people do it for the Lord with a high level of excellence and anointing. I desired it earnestly. And worked at it. I love doing spoken word poetry. I am still surprised people are blessed by the stuff I write. It is because the writing process can sometimes feel like a mundane activity devoid of the leading of the Spirit. But hey, your feelings are sometimes the poorest detectors of the move of the Spirit. What I feel has nothing to do with what the Spirit intends to do in the lives of people with this poem I just wrote.

I want to also send a special shout out to Christian authors and novelists. I have read several authors from whom I have learned deep Christian lessons. I also learn a lot from their writing skills and incorporate all of that into my own writing. I was once at an event where one of the Chronicles of Narnia stories was being staged. As Aslan returned from the dead, half of the audience had their hands in the air like it was a worship concert. My heart almost exploded in worship as well. All because, a master writer (C.S Lewis), recrafted the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection in a way that lays emphasis on Jesus’ ability to avoid the cross or refuse to go through with it yet his willingness to be sacrificed like a lamb. I caught this when I saw Aslan willingly lay down his life for a very stubborn boy.

Big shout outs to the Bible Project for all that they do to make the bible simpler to understand and the stories easier to relate to. There are so many Christian artists who have impacted my life positively, but time and space are not my best allies at this moment. God bless all Christian artists who are doing the work of God with a high level of dedication, perseverance and discipline. God bless you. The Spirit is truly working through all of you. I am an artist and my desire is to see people blessed by my work. I just want to thank the many who appreciate those poems that I write, I wish to improve and even impact the world like my heroes in the Christian Arts ministry have done. 

“Sing to you” is a song that encourages us to sing to God even in the midst of the storm. The question is, will God hear me though? Won’t the sound of the stormy winds drown out my voice? Why should we sing through our pain? I ask myself these questions every time. It is amazing how we read and appreciate the story of Paul and Silas singing and praising God in prison till their chains fell off yet when it is our turn to lift up holy hands to God and sing our lungs out despite our burdens, we choose to plunge ourselves further into the mire. Which is very unfortunate because we turn away from the anchor of our hope when we decide against worshiping God in the bad times. It is hard dear friends. However, there is no hope elsewhere than in the arms of God.

In KB’s second verse of the song he said:

All night I couldn’t sleep

Thinking about all this joy that I couldn’t keep

All these holes in my heart it just seems

I’ve been pierced more times than I can speak

I got another hole from a friend last week

Lord, Lord why so many holes in me?

Then I saw the hands that were holding me,

He said ‘I know you, son, I’ve got holes too’.

I will tell you why these lines are so special to me. I have not studied all religions, but from the little I know, Christianity is the only one that has at its center a deity who has tasted of the worst kind of suffering a human being can ever go through.  How is this so? God came down to earth as a man to live amongst us, to suffer like any of us. He became one of us that we through him might become like him. That for me is enough. Because then when I go to God to tell him about my pain, I can never say something like ‘you won’t understand me’. Why? Because he does! He does because he became man and walked amongst men as one of us. He bore the cross on his sore back and was nailed to it, naked and battered like a thief. It is painful to go through torture of that nature. But to go through undeserved torture and having the power to speak a word for it all to go away yet choosing not to do so, is twice as torturous. I come to God with my problems knowing that he wouldn’t dismiss me and blame me for not being strong enough. In fact, he admonishes us in the gospels to come to him when we are heavily laden and burdened and he will give us rest. There is no shame in approaching God in your pain. Very few things can be more shameful than death on the cross. If he went through that and is now seated victorious and high above every power, best believe he understands you and your pain. It is very exhausting trying to explain your pain to another person. First, what you deem painful might not be regarded as such by whoever you are telling. When you step up to God in prayer, do so in all confidence that he has gone through excruciating pain too and understands how you feel.

Our High Priest

Not only should we confidently approach God in prayer because he has gone through pain before, also we should be bold to talk to him about the weights and the sins that easily beset us. Sin is shameful and dwindles our confidence in coming before God. However, if you think about it, Jesus who never sinned became sin literally on the cross so that you and I may become the righteousness of God. The bible says he never sinned yet he was made sin. This is a very unfair exchange but all this was done for the sake of you and me. Therefore, if we sin, it shouldn’t deter us from running to him. He became sin for goodness sake! He knows the shame of sin. He knows it all.

In the Old Testament, the High Priest went in into the Most Holy place to offer sacrifice for the sins of the children of Israel once every year. The sacrifice was accepted based on how pure the animal was and how pure the high priest was. The high priest could lose his life if he stood before God having sin in him. Thanks be to God our high priest doubles as the sacrifice. Thanks be to God also that he is very pure. Therefore, our confidence of righteousness is not in our deeds but totally in the purity of the sacrifice that bought our redemption. The writer of Hebrews put it this way:

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:14 – 16

Our high priest was tempted in every way as we are right now yet he was without sin. He isn’t oblivious to the weight of temptation. Neither does he judge us unfairly. Therefore in all confidence, we approach the throne of God that we may receive mercy if we sin and to find grace to keep us from sinning.

The Humanity in the Trinity

The WORD became flesh and dwelt amongst men as Jesus. The WORD literally took a demotion to become a man so as to accomplish the divine assignment of redeeming man from sin. Hence in that line, ‘I know you, son, I’ve got holes too’, what Christ is actually telling us is that he has been a man before. For who can wound God? Who can inflict physical pain on God? Had he not condescended to mortal man would he have ever known pain? There is humanity in the Trinity now because the WORD which became flesh has gone back to his former estate having experienced human suffering. That is why he is the one constantly interceding for us. And we cannot express our gratitude for this enough.

The first part of the line that says ‘I know you…’ deserves every bit of attention as we give the entire line. When God knows you, it is way different from being known by any human being. At best, our closest friends, parents, and spouses can only be familiar with our ways. But God knows as through and through. He told Jeremiah, ‘before you were a clot of blood in your mother’s womb, I knew you and ordained you to be a prophet to the nations’. God’s knowledge of us is the reason he predestines us. He knows you that’s why he has destined you to become who you are and who you will be in the near future. Way before you were a clot of blood in your mother’s womb, there was a calling on your life because God knows you. Therefore it is so remarkable that before he tells us he has holes too, he states that he knows us (according to the song).

Finally, it is very likely most of us look at the image of Christ on the cross and assume he only had 4 holes in his body and that was all he had to deal with. Note KB didn’t talk about physical holes in the song. He spoke about holes in the heart. These are marks of pain, anguish and sorrows that we suffer from being hurt emotionally, psychologically and even spiritually either by events or people around us. If that is so then we would have to come to the understanding that the 4 holes in Jesus’ body – the two in his wrist and the two in his feet – were not the only source of pain for him on the cross. A few days prior to the cross, he had been sold for 30 pieces of silver by one of his close allies. He was arrested after he had prayed so intensely that his sweat turned into blood. This points to the fact that Jesus was in a severe psychological and emotional distress before the Roman soldiers could ever subject him to any physical torture.

While being taken away he was denied three times by one of his closest disciples. At the cross, 10 of his disciples had gone into hiding leaving only John there. Even God had ‘forsaken’ him to the extent that he had to cry out in pain and ask why God had done that. I haven’t been this forsaken in my life before. We are talking about one who had been whipped with a flagrum the previous day and a crown of thorns forced onto his head. Then on the cross, he was pierced at his side with a spear.

When someone who has been through this level of torture assures you he understands your pain, you are left with no option than to understand your own pain. If you can just see the hands that are holding you, you will notice the scars. That ought to comfort you.

When Jesus assures you he understands your pain and does nothing about it, it is because he was also made to endure the worst kind of pain a man can ever be subjected to. If the joy that was set before him was the reason he endured such excruciating pain, then the joy that is set before you should be enough reason for you to endure too. The hope of our calling is the joy that is set before us – that one of these days we will see him as he is when he returns. May this joy remind you of the hope and purpose that is in you even in your darkest hour.

This issue comes up for discussion anytime a prominent person in pop culture or the entertainment industry, who doesn’t appear to be living a Christian life expresses a certain level of devotion or even gratitude to God. Some Christians descend on the person on social media with highly judgmental comments. I know it is hard to understand this, but the truth is, some people may not look it but they actually have a relationship with God. At several awards shows that I have watched, most of the winners of the night, during their acceptance speech, give glory to God. A few years ago I watched the BET awards where Lil Wayne took it a step further by saying ‘I would like to thank God and His son Jesus…’. A person can express his appreciation to God for doing something for him (and this could be any other god) but when he/she mentions Jesus, then we know who he is talking about. Quite recently, Chance the rapper has come under heavy criticism for releasing songs that have God as the central theme while he has profane songs on that same album. I believe other rappers have received this same level of flak too. Kendrick Lamar, DMX, Kanye West etc. This is the argument, that if these rappers are going to talk about God or express the minutest appreciation to him for something they believe he has done for them, they would have to stop cussing and composing songs that project a sinful lifestyle.

I don’t condone cussing or a sinful lifestyle. In fact, I wrote a blog on why Christian artists shouldn’t cuss in their songs. Cussing is one of the major reasons why I don’t listen to most secular songs because I wouldn’t want those words to find their way into my speech. The point I am trying to make is, no matter how dirty or filthy the person worshiping God appears to be, only God can measure the quality of their worship and determine whether or not it is acceptable. As a human being, you have no right at all to do that. The argument is ongoing I believe in people’s conversations about the rise of artists like Chance and Kendrick. Because they cuss in the rest of their songs and even sometimes in songs that are supposed to be purely dedicated to God. Other people have actually gone the extra mile to judge their intentions for doing what they do. The assumption is that these two rappers are probably strategically creating faith-based rap songs knowing very well that a huge percentage of their fans are Christians, hence, these songs may propel their albums to higher heights. To this I will say what Paul said in Philippians 1:18 (ESV):

What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

Before this verse, Paul outlined a couple of evil reasons why people were preaching the gospel in those days. He mentioned envy, rivalry, selfish ambition etc. before he proceeded to state that whether in pretense or truth, so far as the gospel is being proclaimed he rejoices. This indicates that we are to do same. Whether these rappers are doing it for the money or not, the mere fact that they are using their platforms to point people to God, we must rejoice. Did Paul in any way make light of rivalry, envy, and selfish ambition? Indeed when you think about it, the fact that he said he rejoices even if people have bad reasons for preaching the gospel, then it appears he doesn’t mind if people do ministry for the wrong reasons. But far from that, in the opening verses of the second chapter of Philippians, we see Paul condemning selfish ambition:

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. (Philippians 2:3(ESV))

Therefore we can easily conclude that though Paul rejoices at the fact that the gospel is being preached by people who are doing it for selfish ambition, nevertheless, he doesn’t condone selfish ambition. In the case of the rappers, though we may not know their motives or even support their music, we should still rejoice that God is getting glory at their concerts. This, however, does not mean God approves of their lifestyle. But you see these are the kinds of people God actually wants to work on. Remember Jesus said “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17(ESV)).

One thing I have come to believe in the past few months is that God expects worship even from the worst of sinners. Case in point, the events leading to the death of King Herod. The entire story can be found in Acts 12. Herod killed James (the brother of John) and when he realized that it pleased the people he had Peter arrested too. Note: this shows that Herod was a showman or a people pleaser. Then in verse 21 of the same chapter, Herod delivered a speech to the people. The people being so amazed by it declared “The voice of a god, and not of a man!”. What happened immediately afterward is recorded in the verse below:

Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. Acts 12:23 (ESV)

Herod was killed because he didn’t give glory to God. This is the same Herod who killed James and had Peter arrested, why didn’t God kill him then? I can’t tell. The only reason given for Herod’s death was that he was killed by an angel because he didn’t give glory to GOD. No matter how sinful a person is, God expects worship (glory) from him/her. Worship is basically man giving glory to God. So anytime we see an unbeliever singing praises to God let us not be quick to judge the person but let us offer to disciple the person if we are in the position to do so. Let us learn to leave certain things to God. You are not the spirit that convicts the world of sin – that is the Holy Spirit’s ‘job description’. Your duty is to be a witness and a dispenser of love (which involves intercession). Let’s learn to pray for people. We must understand that we are on our way to one destination but some are way ahead of others and others are way behind. I feel embarrassed when I see the stuff I wrote a few years ago. I had the passion and the zeal but little understanding and knowledge. I didn’t do the things I did out of love either. I wrote to chastise people, period! I did that because that was where I had reached in my journey. I know better now and hope to know more as I grow. My hope is that these artists who have so much influence will also grow out of certain things. It is difficult to tell where people have reached in their journey of pursuing God just by observing from afar. Therefore the best thing to do is to demonstrate the love of God towards such people. There is rebuke in love by the way. We can do all of that but let us not take the Lord’s praise out of their lips. Let us not hinder them from coming into his presence. Let us not make them feel unworthy even to stand in the Lord’s congregation. If Jesus allowed Mary Magdalene, a prostitute, to wash and clean his feet, clearly he isn’t bothered when sinners worship him. If it bothers you, I’m sorry but you are the problem.

God can use anybody to get the glory. The stage set up for Kendrick’s performance at the BET awards in 2013 was a house. The rapper emerged from the house to perform that night. Anybody who looked closely at the wall of the house would have seen ‘Jesus is Lord…’ written boldly on it. Chance the rapper at this year’s Grammy’s decided to perform his song ‘How great is our God’ and he gave God glory every time he came up to receive an award. You might call them sinners but don’t discredit their worship. God accepts worship from sinners. Always remember God can use anybody he chooses to, especially when the person is willing to be used. I would like to end with a verse from Isaiah 45 which talks about how God desired to make Cyrus King over Israel though he didn’t know God.

For the sake of my servant Jacob,
and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name,
I name you, though you do not know me. Isaiah 45:4

The album begins with the title track ‘uncomfortable’. Mostly, when artists name their album after a track on it, it is usually a disaster putting the entire album into perspective. In the sense that, you realize the artist clumsily puts songs together on that project and loosely selected his favorite and named the entire album after it. That is nasty. With Andy’s ‘uncomfortable’, the message resonates throughout all the songs and not just the title track. Even the album cover depicts the state of being uncomfortable. Time and space won’t allow me to do an in depth explication of each song, but I will try to do so for most of them.

As Andy himself rightly said, ‘the album will disturb comfortable people and comfort disturbed people’. It does that, actually. The first verse of the uncomfortable track begins with the following lines. ‘Lord prepare me for the war/ Comfort be the thing that would make a king fall/Eyes on the Lord/ Gotta grip the blade of the sword…’. Of course comfort fills you with complacency and serves as a hindrance to progress. Kings are amongst the most comfortable people in the world. Their status affords them all the pomp and pageantry that your sophisticated imagination may never be able to conceive. So of course, Andy was talking about a king here…or so I thought. In his interview on the ‘Sway in the morning’ radio show, he stated that he was specifically talking about King David. These lines are an allusion to the time when David stayed behind and didn’t go to war. He ended up sleeping with Uriah’s wife and killing Uriah as a result of his intentions to cover up the mess. Had David chosen war (discomfort) over the comfort of staying back in his palace and strolling on his porch, he wouldn’t have fallen into such an abominable sin. The message is clear here, “comfort is not always a good enough reason to take a decision”. Sometimes the road to success is like a thorny park and the road leading nowhere is as comforting as carpet grass. Choose ye this day your destination but don’t do so with the path leading to it in mind.

Another amazing message in those few lines is the part where he says ‘gotta grip the blade of the sword’. According to him, he used that imagery to depict the need for Christians to judge themselves by the standards of the bible before they judge others. Let me explain this. So the Word of God is described as being ‘sharper than a two-edged sword’ in the bible, therefore when we judge people, we point the sword in their face while gripping the handle. But God didn’t intend for us to grip the handle of the sword but the blade. We must do this on a daily basis: grip the sword by the blade, cut yourself and bleed! Bleed till you are drained of every bit of ‘your  self-righteous self’ then you can go out there and correct others and help rid their lives of any impurities. Let them grip the sword by the blade too, don’t point the sword at them. **Deep!**

Uncomfortable is followed closely by ‘uptown’. In Uptown, Andy tries to capture and retell the lifestyle of people living in his hometown, New York city. Just as I stated earlier, every song screams the need to let go of a comfortable lifestyle and choose that which is beneficial though it may appear unpleasant now… so does ‘uptown’. In the first verse Andy says, ‘Baby, how you gon complete your life’s checklist/Spending every night watching netflix?/ Time is precious, gotta invest it when you spend it/ If we are prisoners to comfort, we judge our own sentences…’. This is self explanatory. We see the theme of ‘disturbing comfortable people’ live and coloured here. Instead of spending countless hours engaging in that which merely gives you pleasure, it would be a better investment to spend time doing profitable things.

Desperados is my favorite song on the album: the music; the instrumentation; Mali Music’s hook coupled with Andy’s versatile rap style makes it a delicious meal to my ears. A desperado is a violent criminal who is not afraid of getting hurt or caught (Merriam Webster Dictionary). In the song, both Andy and Mali proclaim that they are desperados who are wanted dead or alive. ‘Desperados’ inspires a positive rebellious spirit in me. Where I don’t want to conform to the standards society sets – even on social media. So if they want my life for the truth I stand for, well, I would gladly be a desperado. It is not about the number of people who like you, it is about how many people you impact positively: that is the real essence of this life. Andy states this categorically, ‘I ain’t trying to be liked, I’m trying to be a light’. Do not conform. Be a light wherever you are even if they criminalize you because of it.

Any Andy Mineo fan would notice that he has a knack for getting personal on some of his songs just to help people deal with the same issues. He does so in the song ‘Hear my heart’. It is a song for his big sister Grace, who was born deaf. In this song, Andy apologizes for never learning sign language which minimized communication between him and his sister. Andy ends the only verse of the song by saying ‘My big sister Grace, I’m sorry I never learnt the signs/ I know that you were born deaf, but forgive me for the years that I lived blind’.

We see Andy get more personal in two more songs: Ghost and Love. In Ghost he speaks about losing touch with one of his closest friends. And in ‘Love’ he seeks to redefine love. He does this by dispelling the popular definition people give to love. While at it, he made mention of the fact that some people – men especially – think they are too tough to love. It is a ‘guy thing’: we assume it is a sign of weakness to be vulnerable to someone emotionally. But no, Andy says it is cool to be like that, especially with the one you love. It is both therapeutic and beneficial to the growth of the relationship. Andy personifies love in the entire song and tells love that ‘when I think about God, you are the definition’. Indeed, God doesn’t merely love, GOD IS LOVE!.

In ‘Rat race’ Andy attacks people who expend all their energies in criticizing artists like it was a sport. He raises some very important issues too. Somewhere in the chorus it says ‘tell them we don’t wanna play/ we’re so okay with last place’. Now, who on earth would be okay with being the last in a race? *points finger at Andy* What he is trying to say is, we are all running a race in life – that is our individual calling. So if people judge you by how much you are losing in their race, please take a seat and be okay with the last position in their race. For all they know, you are leading in your race by being last in theirs. This definitely has to do with Andy’s position in the rap game in America. It may appear that he isn’t mainstream yet… but so what? He is so okay with last place. Since to him this is ministry and not a game to be won, he concludes each verse by saying ‘roof your ball, I don’t wanna play’. Ouch! That ought to leave the owner of the ball in a whirlwind of embarrassment.

I like it when Andy sounds tough on a track. When he sounds almost angry and delivers his verses with an almost hoarse voice, I love it *giggles*. In ‘Vendetta’ We see Andy Mineo taking the pulpit and pitching it on the stage of a political rally to address some political issues. The song is centered on one point: the artist is more influential than the politician. According to him most politicians have the right ideas and mindset for the job until they enter office then there is a visible decay of purpose witnessed by all. One line in the chorus captures this point: Pac did a lot more for me than Barack. Yep, he means 2 pac (the rapper) did a lot more for him than Barack Obama. In the second verse, Andy admits to his overindulgence in unnecessary things too. He says he has excess of things that are needed by others, referring to the 100 sneakers he has, which are meant for his two feet. It is all vanity and a chasing after wind.

On ‘Know that’s right’ Andy takes a few shots at the negativity of some hip hop songs. The truth about how most of these artists lie about the lives they live while they live in debt. He also said, “My home girl started stripping/ I said ‘chill, get a degree’/ She told me, ‘Andy you’re trippin/ ‘Cause you don’t make more money than me”. And that’s true. People could be earning a living from doing things that are either criminal or degrading and if you find yourself desiring their lifestyle, know that it isn’t worth it. Persevere through the hardship you are in and sooner or later you will be in a better position in life. Also in ‘strange motions’ he touches on dealing with addictions. In ‘Now I know’ he touches on the enlightenment he has received over the years dispelling some of the myths he used to believe while a child. He stated that he even ‘thought that Jesus was white’. The Album ends with ‘make me a believer’ and there is one musical interlude on the album: David’s roof. I state this again, it is a masterpiece.

Together, all these songs trouble you. They ruffle the branches of the palm tree you are resting under to wake you up from your sleep. Human beings will do anything to have a comfortable life but so far as we are on this earth we will always have problems. It is better for us to decide to suffer discomfort for a worthy cause. Let us not be caught  up in the mundane. Be worried. Be disturbed about the evil around you and in the world at large. Do not be complacent. Comfort can kill you. As G.K Chesterton said ‘Meaninglessness does not come from being weary of pain. Meaninglessness comes from being weary of pleasure”. And Andy said ‘Nobody told us we could die like this; Nobody told us we could die from BLISS’. Be uncomfortable.

We at SASA hold this view in high esteem. Hence our mantra is ‘our product is the gospel of Jesus Christ, packaged in creativity’. SASA is an acronym, and it stands for Speakers And Singers Association. Coincidentally the word ‘sasa’ means ‘now’ in Swahili. We believe we are a new breed of young Christian artists commissioned to make the gospel known in different artistic forms in these present times and forever more. This is what we do, we lay our gifts at the feet of the master. For is there a better way to please our master than to offer him back what he gave us? It is only right than we use a God-given gift for a God-given purpose. In the Art Industry in this country it seems many do not expect much, so far as creativity is concerned, from Christian artists. Technically, this should not be the case, for ‘ the Creator-inspired art, should of a necessity be creative’. This is what we seek to achieve as a group. Package the message of Jesus in creativity, thereby raising our platform high enough for all eyes to witness and be influenced by. We believe strongly, though this is starting off as a group of young passionate people on a mission, it will turn out to be a revolution and a movement. Which will catch up with many youth around the world.

(Outreach at ICS in kumasi –  school evangelism)

We recognize that there is art in all spheres of human endeavor so we welcome all sorts of artists as we are a conglomeration of artists from different backgrounds. There are poets in our midst, painters, singers, song writers, dancers, graphic designers, photographers, motivational speakers, rappers, instrumentalists etc. Not forgetting those who work tirelessly in the background to make things happen. Those who are responsible for putting the shows we do together. We all come together to form one huge family. A family of like-minded people working together to achieve one aim – lifting the name of Christ above all else. There is a lot we are involved in. In every year we organize shows at different times. This is where we get to share our talent and message with all who are present. There is usually a variety of artistic presentations in such shows. There is poetry, music, dance and also we  have on display some paintings by some artists. Then once every year, we come together and have a live recording of all the artistic pieces we put out there all year round. We have already had two of such recordings. The videos of the first live recording are available on our Youtube channel – Speaker Singer. We also take part in community and school outreach programs. This is where we get to interact with people directly. When it is needed, we minister our artistic pieces and in other cases we just share the gospel of Christ by word of mouth. This is what we are called to do.

(Community evangelism at Ejisu-Juaben in the Ashanti Region of Ghana)

This is a movement. This is something bigger than us. It is about time Christian artists took the world by storm and refused to allow fear to hamper the spread of the word of God. Jesus said, ‘Go into the world, and make disciples for me..’, the ‘world’ there includes every gathering or place where people usually converge. This has necessitated our strong social media presence. On facebook, you can find out about us on our page SASA, where we occasionally post inspirational messages and artistic pieces from our members. Follow us on Instagram @sasaMinistries, on twitter @sasa_movement, sasamovement on youtube  and on wordpress SASABLOGGING.WORDPRESS.COM. Let no one stifle your thoughts, do not smother your own talent and voice, in all that you do BE HEARD, and be heard speaking about the love of Christ.