S.O.U.LMag Issue#11 by S.O.U.LMAG

K U RT I S B L OW • O H M E G A WAT T S • s h a i l i n n e

CHRISTOPHER

“PLAY” MARTIN

His journey from being in front of the camera to behind it...

www.thesoulmag.com Issue #11 // US $3.95 • Can. $4.95

d e l l e p x Eally get kicked out? h re Did Trut ? . . . e r e hthe labels gone? W have all s e n o J siness u B m o CantoKin ngd

hings are un.certain. Have you read the paper or watched the news lately? Have you gone grocery shopping recently? I know you’ve pumped some of that $4 a gallon gas or drank some of that $5 milk or sipped some of that refreshing $7 Orange juice. Left and right it seems people are getting laid off as companies downsize and cut budgets. I hear again and again that nobody is hiring. People are getting real nervous. If you look at it from a certain worldview – they should be. Yesterday I talked with a friend of mine that runs his own business. He shared how he just filled up his Diesel work truck at $5 a gallon. He then said, “Guess how many gallons the tank is? 70!” I responded, “How often do you have to fill that thing up?” He shot back, “Everyday!” You do the math. That’s one reason his company is down from 3 employees to just 1. I recently spoke at one of the largest church conferences in the country with some of the top leaders from America’s most influential churches. It was an amazing event. It was humbling to be a part of it. Each evening the speakers got together and met and had dinner and a time of sharing. This was especially dope for me as I was kicking it with several dudes that I’ve looked up to as I’ve read their books or followed their ministries. God is definitely doing some incredible things across the country. One thing that did come up was the economy. Churches everywhere are feeling the crunch. Several churches have had large staff cuts due to their drop in donations. As I lead a church with multiple staff members this can sound scary… in the natural. I’m also a national artist that mixes it up with rappers from all over. Several of my artist friends that were full time have had to go and get regular jobs for the first time in years as their traveling has really slowed down. And here I am with this crazy vision of publishing a magazine in a time when magazines and newspapers are in a serious decline. Things are un.certain. As I’m finishing this editorial…the completion of this magazine is un.certain. With the economy being tough, it’s hard to get ads and there are still a few left at this moment. We’re also on a tight deadline to get this thing to print…its un.certain. If you’re a Christ-follower you really shouldn’t sweat it too much. There is a lot we can be certain about. Christ is our source no matter what the price of a barrel of oil soars to. God is here to provide for us and protect us. Even if life gets harder and we don’t have all the stuff we once had – we can be sure that God is in control and this is all just temporary. You can be certain that the creator still does miracles and if you get to hold this magazine in your hands…trust me – this is certainly one! Peace and Certainty,

Tommy aka Urban D.

S.O.U.L | Pg06

*Tommy Kyllonen leads in the un.certain urban world of pastoring, writing, rapping, speaking, publishing, and parenting… but as he looks to his leader it all becomes certain. >> Check out his video blog at www.urband.org <<

Table of Contents: Pg. 06: Editorial – Un.certain Pg. 10: Respect Due: Odd Thomas Pg. 11: You’ve Got Mail Pg. 14: Where have all the labels gone? Pg. 16: Hip-Hop Legends – Kurtis Blow Pg. 18: Internet Spotlight: Sphere of Hip-Hop Pg. 20: Canton Jones - Kingdom Business Pg. 24: An Urban Look at Politics Pg. 27: TV Spotlight – We Got Next! Pg. 28: Expelled Pg. 32: Fla.vor Fest 2008 Pg. 34: Jabo - High School Pg. 38: Leadership Spotlight Pg. 40: Ohmega Watts Pg. 44: Whateva - from G-Unit to God Pg. 48: Street Stories – Che Che Pg. 50: Blow for Blow with Red Cloud Pg. 54: Christopher “Play” Martin Pg. 62: shai linne Pg. 64: Rock Ministries Pg. 68: Featured Threads Pg. 72: Music Reviews Pg. 74: Movies That Teach Pg. 78: Resource Reviews Pg. 80: Final Words - Certain Pg. 81: Fla.vor Fest 07’ Photobook

The S.O.U.L Team

Publisher: Tommy Kyllonen aka Urban D. Creative Director: SPE© Contributing Editors: Janine Carrero, Duane Custer Contributing Writers: Sketch The Journalist, Derrick Colon, Janine Carrero, Mario Armstrong, Rico James, Duane “Swingman” Custer, Kathleen Medrano, Jessica Bayonet, Brandon Brinkley and Charles Languedoc Review Team: Brother Greg, Luther, DJ Dvize, DJ Dash, DJ Rhino, Cisco, Roy, G-86, Los 1, Clok, Elijah and Todd. Contributing Designers: Todd Mitchka and Brandon ‘dash’ Brinkley Design Department: Specademik.com Photographers: Carlos Espinel, James Cole, Dash and SPE© For information on Advertising visit www.thesoulmag.com and check out the press kit for detailed demographics, ad rates, specs, and deadlines. Printed in Canada by: Premier Printing - www.premierprinting.ca S.O.U.LMAG is published three times annually by Fla.vor Alliance Media Group and is a ministry of Crossover Church. Crossover Church is a non-profit 501©3. Crossover’s mission is: “To Relevantly introduce the truth of Christ to the hip-hop culture, as we develop worship, purpose, unity, and leadership in their lives.” S.O.U.LMAG exists to build on this mission as we take it to a national platform through print.

S.O.U.LMAG / Crossover Church 7809 N. Orleans Ave. Tampa, Fla. 33604 office: (813) 935-8887 fax: (813) 935-0535 thesoulmag.com • crossoverchurch.org • flavoralliance.com

PG24

PG28

PG50

PG20

>>RESPECTDUE<< artist on the move::

7 Questions with Odd Thomas… Question 1: General info: name, aka, place of residence - meaning of your name “Odd Thomas”. Odd Thomas: I was born in Chicago, IL, and I currently reside in Downtown Fullerton, CA. My friends gave me the name, I ran with it. Question 2: What or who encouraged your passion for music and creativity - what emcees or major influences impacted your love for what you do? Odd Thomas: When I was younger, I remember listening to groups like De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest, Rakim, and Slick Rick, and I wanted to be able to do what they did. I spent so much time writing, trying to perfect my writing and delivery to get notoriety. I hate to say it, but in the beginning my passion for doing hip-hop was purely out of pride. As I got older, when the Lord was pleased to save me, He gave me a new passion and creativity that was influenced largely by my new life and new experiences as a believer. Over the last few years I’ve found that the majority of my influence has come from whatever book I’m currently reading, or from sermons I listen to. Authors like Francis Schaeffer, Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, and John Calvin have greatly shaped the content of my writing, but it’s Christ Alone that has given me the creativity and a new love for song writing. Question 3: Explain exactly what form of hip-hop you do. I remember you saying something 2 years back @ UYWI that you take apologetics and defend or bring that into the underground club atmosphere. If someone met you for the first time and asked what you did in hip-hop culture or for ministry - what would tell them?

S.O.U.L | Pg10

Odd Thomas: I’m not really sure as to what form of hip-hop I would fall under. I try not to subscribe to any particular genre of hip-hop. I just do music. I think if I had to distinguish what separates me from other artists, I’d say it’s the content. I don’t rap about lollipops and cheerleaders, or stupid things like that. I prefer to write about things that I feel are more important or more time sensitive. You can call it what you want whether it be “Christian emcee” or “political emcee” or a “conscience rapper.” I like to think of it as apologetic in nature. I’m not ashamed to testify that I’m a Christian. The Lordship of Christ is applied to ALL of areas of life including music. I try and do it “as unto the Lord.” I believe God has called me to defend the Gospel in the dark places of hip-hop. Since its birth, hip-hop has always valued skill, and by God’s grace, He’s given me the skill to make the offensive truth of the gospel palatable. As a Reformed Christian, I write music in hope to challenge and change a culture that is in direct opposition to the Christian world and life view. Question 4: Do you see the style of what you bring and do in hip-hop growing in others? Is there a following or a movement happening or has it been happening for sometime? Odd Thomas: I do. I would say that over the last few years there has been a growing desire for substance in music. I think that there is a small pocket of people who have unplugged themselves from the garbage they hear on the radio. It seems that people are tired of listening to music that doesn’t challenge the way they think, feel, or believe, and as a result there is a handful of artists who meet those needs. I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe people just want to hear good music; whatever... Question 5: What are some testimonies you can share of what you have seen or been apart of - what has been the fruit for you?

Odd Thomas: The Lord has opened up so many opportunities for me to share my faith in some of the most wicked and dark venues where the preaching of the gospel message would not naturally be tolerated. There have been so many times after a performance where people immediately engage me in conversation about Christianity, philosophy, or politics, and through those discussions I have taken every opportunity to talk about God’s grace. I have seen much fruit in these discussions after I’ve performed. God has also allowed me to use hip-hop in the church to teach doctrine, apologetics, and theology at a level that hip-hop kids can relate to and be challenged by. To be honest, just the fact that people embrace my music, trips me out. Question 6: Goals. What would you like to see accomplished or begin to happen in ministry that utilizes hiphop culture. We use what we know right? And it is obvious the world’s chaos is not slowing down, so in these “end times” what do you want to see happen? Odd Thomas: REFORMATION! Question 7: If you had a few moments of breath left in you - what would you say to: 1: Those who are Christ followers. 2: Those who are still seeking to fill that empty void in their life. Odd Thomas: 1: “Earnestly contend for the Faith” -Jude 1:3 2: Repentance isn’t optional, it’s a command. Repent of your sin and embrace Christ as Savior and Lord of your life. ••• Connect with Odd Thomas on-line @: myspace.com/oddthomas

Subject: The Concert!

Let me start by saying that what you’re doing for the youth today is a true BLESSING. My husband and I were recently married and I have 4 children the youngest girl being 14 and with today’s music we were trying to get her into more positive music. After my husband spoke to a fellow co-worker about this he invited us to Crossover Church in Tampa where we took my daughter and she loved it. My daughter invited some of her friends from school and we headed to Crossover and let me tell you, my daughter and her two 14 year old friends have done nothing but praise the word to each and every other friend they spoke to at school or on the phone. She changed her MySpace song to one of God’s Baby Girls song. I just feel I have to say GOD BLESS YOU IN WHAT you have done and are doing for today’s youth. Showing them that there is a positive in this world with music praising a higher power. Thank you for what you do… Jennifer Rowland – Florida

Subject: Urban Hope from The Philippines

It was the year 2000 when God commissioned me to preach the gospel through rap music. That year God also gave me a vision that someday he will use me to build a church reaching hip-hop in the Philippines. I had no idea about Crossover Church and Soulmag. I read Pastor Tommy’s book “Un.orthodox” – it gives me fire! We have a ministry here called “Urban Hope”. You can type in the name and check us out on youtube. Peace and God Bless, Beracah – Philippines

Subject: Got your stuff in Germany!

Hey, bro! My name is Marco and I’m from Germany! I’m writing because I just finished reading your book and I’d like to tell you that it’s a really, really great book! I’ve been so blessed reading it, because it’s just so honest and real! The album is really great, too! Was a little difficult to get the stuff in Germany, but finally I made it : ) Another reason why I’m writing is because I found in the last section of your book a part where you’re speaking about your trip to Germany. You said you’ve been to the Westerwald area, and I was like “what??!! Cause that’s exactly where I’m living! Really funny! But can you tell me exactly where you’ve been there? Or send me any contact details from this called Ralph you mentioned in the book? That would be great! Because I’m doing a hip-hop ministry myself and it would be great to make connections with him! Hopefully I can come over to Tampa, to your church and see with my own eyes, what I only read in the book! God bless you so much! Greetingz and blessingz from Germany! MArco

We’d love to hear your feedback... either visit us online @ www.thesoulmag.com and shoot us an email or send it the ol’ fashion way to: SOULMAG - 7809 N. Orleans Ave Suite #2. Tampa, FL 33604 We look forward to hearing from you! - The S.O.U.LMAG Team ;)

S.O.U.L | Pg11

Originally written: May 18, 2008 Updated: June 2, 2008 with new info from Troy Collins of Beatmart On its face, it’s easy to understand why one would perceive Christian hip hop to be an easy, even lucrative, business.

I think that’s just a symptomatic condition of where the music business is right now.”

After all, mainstream hip hop has a strong track record of sales, influence, and popularity – primarily among the coveted youth and young adult demographics that have fair amounts of disposable income. It’s also conceivable that if you cleaned it up a little bit, rounded off the rough edges, and injected it with Jesus talk it would be even more commercially attractive to parents and churchgoers who like to buy music for iPods that belong to them or their children. Add the “God-is-on-our-side” argument and you’ve just about got a license to print money, right?

As it stands, the company’s last official release was Eric Cross’ The Art of Composition on April 1, 2008. But Troy (brother to producer and Beatmart CEO Todd) Collins promises that Beatmart isn’t dead and is instead evolving toward a, yet publicly unspecified, viral marketing / community-building entertainment company that will serve the Christian hip hop culture.

Not exactly. There are still those lingering issues of truly understanding the gospel rap mindset, getting paid by your distributors (on time or at all), nurturing an entrepreneurial willingness to accept market mistakes as learning experiences, and a host of other challenges. Just ask Beatmart or Gotee Records – (apparently) two of the latest tombstones in a graveyard full previously powerful holy hip hop labels.

Gotee Records appears to be in a similar state of flux with an out-of-date online presence and a rap roster limited to two white guys (John Reuben and B. Reith) with, what is best described as, “alternative” hip hop leanings. Further confirmation of their struggles came via a March 31 press release announcing Gotee had repurchased their minority stake from EMI Christian Music Group. Spun as a return to independence, the move is generally understood to be less than voluntary and a sign that Gotee, which claims more than 70 million dollars in gross sales with nearly 8 million albums sold, wasn’t making a profit for the parent company.

“I don’t think you have to have a degree from MIT to figure out that the sun is clearly setting on [us] as a traditional record label,” Troy Collins, president of Beatmart Recordings, said. “But

“Beatmart is still very much in business, but not in business as the consumer would perceive it,” Collins said.

“If you aren’t absolutely on top of every part of your operation with a record label, you will struggle or be forced out of business.”

S.O.U.L | Pg14

While nobody is exactly sure what caused past labels like Grapetree, Shabach, or Uprok, to shut down (or even if there was a single smoking gun for each), there are plenty of opinions and advice from active Christian rap labels for those willing to listen. “The business realities of the music industry today mandate being on top of new promotional techniques as well as just how to go about selling music in a crowded marketplace,” Josh “Plastic” Niemyski of Illect Recordings said. “If you aren’t absolutely on top of every part of your operation with a record label, you will struggle or be forced out of business.” San Diego’s Syntax Records has experienced the highs and lows of the Christian rap marketplace. In more than a decade of operation, the label has released over 40 titles and gone from dealing with the frustrations of a distributor filing for bankruptcy three times in a row to seeing actual profits on investments in digital music. Syntax’s president, Tim “Sir Rockdomz” Trudeau, credits it to a healthy balance of enthusiasm and enlightenment. “Take Josh at Illect. I believe that if his house burned down you would see him running in and hanging on to a bunch of CDs. And that’s the kind of mentality that would drive you to work like a madman for pennies and will probably be the plague for guys like us. But we’ve also turned into business people. So there’s a little bit of passion and hobby mixed in with a bunch of practical stuff we’ve learned by being around guys like Beatmart where we’re looking at the bottom line every month,” Trudeau said. With potential fail points at every level (from distribution to manufacturing to marketing) some labels are seeking horizontal growth into other genres or aspects of the music industry. Perhaps diversification into rock, pop, and Christian contemporary music is what has kept Gotee Records at least somewhat afloat and could be the inspiration for Cross Movement Records’ move into similar markets with Issachar Recordings – its new R&B and urban gospel imprint. “It would be a great thing if most holy hip hop labels had other genres. Not for safety, but for variety,” A. Brinson Wright, CEO of Jacksonville, Florida’s independent Godchaserz Entertainment, said. “A lot of people can’t listen to hip hop all day. It would be awesome if every label in [our subgenre] had at least one artist/group who strictly does praise and worship music.” Issachar and Syntax have also expanded into “media/creative” brands that handle artwork, websites, and web-based marketing for themselves and other labels. “If you’re trying to sell Christian hip hop for a living it is possible, but it won’t last for too long, and as you get older and your bills change, you will have to figure out ways to get additional income,” Trudeau said.

distribution will be the key to sustainability. Two of the more interesting ideas lately have taken advantage of the small file size of digital music files that make it easier to deliver them to customers. Manchild, the MC half of underground hip hop group Mars Ill, recently launched a subscription based site for his music at Manchildinsider.com. Customers pre-purchase five new songs a month for five dollars or a year’s worth of tracks for $50. And in May, Brinson offered a GodChaserz DVD for $40.00 that contained seven of the label’s catalog albums plus unreleased bonus material. Yet another approach, and one that has seen success in mainstream hip hop, is for an individual rapper-funded label to focus on its owner’s status as a “flagship” artist. We’ve seen Eminem (Shady/Aftermath) and 50 Cent (G-Unit) do it, and now guys like Brian “Braille” Winchester (HipHopIsMusic) and Bobby “Tre9” Herring (Much Luvv) are applying that pattern to their own businesses. “As I’ve realized that, I’ve decided to spend a little more time building up my solo career so that the foundation is strong enough to take on the financial burden of promoting newer artists,” Braille said. The demise of Christian hip hop labels like Beatmart and Gotee may be a wake-up call to some and a challenging opportunity for others. There’s also the view that it’s simply the normal ebb and flow of a bigger picture with story elements that should be celebrated. “Seasons change for everyone and in the Christian world it’s not always about who’s on top. When we have a chance to bear fruit and make an impact we should enjoy that opportunity,” Braille said. “If God takes us to new places.... or different places, it’s not necessarily a bad thing.” [Author’s note: At press time, representatives from Gotee and Cross Movement Records had not responded to repeated requests for comment on this story.]

Sketch the Journalist is a freelance hip-hop writer living in the thriving country metropolis of Cut-N-Shoot, Texas. Down with gospel rap since Stephen Wiley’s “Bible Break” in 1986, he has chewed, reviewed, and interviewed most of holy hip hop’s major players. Sketch holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from Sam Houston State University and was once an intern at the New York Times Houston Bureau. Catch him online at sketchthejournalist.com

Elsewhere, some independent artists and labels are hoping their creative and non-traditional approaches to packaging and

S.O.U.L | Pg15

Interviewed by: Derrick Colon

When one thinks about original Hip-Hop, a name that will surely come to mind is Kurtis Blow. A native of the streets of Harlem, he is no stranger the the culture. His long history in the music business has produced some of the most recognized Hip-Hop anthems in the industry. Making such hits as the breaks, basketball, if I ruled the world, and the classic, Christmas Rapping. His life would dramatically change when He had an encounter with Christ. S.O.U.L: What year did you get influenced by the culture? Kurtis Blow: 1972. When I was about 13, I went into a disco using a fake id. The first D.J I was exposed to was Pete DJ Jones. It was at the 43rd street club called Mcoys. There was this great presence about the place. It was alive with energy, and there were about 1,000 people in the building. As I heard the voice come across the airwaves, looking for a call and response, it captivated me. I was a great dancer, and as a B-Boy I would win all the dance contests. S.O.U.L: What were some of the earlier parks that you jammed at? Kurtis Blow: Of course coming from Harlem I would frequent most of the parks there. There was Hamilton Park, City College, and The Battlegrounds. In fact Jimmy Castor, the one who made the song “Just Begun” which was a huge hit among B-Boys was from The Battlegrounds. Also another emcee “J.D.L.” that used to go there was a pioneer with the legendary Cold Crush Bros. I was invited to the Bronx as a B-Boy. Someone told me if I really wanted to see some of the best breakers, I should go there. I went to the Bronx between 74’-75’ to see Cool Herc and the Herculoids. S.O.U.L: Why do you think that Zulu had such a profound influence on teens of the inner city? Kurtis Blow: Because of the many gangs problems, there was a need for reform. Bam was the leader of one of the largest Gangs in the Bronx, the Black Spades. I was in a gang called The Peacemakers with Melle Mel. The Black Spades would later become the Zulu Nation. Bam seemed to have a presence about him, and to me that was the thing that attracted youth to him and his movement. He wanted to help teens use their God given talents for good. S.O.U.L: Do you think that the church can make an impact on youth like Bam did? Kurtis Blow: Yes. This a fight of good against evil. Hip-Hop was created as a comforter, just like the Holy Spirit is the comforter. Hip-Hop was crying out. God is the creator of all things, and as the creator, He to wants the Church to use its God given talents for the glory of Him. The church has the job and the mission to change this whole thing around. S.O.U.L: Where did Jesus come in the picture for you? Kurtis Blow: When I was 5 years old I went to church and a tragedy caused me to pray for protection. I made a promise to God to uphold the commandments. One night, while in my apartment in Harlem, right outside my window I heard a voice say to me “I heard you pray for protection and I will protect you.” One day while I was on my way to visit some relatives in Queens, I found a gun and showed it to my aunt. She said it was not real and proceeded to put it to my head and pulled the trigger. She fired twice and they both misfired. When one of my uncles saw what was happening, he snatched the gun and when they opened it up there were two bullets in the chamber. God protected me. I’m serving God because he had his hand on my life. After a time of drug addiction I really started to seek God. While in L.A. I picked up the Bible and God showed me truth. I was on drugs and even while getting high the word of God spoke to me. While reading Revelation I decided to go to church. I got saved under pastor Jack Hayford. Some people might hate, but most are happy for my salvation! ••• Keep up with Kurtis BLow @: myspace.com/kurtisblow3

S.O.U.L | Pg16

>> Description website: http://www.sphereofhiphop.com Owner/Creator: Josh Niemyski aka Plastic

S.O.U.L | Pg18

<html> <head> <title>Internet Spotlight: Sphere Of Hip-Hop</title> <meta http-equiv=”Content-Type” content=”text/html; charset=iso-8859-1”> </head> <body> Each issue we highlight a spot on the web that is impacting the culture in a positive way. If you’re a head that’s been around for a minute you might remember hiphopzone.com or Godzhouse.com. Those were sites that connected a lot of people back in the day. Over the years there has been several sites for our community that have come and gone. This go round we got to catch up with the founder of a site that is still doing it stronger than ever despite the ups and down in the music industry. True passion and servant hood is what has kept Sphereofhiphop.com around for over a decade and counting… check out our talk with Josh aka “Plastic”. S.O.U.L: When did sphere start? And out of what passion? Plastic: Sphere of Hip-Hop was founded in my college dorm room with a close friend of mine in early 1998. The ideas started brewing in late 1997 during a college course of mine. We were assigned the task of creating a website. As I was taking notes and thinking of what I could possibly do a website on, I was also enjoying some hip-hop. It clicked after 20 or 30 minutes that... hey, it’s really tough to find out the latest news on my favorite artists... when will the next Future Shock album drop? What about all these other artists? Where can I buy their tapes? My passion has always been to serve. While most around me in college were content to “lead” I was the type of guy who just enjoyed the secondary role. The trait has come in quite handy when it came to doing the site. S.O.U.L: Who’s part of sphere’s team? Plastic: The team has grown considerably in the last 3 years after I made an effort to get some help. The last year has been a blessing in this department with many willing servants coming out of the woodwork ready to help out. We now have 17 writer contributors, 2 interview contributors, 4 news contributors, 4 editorial helpers, 1 podcast coordinator. About 12 months ago I began

a renovation process to strip down everything we had been doing with the website. We asked a lot of questions: Is there a better way to do this task? Run this section? Handle this process? And so on. While we’re not up to speed 100% just yet, we’ve turned an important corner in being able to capitalize on Sphere of Hip-Hop’s potential. Without each of these men and women helping out, we cannot make that important next step of hitting on all cylinders when it comes to our content offering. S.O.U.L: What is the main focus of sphere? Plastic: Serving the community (fans, artists, labels etc) interested in hip-hop being created by followers of Jesus. We’re uniquely positioned in that we can reach both the churched and unchurched. We spend as much time promoting Sphere of HipHop to believers as we do to the greater hip-hop community. This has presented some fantastic opportunities to do outreach work where faith based music simply isn’t welcomed. This calling hasn’t always been an easy one. What has made is easier is that the goal has always been to honor God in what we do and not simply please man. That often has left us on the outside of certain things because we weren’t playing by the “Christian rap” rules. We decided to not label what we do as “Christian” or “holy”. Not holding to any sort of titling (even in the name of the website) has often made the brethren skeptical of what we were up to. We just wanted to do ministry without pretense. Living the call and not simply saying + doing the ‘right’ stuff to have the appearance of something. A personal passion of mine is something we’ve kept a low profile on until recently. Over the past 5 years Sphere of Hip-Hop has donated over 25,000 CDs to ministries in almost a dozen countries. Most of these ministries work with at-risk youth in a myriad of settings. Ranging from young people in inner city London to reservations in the Southwestern US. S.O.U.L: I remember getting a bunch of Sphere CD’s a few years back that we used at outreaches here at Crossover – that was dope! How many people does sphere current connect with? Plastic: We’re blessed with a solid base of returning visitors and have a an excellent level of brand loyalty with the site. A few bullet points... * During peak traffic times it’s not abnormal to draw over 150,000 hits in a day. Weekdays are the busiest. A few years ago we even eclipsed 500,000 hits in a single day.

* Calendar year 2007 saw over 30 million hits to Sphere of HipHop. Virtually every country in the world registered some traffic according to our web stats. * Our email lists reach over 40,000. * We’ve served almost 1.5 million video views on SphereofhiphopTV.com to date. * We’ve served in excess of 30 million song downloads via our free and legal MP3 offerings. * The Sphere of Hip-Hop XM Satellite radio show is available in millions of homes across North America. S.O.U.L: What is the future plans for the site? Plastic: As I alluded to earlier, a full renovation is underway. I have a great idea of what Sphere of Hip-Hop is capable of. I’ve been working with a web designer on a layout that will meet our needs and allow us to deliver excellent content to visitors. Right now we’re in the middle of a budget crunch and trying to raise funds to pay off the current debts we have for the site. So far we’ve raised about $1,800 of the $5,900 we need. I ran out of money and ending up getting a bit behind on being able to keep up. The Fund Drive has been going well and we’ve received a huge amount of encouragement. Overall I am just anxious to serve until God calls me elsewhere. For more on Sphere Of Hip-Hop, visit: Sphereofhiphop.com SphereofhiphopMP3.com SphereofhiphopStore.com SphereofhiphopTV.com Myspace.com/sphereofhiphop Myspace.com/xmradioshow Youtube.com/sphereofhiphop </body> </html>

S.O.U.L | Pg19

S.O.U.L | Pg20

“Singer, songwriter, producer, and vocal arranger, Canton “CJ” Jones, a Deerfield Beach, Florida native, has entertained over 500,000 people in the past year few years. CJ has sold nearly 100,000 units independently and has several songs in regular rotation in the U.S. and abroad, including the steppers groove “Love Song,” the cleverly penned “Stay Saved” and the uncompromising street anthem “The Password.” On any given day he can be found sharing the stage with hip hop heavyweights like T.I., David Banner and Ludacris to name a few; established creative geniuses like John Legend, Kirk Franklin and Patti LaBelle; and Gospel powerhouses like Smokie Norful, Dr. Bobby Jones and Kiki ClarkSheard – the youngest member of the Clark dynasty. Canton’s unlimited repertoire, massive crowd appeal, and global fan base have set him on a course destined to shake the very core of hip hop, urban gospel, and R&B. Jones is signed to Arrow Records. His crossover appeal is undeniable. From urban youth with their pants sagging low, to progressive ministries that support Canton’s unique blend of hip hop, urban gospel and R&B, to middle age music lovers who remember how it was “back in the day, ” fans have embraced Canton’s lyrical edginess and warmed up to his heart felt ballads. On Kingdom Business, he gets down to business with his most creative album to date. Impacting radio with the smash hit “My Day”, Kingdom Business is an eclectic mix of undeniable street anthems and melodic story lines that take listeners from the streets to the suites to handle the business of life. The new album, distributed by Arrow Records, boasts Jones’ best work to date. With My Day currently climbing the charts, Canton recently dropped the gritty, urban riders’ anthem Living Clean (Riding Mean) spinning in heavy rotation on popular mix tape shows and creating a major buzz on Myspace and YouTube. With three albums (20 Years, 3 Months, 12 Days, Love Jones, and The Password: Access Granted), a Grammy nod, a Stellar Award nomination, and three Gospel Choice Awards to his credit, Canton still maintains the unshakable confidence of someone who knows the tide is turning his way. More than an artist, CJ represents a philosophy, a movement, and a generation relentlessly advancing a positive new sound in the industry. He understands that it is not just about the music, but also about a lifestyle that offers peace for anyone bold enough to pursue their purpose. Read the complete bio on CantonJones.Net KAT: How did you build a personal relationship with Christ? CJ: I grew up in church, but went on to college and was really chasin’ money and the wrong things. I was living out of wedlock with my girlfriend for three years. In October of 2001 I rededicated my life, got married because I was tired and wanted to give it all up and get right with God. My wife started taking me to World Changers International, and as I would listen to Pastor Cleflo Dollar’s messages the word just started changing my thinking and my actions. I remember leaving the studios and telling my partners, ya’ll can have this equipment because I’m going to work in the youth ministry of my church. KAT: So many young people are seeking direction. How did you discover your purpose in GOD? CJ: The youth pastor came up to me and asked me to help. I wasn’t even thinking about being on staff there. I just wanted to help; I wanted to do something with my music other than what I was doing. God changed me through that ministry. God changed me through helping others. Everything that I ever wanted when I was trying to do mainstream music, when I was trying to do clubs, when I was trying to do stuff that wasn’t pleasing to God. Everything that I was trying to get I got NOW and then MORE. It’s crazy how God gives you the desires of your heart when it truly lines up with his. KAT: Upon that recognition of purpose, how were you supported / trained in ministry? CJ: Naw, I was just listening to the WORD. I would get those tapes or VCR tapes or whatever I could get my hands on (Preaching messages) from church and I’d watch them over and over again. I didn’t have a spiritual mentor or stuff like that. There were some people that would pour into my life now and then. I also had my father; as my parents were who I went to for advise. But for the most part I would just listen to the word and just ask God to speak to me. I did understand that what I had to do was

a little radical and I did not want to be shifted by those with traditional thinking. I didn’t want to think like everybody else, I didn’t want to do what everyone else was doing. I would pray for wisdom because there was like no one who was successful at doing this music and I just wanted God to give me wisdom. I wanted understanding on how God wanted me to do things. When people around me didn’t understand I stuck to what I felt God wanted me to do and people were being Blessed. To this day a lot of people still don’t understand or are afraid of what we do but there are a lot of people delivered and set free. So when you hold tight to what you believe and you know God has promised you, regardless of the situations or circumstances you go through, you don’t stop until you see the manifestation of what God promised you. I just got Crazy faith. I believe GOD. I ain’t the one that can quote all the scriptures but the scriptures I do know I live by. KAT: Can you share a challenge you face even in the middle of your success, whether it be, balancing ministry with being a husband and father or simply finding time to pray? CJ: I don’t have a regular job, my job is the Kingdom. So if I don’t have guidance from God, if He ain’t talking then I ain’t got nothing to do. My prayer life is my direction all day every day. If God don’t tell me what to do than I’m stuck. I’m one to pray, Lord if you don’t want something to happened shut it down and without fail God gives direction. The bible says pray without ceasing and so I ask God for direction and peace. With regard to my family, my wife is the boss over my calendar, of course we discuss things but she makes sure I take time when I need time. The balance is good because we are always talking about our business or our marriage. At one time the music business was an enemy to our relationship because she had no part in it. I would leave to minister and just come back and forth; ignorance breeds mistrust which means what you don’t know you start to question. Now that she has part in it all, our marriage is great and gets better and better everyday.

| I did understand that what I had

to do was a little radical and I did not want to be shifted by those with traditional thinking.”

KAT: What words do you have for the young bucks that will read this interview that may be challenged with discovering purpose in God? CJ: It’s kind of deep but to keep it simple I think whatever desire you have in your heart whether it be drawing, dancing whatever it may be; do that for GOD. The bible says the gifts and callings are given without repentance meaning you can use those gifts for whatever. But God would rather you use them for God. You know, you can heat up grits with fire. I like grits and that’s good. But if you use fire to burn someone it’s a bad thing. Same fire but different purposes. If you use your singing to praise God it’s a good thing, but if you use your singing to please the world it’s a bad thing. Your purpose can be whatever you like to do as you do it unto GOD. Once you choose to use it for God, you’ll know what to do with that gift. Everyone is born for purpose; you just have to discover it. Whatever you would do for free is most likely your purpose, do it unto God and He will support you. Kat’s Scan: Canton Jones is a gift to the Kingdom. Since the day Canton rededicated his life to God his life changed; He became a new creation all because he BELIEVED GOD. The man who is called the “street disciple” allowed God’s word to change him and now Canton is helping to change our generation. I felt uplifted and encouraged in my own walk after this interview. Canton Jones 4th Album entitled “Kingdom Business” is a reflection of Canton’s unshakeable faith; he has re-mixed kingdom principles in a relevant language for today’s culture. It’s a different vibe but don’t be Scurred, because like me you’ll find yourself repeating the lyrics throughout your day. This Kat Scan reflects a healthy Spirit and Mind assuring a great future for Canton and all those who are privileged to be inspired by his music and ministry. Cop the album and share it with someone who needs CHANGE. •••

S.O.U.L | Pg21

“Bush don’t care about Black people!”, “The price of gas is at its record high today....” “Separation of church and state”: are just a few of the sound bites by which the Urban Community passively accepts the political state of our country. “I was going to vote, but I had to work.” is the extent of making political protests in the conversations of our communities. For the most part, the urban look at politics is but a mere glimpse distracted by the hype of pursuing the “Urban American Dream”. American Government was a class that most of us opted out or zoned out of in high school and has now paled in comparison to more entertaining things that we would most likely do with our free time. Politics is too complex of a topic to learn for a people who are just trying to “get by”, so it would seem. Plus, everything we hear seems to be just speculations of the truth; how do we know who to believe? Where do we start? All right, how ‘bout the beginning.

The church's role in The pasT The black church was the indigenous source of strength not only for the pioneers of political protesters in America but also for the community as a whole. It provided a social haven whereby encouragement and ideas were freely and

S.O.U.L | Pg24

safely communicated. According to New Georgia Encyclo-

political truth, as the constant struggle toward materialism

pedia, immediately after the arrest of Rosa Parks, commu-

disguised as financial freedom extinguished any flame of

nity activist convinced Dr. King to use his newly attained

patriotic duty. Besides, everyone knew about the separa-

church house as a meeting place to discuss the details of

tion of church and state, right? People weren’t allowed to

the bus boycott that would subsequently ignite the flame of

talk politics in church and vice versa, right? This sound

the Civil Rights Movement.

bite seems to have taken the burden of activism off of the church’s shoulders. Still, it has to be true or people

When treated as the focal point of the black community, the

wouldn’t repeat it, right?

church provided valuable resources of independent edu-

cation and economic growth. In 1787, Richard Allen and

Bill Suggs of Wallbuilders, a Christian organization of col-

Absalom Jones established the Free African Society, an

lectors and interpreters of historical documents, wrote,

organization, “the first of its kind in America”, that in their

“As the concept is commonly understood today, the gov-

own words was formed “to support one another in sickness

ernment has never passed a law

and for the benefit of our widows and fatherless children”,

implementing the ‚ ‘separation

in Philadelphia, PA. The success of the society directed the

of church and state’. The first

leaders to take what seemed to be the next logical step;

amendment simply states:

starting the first African Episcopal Church. As a direct result of fervor and unity displayed by this early urban com-

“

the price of regular unleaded gasoline from $3.14 per gallon

”

(the early May national average)

to $6.40

munity, whole universities such as Wilberforce in Ohio and

‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment

Morris Brown in Atlanta, Georgia were established within

of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.’

the inconceivable timeframe of a century. Considering the tremendous impact the urban community has made in the

Over the years, however, the Supreme Court and lower

past by making the church its platform into governmental

federal courts have reinterpreted this amendment in many

policy, one can only ask, “what’s going on these days?”

ways. This reinterpretation of the constitution has in effect become the ‘law’‚ supposedly dictating the ‘separation of

The general view of The role of church Today

church and state’. During the last generation, the courts, at

Growing up, I was raised in the churches of many differ-

all levels, have ruled in ways that essentially guarantee the

ent urban communities though staying within the vicinity of

freedom from religion, instead of the freedom of religion.”

one borough. From the family rooted Iglesia de Dios on the corner to the Brooklyn Tabernacle mega church in New

According to Austine Cline author of The Atheism guide

York, the concept of politics from the urban churches stand

newsletter, “The point of such an amendment is twofold.

view embodied the phrase ‚ “it is what it is”. Sitting through

First, it ensures that religious beliefs - private or organized

countless sermons, I had never even heard one murmuring

- are removed from attempted government control. This is

complaint of governmental policy among the congregation,

the reason why the government cannot tell either you or

let alone a political viewpoint from the speaker on the pul-

your church what to believe or to teach. Second, it ensures

pit. It was if a vacuum had sucked reality off the churchgo-

that the government does not get involved with enforcing,

ers upon entering the foyer. The older I became, under-

mandating, or promoting particular religious doctrines.” Ar-

standings of politeness and tolerance tamed my hunger for

guments that have arose out of this issue have been, to

S.O.U.L | Pg25

define such “religious doctrines” as prayer or a moment of

With health care being one of the hot topics this season,

silence in public classrooms and recently to the extent of

both Presidential Candidates agree on the problem being

weather or not to “promote” the Ten Commandments.

47 million Americans — including nearly 9 million children — lack health insurance, though each has their own

The Sad Irony of The Urban Community’s Acceptance of Political Ambiguity

unique idea of resolving this issue:

Robert Creeley once said “The irony of our social group is

“While still having the option of employer-based coverage,

that so often everyone feels this, but there’s no company

every family will receive a direct refundable tax credit - ef-

whatsoever in that feeling.” Everyone in our community

fectively cash - of $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for

has the same thoughts and concerns but they don’t re-

families to offset the cost of insurance.”

ally know how or even when to express them. Most of the

-JohnMcCain.com

urban culture are unhappy with the way Washington has been handling things lately yet we unconsciously choose

“Obama will make available a new national health plan to

to leave these problems to somehow find their own solu-

all Americans, including the self-employed and small busi-

tions. Meanwhile, critical issues such as gas, gentrification,

nesses, to buy affordable health coverage that is similar to

health care, education, and the economy are at an all time

the plan available to members of Congress.”

low and our negligence is the cause of it.

-BarakObama.com

There are many ways knowledge contributes to society,

There are countless complaints accompanied with con-

which includes using it to be proactive. So, before you

curring data the contest the productivity of No Child Left

throw some D’s on your new Cadillac, a little research may

Behind, Unemployment rates, and so on from sources all

have you looking to trade in for a Smartcar. According to

over America, not just the inner city. Having to cope with

the Director of The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data

it is admittedly no easy task; but its a million times easier

Analysis, William Beach, “The Senate is currently debat-

for us then what is was for our urban fore fathers. Maybe

ing energy policy legislation that could result in significantly

that’s part of the problem. •••

higher prices for gasoline consumers. A Congress review of the bill S.1419, including the just-completed section on tax changes, reveals that the bill could increase the price of

Websites to educate your mind

regular unleaded gasoline from $3.14 per gallon (the early

• www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

May national average) to $6.40 in 2016 -- a 104 percent

• www.ed.gov/nclb/overview/intro/reauth/index.htm

increase.”

• Visit you city’s local website for ways to connect.

“You can’t call this gentrification---Coney and company aren’t kicking out the poorest families. Instead, they are creating opportunities that give low-income families a solid stake in the future of their neighborhood. That’s pretty powerful.” blogs an optamistic real estate agent. from www. mynewfloridahome.org. Although, my and vast number of other experiences with the movement were not so cheery. Even though I, in many ways, was the targeted genre of potential tentants, the process of getting into one of these homes was purposefully grueling. Then once in the facility, there was a constant battle of being up to date on all the “new” policies and not to mention staff members, yet something as simple as a townhall meeting is unfathomable to the average housing project resident.

S.O.U.L | Pg26

We Got Next is a hot new Christian Hip-Hop show. The soul purpose is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to youth and adults influenced by hip-hop culture and give them a positive alternative to the negative influences that bombard them on TV every day. On We Got Next you will see interviews, testimonies and music videos from both national and up and coming Christian artists that are heating up the scene.

Warren Scott aka The Voice has worked at the Christian Television Network for over 7 years. In 2006 God put it on his heart to come up with a show that would minister to people of all races. He knew this would be a show that would have a Hip-Hop flavor. Little did he know God had already had this in preparation and brought along Urban D. to help partner in this vision. Voice has put together an entire season of shows and continues to work on new material that includes exclusive Fla.vor Fest footage and interviews from several events from Crossover. Urban D. and Voice also share a short message on each show to encourage the viewer in their spiritual journey. There has been lots of response from the show that include peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s prayer requests, praise reports, and even people looking to build a new relationship with Christ. We Got Next now airs on the Christian Television Network, WCLF, every Saturday night at 12:30 am. CTN is now also available on Direct TV. It can also been seen on internet at CTNonline.com. God is growing a whole new movement in this generation, watch outâ&#x20AC;Ś we got next!

S.O.U.L | Pg27

EVOLUTION OR CREATIONISM - WHICH ONE IS TRUE? / HERE’S WHAT WE’RE GONNA DO / BREAK IT DOWN WITH FACTS AND SCIENCE / AND SEE WHICH ONE FALLS INTO COMPLIANCE / WITH TRUTH / AKA PROOF / I’M ABOUT TO SHOUT THE ANSWER FROM THE ROOF / DROP IT OVER SOME BEATS IN THE RECORDING BOOTH / WHY ARE THESE LIES BEING TAUGHT TO OUR YOUTH / CUZ THEIR SCARED -AFRAID OF A DESIGNER THAT’S INTELLEGENT / SO THEY COVER IT UP WITH A THEORY THAT SOUNDS SO ELEGENT / BUT IN THIS ARTICLE WE’LL UNCOVER MISSING ELEMENT AFTER MISSING ELEMENT / IT’S 2008 – WE SEE THIS FASODD IS NO LONGER RELEVANT / AS WE EXAMINE THE RESEARCH IT’S AN INSULT ON OUR INTELLENCE I believe in Evolution! I do! Believe it or not! So you’re wondering why I’m starting an article talking about Evolution vs. Creationism with a crazy statement like that. Well, before you misquote me…here’s what I’m saying so you don’t get it twisted. There are many definitions of the word evolution; most dictionaries have between 5-10 different ones. I believe in some of them. The very first one that pops up in most dictionaries is this: Evolution – “Any process of formation or growth or development – such as the evolution of a language, the evolution of the airplane, the evolution of music.” I personally have put out 6 full solo albums. You don’t want to hear the first one (you can’t – it’s out of print and it’s gone forever) – why? I’ve evolved as an artist – thank God! We all grow and develop and evolve. This type of evolution isn’t always a good thing though. If we look at that same topic of music, most of us can agree that hip-hop music has evolved into something much worse than what it used to be. Growth and development doesn’t always go in the positive direction. I’m saying all that to say that I believe in evolution in that sense of a definition. That’s also called “Microevolution”.

S.O.U.L | Pg28

The definition I don’t believe in is usually about half way down and it’s funny because many times it has the word “Biology” in front of it. As we’re going to find out in this article it’s Biology that technically disproves this definition, but I guess they still have to define this outdated “theory” in the dictionary. This definition says, “A change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations, as a result of natural selection – resulting in the development of a new species.” This is known as “Macroevolution” and this one I have a problem with. We’re going to dissect it in this article. You may be surprised to find that a whole lot of people have a problem with this definition – not just Christians, but a lot of scientists, professors, researchers and scholars. Darwinian Evolution in a nutshell is an evolutionary process that is random and undirected. This process is also referred to as natural selection. Natural selection leaves God out of the picture. Philip Johnson author of “Darwin on Trial” stated, “The whole point of Darwinism is to show that there is no need for a supernatural creator because nature can do the creating by itself.” This belief system says everything is natural and nothing is divine. So, you can’t be a Christian Evolutionist. That’s an oxymoron. You may know someone that claims to be a Christian, but also believes Darwin’s claims on evolution. Read on and see why this just can’t vibe. In 2001 PBS did a 7 part series on Evolution basically saying that all scientific evidence supports Darwinian Evolution, as does every reputable scientist in the world. Well, in rebuttal over 100 of the world’s top professors, laboratory researchers and scientists got together and met and out of that meeting they published a two-page ad in a national magazine that had the huge title, “A SCIENTIFIC DISSENT FROM DARWINISM”. Their statement was in your face! The ad said they were skeptical and disagreed with the claims of random mutation and natural selection. The movie Expelled has some great parts that deconstructs random mutation and explains it in greater detail. This meeting that produced this ad wasn’t a room full of narrow-minded fundamentalists, back woods preachers or religious fanatics – they were world-class respected scientists. I opened up the local paper, “The Tampa Tribune” a few weeks ago and the front page of the commentary section said, “Darwinism Simply Can’t Answer These Questions.” We had just started a new series called “Expelled” at Crossover and there this was in the front of the paper. See how God hooks it up. Part of the article by Geoffrey Weihe stated, “Intelligent design did not begin in some Baptist Church strategy session. It grew out of the mind-numbing frustration felt by serious scientists concerning the increasing number of questions that Neo Darwinism just can’t answer. The Darwinian account of evolution is imploding, and no account of sarcasm or misinformation can save it. Those who hang their philosophical hopes on scientific naturalism are in defense mode. Let’s welcome vigorous scientific scrutiny and not treat Darwinian evolution as a god.” This is one of thousands of articles you can find online that are calling the evolution theory out on the carpet.

There are several scientific problems with Darwinism. We don’t have enough space to get into all of them here, but we’re going to break down three major ones. The first one is Stanley Miller’s 1953 Experiment which shot electricity through an atmosphere that was supposedly like the one on primitive earth and he created Amino Acids, which are the building blocks of life. The clear implication was that life could be created naturally without the intervention of a creator. This experiment became the proof that Darwin’s theory of how life started was correct. Here the major issue: Nobody absolutely knows for sure what the atmosphere was like back then, but the scientific community agrees today that it was nothing like the one Miller used. Even since the 1960’s there were several scientists questioning it. In 1995 Science Magazine in put it on blast and stated how experts now dismiss Miller’s early experiment because “The atmosphere looked nothing like the Miller Simulation.” Yet textbooks still teach it today, even though it’s really a joke in the scientific community. Some textbooks will fudge by saying, “even if you use a more realistic atmosphere you still get organic molecules”, as if that solves the problem. Organic molecules sounds good right? Well, it’s 55 years later and Science has a much better idea of what the atmosphere was like then. If we use those more accurate conditions, we don’t get Amino Acids (the building blocks of life), instead we get Formaldehyde. Do you know what that is? Embalming Fluid. That’s what they put in dead people to preserve the corpse as it kills all bacteria and life. So, it obviously couldn’t help start life, could it? The second major issue we’ll dig up is there are no known examples of the formation of new species. Some on the Darwin side of the argument will bring up the Archaeopteryx. This is another building block that is quickly crumbling in Darwin’s outdated theory. Some of you may have studied about this in high school or college. It supposedly filled the gap between reptiles and modern birds. Darwin announced his new theory in 1859 and conveniently just 2 years later in 1861 this discovery was made and many scientists stood in awe, as this was supposedly the first of many, many fossils to come that would prove Darwinism. Well, in the past 150 years there have been millions and millions of fossils dug up all over the planet and guess how many others have been discovered that supported Darwin’s theory that showed a species truly evolving from one to the next? Many of you have heard there are a lot of holes in Darwin’s theory. In this case we’ll be generous as there are a lot of species out there. So guess how many fossils were found to support the theory. Thousands? Nope. Hundreds? Nope. 25? No, again. Maybe like 5? I know the suspense is killing you as this theory is taught as fact everyday. How many? None. There has never been another single fossil to prove the formation of a new species. Well, what about the Archaeopteryx? Doesn’t that show something? Well, not as other fossils came up. The Archaeopteryx is a bird; it’s not a half bird and half reptile, as they first believed. Then when they go back into the fossil record they’d assume birds came from reptiles by descent and they look for reptiles that are more bird-like in their skeletal structure. They do find some like that, but the problem is they are millions of years after the Archaeopteryx, so the missing link is still missing. It doesn’t

S.O.U.L | Pg29

line up or match any evolution process in the slightest way. Many scientists concluded the Archaeopteryx was just a different funky version of a bird, not a new species. The reptile fossils that had a more bird-like structure were also concluded to just be a funky version of reptiles, not a new species. There was never any link that it changed into anything else. It was just a weird variation. We see funky versions of all kinds of animals everyday, and you know there is some funky people. Look in the mirror, I know some of ya’ll is funky. I know I am. The dudes that dig up these bones have been trying to prove Darwinism for over 150 years now. It’s real funny because there has been some fossil findings that were supposed to be big discoveries that even got published in certain science magazines and journals, but later got corrected as they discovered the fossils were fakes. There have actually been people that glued certain bones together to sell them and make money and get noticed, but then when the scientists took these fossils back to the lab they found out they were bootleg fakes when they closer examined them! I hope they got their money back! A third scientific problem with Darwinism is that it can’t explain the complexity of the cell. Our cells are like cities inside. If one piece is not in place, it won’t work correctly, so to say it just evolved or developed doesn’t make scientific sense. As they do research on cells, if they change anything – the whole cell instantly dies. 150 years ago they thought the cell was fairly simple, so they assumed it could easily mutate and evolve into new species. But, as we grew in technology and we can actually now see cells and work with them we found the complexity doesn’t make this seem possible at all. When people bring up creationism and intelligent design they are many times heckled saying that it’s just fairy tales and that science proves evolution. As we just saw there are many things in science that disprove Darwin’s view of creation, so what about the Christian’s view? What does Science really say? Does it line up? Many of you will be pleasantly surprised to see the more science advances the more it points to a creator. Here are six scientific things that show this. 1. THE EVIDENCE OF COSMOLOGY (This is the study of the cosmos aka the universe) - Cosmology believes that whatever begins to exist has a cause and that the universe has a beginning. Based on the data we now have - virtually all cosmologists now agree on this. Therefore the universe has a cause. Darwinism says it all by chance and there’s no purpose or reason. Cosmology disagrees with Darwin’s view. 2. THE EVIDENCE OF PHYSICS Laws and Constants of physics have to line up in an incredibly extraordinary way to sustain life. For instance the gravity in the universe is fine tuned to one part in a hundred million billion billion billion billion billion. If anything gets off by a hair – things could crash and implode. A well-known atheist named Patrick Glynn abandoned his atheism and said, “Today the concrete data point strongly in the direction of the God hypothesis.” 3. THE EVIDENCE OF ASTRONOMY Similar to the fine tuning of physics, the earth’s position in the universe and its intricate geological and chemical processes work together in a miraculous way to create a safe environment for humans to live. There is a hot documentary called “The Privileged Planet” that shows how the earth is positioned is just the right spot in our solar system to support life. It then zooms out to our galaxy and then beyond. When you see all the other planets and asteroids flying around – it’s amazing how the earth is in this safe protected zone compared with the rest of space. 4. EVIDENCE OF BIOCHEMISTRY Darwin said this, “If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down!” Well the complicated microscopic contraptions such as bacteria flagella could not have been built piece by piece through Darwinian processes. This is because they all had to be fully present to function or the whole system would crash. All this points to a designer. When you cut your arm and it starts to bleed, there is an incredibly intricate process of clotting blood. I don’t have time to explain that here, but hopefully this will wet your appetite to go and look some of this stuff up in even greater detail and you soon agree that it’s designed by a creator! 5. THE EVIDENCE OF BIOLOGICAL INFORMATION The six feet of DNA coiled inside of our body’s 100 trillion cells contain a four letter chemical alphabet that spells out precise assembly instructions for all the proteins from which our bodies are made…but all that just happened right? Check it… on the contrary, if we read a book or a magazine or a computer program, we know they are designed by intelligence right? Someone created them? But, evolutionists look at the complexity of DNA and trillions of cells in our body that all function together and they say it just happened by chance…okay? 6. EVIDENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Scientists are concluding that the laws of Chemistry and physics can’t explain our experience of consciousness. This is our sensations, thoughts, emotions, desires, beliefs and free choice. They make us alive and free. The soul contains our consciousness. Darwinists have no answer for this. Believers in Christ do have an answer. This came from our creator, the one true God. He made us and he loves us! We do have a purpose. We’re not just here by random chance. This is the faith and the hope that we have.

1 Peter 3:15 says, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” Let’s break that down. Setting apart Christ as Lord means you make him the leader or director of your life. The next part says be prepared to give an answer. In the original language this verse was written in (Greek) that word “answer” was actually “Apologia”, which is where we get the word apology. So, it would translate like “always be prepared to give an apology…” That sounds like we have to be sorry for what we believe, right? Well, back in those days that word didn’t mean to apologize like that, it meant to be able to defend. To give an apology meant to be able to defend it. This is where we also get the term “Apologetics” from. This is an apologetic type article. Looking at this verse in original context it takes it a big deeper as it’s saying we should always be ready to defend the hope that we have. This doesn’t mean we go looking for a fight, but it means we can defend and give a solid answer to what we believe to everyone who asks us. The last part stresses this as it says we should always do this with gentleness and respect. Crossover recently did a sixweek apologetics series where we looked at stuff like this. The third week we had a live debate between an atheist and a seminary graduate that’s involved in an apologetics think tank. Everyone knew the Christian as he was from our church. The whole debate thing sparked up a big buzz as we had it on father’s day and everyone was bringing out their pops to see the live debate. It was like a boxing match was about to go down – check out the picture from that day below...

The atheist was pretty rude and conceited. He said some pretty ill things about Christianity and continually told the crowd to wake up. Tempers were rising in each service as people started getting upset. I sat in the front trying to hold my composure…not for reasons you’d think though. Some great points were made from both sides and the guy from our church really shut him down on every point he brought up. At the very end the atheist came out and revealed that the views he shared really weren’t his. He revealed it was a mock debate and he was actually a Christian that was part of the apologetic think tank. He briefly shared his testimony how he came to Christ five years ago. The crowd roared with applause. You might be reading this saying ahhh – how’d you do that to everyone. Well, we knew if we said it was a mock debate it wouldn’t have had everyone so engaged on the edge of their seats. Then at the same time we got to see the real them react, and some of them didn’t react in gentleness and respect like 1 Peter 3:15 said. In context that verse doesn’t say we have to be gentle and respectful only when they are, but it says “always.” Even when people get in your face, make fun of you, hurt your feelings, or even curse you out. This was a real wake up call for some of our church as they so quickly got bent out of shape and fed right into the disrespect. So, let me challenge you – know what you believe and why. Study, learn and grow in your faith and know how to explain it, define it and defend it. The next time someone asks you, or tells you, or disses you about the faith you have… respond like Christ and always do it with gentleness and respect. * Suggested Reading: Case For A Creator – Lee Strobel

S.O.U.L | Pg31

Leto High School, Friday night, last day of school. The “Jesus Bash” is in full swing right about now with the next artist preparing to take the stage. Jarvis Jackson sits back like a fan watching the Holy Spirit move through out the crowd. He’s already been on stage once this evening with a krumpin’showcase. Next up will be him giving a taste of his new album “High School” to the people. It’s sticky hot outside but as Jabo steps up to the mic he seems relaxed and cool. Class is now in session.

Interview by SW ING

Jabo’s personality doesn’t fit what you’d expect for a young cat with his own CD. He’s a relatively quiet dude that seems like he’s studying his surroundings more than trying to find the next person to talk to about his music. His debut release “High School” is just the beginning of what looks to be a very special ministry for young Jarvis. SWING: I know you just recently graduated from high school. Let me know how that feels? JABO: It’s wonderful. It’s a great feeling and also a little scary though because I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m just pressing on. SWING: Had to ask you that since your first solo joint is called “High School”. Let me ask you this, how were you introduced to Christ? JABO: To be totally honest I can’t pinpoint an exact day or time when I first got saved. I was one of the people who just kept Christ close, you know? After I did something wrong I was like ‘Oh, God forgive me. Come back into my heart’. The one thing I can say when I really buckled down and decided to really worship God is when I was a freshmen in high school. I had this encounter with God the summer before high school. It was my transition from 8th grade to 9th grade. I went to this church camp and that’s when God showed me how real He was. That’s when my relationship with him got real.

Artist: Jabo Album: High School Tracks: 13 Label: Flavor Alliance Media Group Release Date: April 22, 2008 Availability: Nationwide S.O.U.L | Pg34

SWING: So how’s it been so far? JABO: To be honest, man, it’s been rough. It’s not an easy thing living for Christ, especially now at this point since I just graduated high school. It just seems like I’m more sensitive to temptations. It seems to make my walk harder, but I know that if I continue to just focus on God and seek after him these other things in my life will come out successful for him. It ain’t easy though (laughing).

SWING: I can’t imagine that it would be easy. It would be foolish to think otherwise. People who aren’t believers have a habit of looking at us and thinking real life situations don’t bother us. They feel like problems of the world hold less weight to us. How would you address that? JABO: Man, I’ve seen both sides of the fence, and for someone to say, ‘Since you’re living for God or because you have an album out that you’re some sort of superstar.’ That’s a total lie. I’ve faced a lot of problems especially with some of my family, so I haven’t always been able to stay with my biological dad and my mom. I’m still struggling and fighting to forgive them. It’s not even like they did something tragic but that’s just to show that my situations aren’t perfect and I’m not some sort of superman. SWING: Since we’re talking about family, how has your family responded to your life as a Christian? JABO: To be truthful, my family on my mom’s side is not really accepting to it. I really don’t communicate with my dad’s side of the family. I really don’t know what they think about it. My dad is an old dude and for him to say that he’s proud of what I’ve done - that’s enough for me. That’s like approval from both my mom and my dad…that’s enough for me. I don’t really care what the family thinks. Mainly because I know this is what God wanted me to do. He wanted me to write. He wanted me to reach out and distribute it to high school students. SWING: Being a Christian Hip Hop artist and being a former high School student, what do you find that some of the most common issues are that you deal with? How do you deal with being an authentic Christian? Do you depend on accountability partners and fellowship? JABO: I gotta say, the way that I deal with a lot of issues I have is prayer man. It’s so powerful! I remember a time when I was teaching in kid’s church and we were actually talking about prayer and how powerful it is. That opened my eyes and thoughts to just how many times I’ve prayed for things and watching them come true. I love to pray because of the power behind it. I noticed that when I prayed for one of my friend’s problems that there’s this peace of mind that everything’s going to be okay as God speaks to my spirit, ‘Just wait on me. If it’s in my will then it may be yours. If not then remember that I’m always with you, Jarvis.’ I also do have accountability with brothers and leadership. SWING: Was there a goal to your new CD “High School”? JABO: Yeah, as I was growing in my faith in my freshmen year I got serious about Christ. I was at Hillsborough High School and I had to change schools the next year. I became a sophomore at Gaither High School and God began pounding on my heart. You know how the first weeks of being at a new school when you don’t really know anybody? You sort of sit by yourself at lunch and you’re staring around. You want to sit with people but you don’t know anybody. I noticed at that time that God just started knocking on my heart, like, ‘I need you to do something for me.’ As I searched after God he revealed to me that he wanted that me to write a whole album about High School. Write about what you see. Write what you think I’d say to those high school students. Right then I had a little battle with God. I didn’t know if I was capable. What if I write one song and can’t write the rest of

them? He told me to just do it, just write! As time went on I noticed that the album was taking shape into the problems I was seeing around me. My friends were telling me stories and it was crazy. I’ve seen so much. The goal was to have an answer to people’s problems and let them know that even though you’re in high school and struggle with some things you can still live for God. He hasn’t forgotten about you and He won’t neglect you. SWING: How long did it take you to write the album? JABO: It took me around a year to write it and then another year to record and get it pressed up. SWING: What’s in Jabo’s iPod these days? JABO: Honestly, I’ve been listening to some of my friends from Crossover. I don’t listen to my album, but I have local friends like Jerrell and my dude KB. I listen to cats like that. They’re young like me and they have the same goals as me, which is to reach out to the people. SWING: What’s your favorite track on your new CD? Why? JABO: My favorite track on my CD is “He’s Real”. It’s my testimony and the whole track is about how real God is my life even though I went through certain events in my life. It’s not a joint that I really perform live or people give criticism on, but that’s my favorite. SWING: Where do want to be in 5 years? JABO: I’m still fighting with that right now. I don’t totally know what I’d like to do. I want to go to Bible College. The two ideas I’ve been thinking on is to either go to be a teacher on an elementary school level or get into youth ministry. I’m not sure yet. I’m still seeking God. SWING: How has Crossover helped your growth as a musician? JABO: One word I can use is “Exposure”. That’s not even close to my main reason for coming here though. Pastor Tommy has been a great guide. He’s mentored me from all the things that can and do happen in the music world. Now that’s on secular and a Christian level. Even when I go out and I do concerts, there are things that I see that I’m like, “I remember Pastor Tommy talking about this.” Crossover in itself has been a big impact on my life. When I come here I’m always so encouraged by other believers. It’s so nice that their young too, because they share their lives with me. Which makes me want to just go harder for Christ. SWING: For the people reading this magazine for the first time who aren’t believers in Christ, if you had one chance to reach out to all of them with one statement to express the importance of Him? JABO: The most important thing is that Christ was a real man and still is a real man. If you’re hurting - He’s here for you. He loves you. There’s no need for you to fear that He’s going to do something that’ll hurt you. He just wants to love on you. I want to give my man Jerrell a shout out. That’s going off of what I just said about God loving people. If you’re a Christian, even a new believer, let your life be an example of Christ’s love for people. Show love to other people. That’s what He was all about, and that caused Him to do what He did. Christ was all about healing, talking to people, building disciples and teaching them and then he died for us and resurrected! •••

S.O.U.L | Pg35

How do you balance being both pastor and the the lead guy for Denver Reload? Its all about team! I’ve learned that we are only as good as the people around us. In my earlier days I wanted to do everything mostly because I was such a perfectionist, but as I became more seasoned I got tired of not accomplishing my goals. So I began to really learn the importance of empowerment and interdependence. Now I find myself and our ministry being able to accomplish more than I ever realized we could because we have developed a strong team. This not only changed the way we view our adult leaders but the way we view our own youth has dramatically changed as well. One of our primary objectives is to develop the leadership potential of every youth we serve rather than focus on removing the negative. I have learned to see things in terms of what is there not what isn’t there. I now believe that the resources necessary to sustain our mission are found in the community and people we serve and I look for assets in places that have been commonly overlooked. Reload or any other thing that we may do is as much about giving my youth real power, space and time to develop their leadership skills. What ever activity we do is about building capacity by building the youth we serve. In this way I can accomplish many things as the people around me are being developed and empowered.

What are the different classes your ministry offers? The mission of out ministry is “To develop community leaders through a collaborative community approach that provides educational, employment and entrepreneurial training services to children, youth, and adults in underserved communities.”. We accomplish this by focusing on four development areas 1) Character development, 2) Career development, 3) Leadership development, and 4) Community development. The activities we employ are as follows; Case Management, Paid and un-Paid work experience, Occupational Skill Training, Job Readiness, Job Placement, Life Skill Training, Mentoring, Leadership Events and Conferences, Leadership Classes and Workshops, Concerts, Spiritual Guidance, and last but definitely not least Discipleship. We also have several micro businesses that fall under “Sparc Media Group” where youth learn hands on in the following services we provide to the community; Graphic Design, Web Development, Video Production, Audio Engineering, Audio Production, Recording Studio Services, Event management and production, Live sound for events, and Event Lighting.

From volunteers to workers, how many are involved within the program? We have 5 paid staff and over 100 volunteers (mostly youth).

S.O.U.L | Pg38

What is it that makes your ministry so unique? I don’t think that we are that unique that would be pretty arrogant of me to think that lol. But I can tell you what I think we do well and that is seeing potential in youth and moving them from the sidelines of urban youth ministry to the frontlines by giving them more than token positions and influence. I often boast about my kids and their leadership skills to who ever will listen. I know the bible says we shouldn’t boast in ourselves so don’t get to religious on me and remember it also says we give honor where honor is due so that’s what I am doing. My youth are “gangsta!” and Without their unique input we wouldn’t be doing anything as they are a integral part of the direction our ministry takes. After over 11 years in urban youth ministry (7 of that at the same church as youth pastor) I can truly say we have produced some solid leaders that are changing the world. We have also been able to help several youth obtain their first job as well as to develop small businesses that help the ministry sustain its self.

What other events have you and your team done? In 2007 we along with CC4YM and several other ministries in the region put together “Rap Fest of the West”. This was a two-day leadership development event with nightly outreach concerts. We had over 30 different workshops and four general sessions. In total there were over 600 youth and youth workers representing 13 different states.

What is the future for Reload and your Church? I started a state wide coalition that is focused on supporting youth workers in their personal and ministry development. As a continuation of that work we have recently been in working with the Urban Youth Workers Institute to strengthen that work by establishing the a UYWI regional office in Denver. This office will continue the great work that both CC4YM and UYWI have already began by taking Reload and other services to develop and support youth workers to cities with in our region where there is little to nothing going on now. So in short me and my team will be facilitating Reload in 5 other cities throughout Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Utah in 2008-09.

In your spiritual life, what is the most important thing you learned throughout your years in ministry? Consistency! I used to think that I had to know everything and pray all the time in order to be a good leader. I would often set spiritual goals for myself that were way to lofty only to fall short and get down on myself for not accomplishing what I set out to do. As the years have passed I found that it was not about how long or how much I did to stay spiritually sound but it was more about the daily time I spent with God even if its only a few minutes. Its far better to spend one moment with God than a thousand without Him. I still have to remind myself that my life is a race and a long one at that so I better learn to refuel my soul consistently before I find myself on empty again. •••

S.O.U.L | Pg39

That is right. It is not a misprint. It is the sophomore album coming from Ohmega Watts, raising the hairs on your arm like laundry right out the dryer; fresh and clean. In order to plug in to the current that Ohmega is providing, you have to know a little about the man. Milton Campbell was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, by West Indian parents from the Island of Jamaica. He lived in Brooklyn 8 years before moving to Laurelton, Queens , NY . He moved to Florida for college and then settled in Portland , Oregon . In other words, he landed in the capital of Hip Hop, ran through the grid, went to Florida to recharge his batteries, and built a power plant in Oregon . At the same time Ohmega Watts is MCing with his brothers from other mothers, Braille, and Othello of Lightheaded. He produces for numerous artists under the label, Hiphop IS Music. The label was originally started as an outlet for Braille and his crew to release their own records. As they began touring the U.S. , they realized there were many other artists who needed a new outlet. But that’s not all! Ohmega has utilized one of his many gifts and talents to put bread in the storehouse by supercharging his skills as a graphic design artist. As an avid designer, he has completed work for Pigeon John, Adidas, Lightheaded, and even for the Ubiquity clothing line. This album is coming out under Ubiquity, and it is breathing life. The tracks on the album put hip-hop in an eternal perspective, while the lyrics bridge the gap between past and present. The beats on these tracks can only be formulated after doing some serious mining; digging in the crates, that is. The full sounds of thick bass, clear high hat, and the oldest keyboard you can find that still works, makes this a quicker picker upper for the lover of hip hop and beyond, no matter your age group. Ohmega Watts has a stellar record of accomplishment for putting out substance. But you do not have to hear it from me. So there won’t be any static, what do the masses have to say about his track record?

>>We need to put out social, economic, personal and true-to-life music with words that can rock the show, but can also uplift the soul... -Ohmega Watts

S.O.U.L | Pg40

…Ohmega is a Christian. No doubt about that. There are moments of faith-based lyrics found lacing funk tracks... but his music is definitely for the masses. No jiggy jams and club hoochie glorifications found here that’s for sure. Instead expect deep concepts, light hearted delivery of smooth jazzy track like bass line word play, wrapped around the drums like they where gift wrapped for your ears. Family. Self respect. God. Hiphop. Reminiscing over beat makers and the old school are just among a few of the subject matters found. •••

OTHER REVIEWS:

…Revisiting the golden era with a blend of hip-hop, funk and soul…takes it back when it was only about beats and rhymes when “Jam Master Jay was more than a memory and the culture had harmony” - The Source …Manages to forge an organic, no frills sound that nods to the past without being tied down by it. This is hip-hop that everyone—not just fans of the genre—can enjoy. - Rolling Stone …This is a good time hip-hop album full of grooves that will please the heads but also effortlessly appeal to fans of other types of music due to its accessible nature… - Clash “Creative is an understatement as Watts gives old-school rap a new school, sample-heavy swagger” - GIANT “Funky Soul and razor-sharp dancefloor cuts... this is hip-hop that everyone - not just fans of the genre - can enjoy.” - Rolling Stone

“A hugely solid record” - ELEMENTAL “…Bounces with limitless energy from start to finish” - i-DJ “One of the freshest talents to have emerged out of hip-hop’s leftfield in the last five years... …takes inspiration from boom bap bad boys Pete Rock and DJ Premier, as well as Stereolab.” - DAZED & CONFUSED “This is body-rockin’ hip-hop at its best and will likely be Ubiquity’s most worthwhile release this year.” - URB “Compared already to DU and J5, the quality here ensures Watts may soon be deserving such lofty praise” - HIP-HOP CONNECTION “If you spend your days reminiscing about the days when fresh acts like Tribe, De La, Jeru, and The Roots ruled your speakers, give this album a shot. Seems to be a sure one.” - MPH “This release is not to be slept on if you truly love hip-hop” - BEAUTIFUL DECAY “Ohmega Watts has done everything right … buoyant, soulful …” - BPM “If you spend your days reminiscing about the days when fresh acts like Tribe, De La, Jeru, and The Roots ruled your speakers, give this album a shot. Seems to be a sure one.” - MPH “An electrifying solo debut!” - REMIX “Drops a laid-back vibe similar to tracks created by musical masterminds like Common, Mos Def and Talib Kweli...” - CAMPUS CIRCLE

keep up w/Ohmega: myspace.com/ohmegawatts & ubiquityrecords.com

Artist: Ohmega Watts Album: Watts Happening Tracks: 36 [2 Disc] Label: Ubiquity Release Date: Oct. 10, 2007 Availability: Nationwide S.O.U.L | Pg41

S.O.U.L | Pg44

ING BY: SW

The lights in the auditorium hit a nice dim level almost instantly cueing the crowd to go nuts. Each person in the audience has their favorite artist on stage but tonight all eyes seem to be on you. As the beat to your hit track starts you feel a sense of separation. Like, you’re not supposed to be there. Traveling with one of commercial music’s most notorious camps, G-Unit, “Whuteva’s Clevah” faced this feeling of not quite belonging where he had landed. With his return back to church where he had a chance to rekindle his long lost relationship with the King, Whuteva is focusing his attention on the greatest message that can ever be told. Now he’s all about Developing, maintaining, and enjoying a true relationship with Jesus Christ. We caught up with him on his journey. SWING: Musically, what’s your goal right now? What I mean is, you’ve come from a level a little bit different then most. The goal in the secular world was mainly materialistic. How is your approach different now? WHUTEVA: It took me some time to get to place where I’m starting to get comfortable. Of course when I started out I had a secular background, then I went back to church. I grew up in church, so for me to go back was familiar. There were a lot of things I knew. I just wasn’t walking and living it but I did know a lot of the truth. At first I wasn’t even rapping at all. I was mainly into praying and getting into the Word. I also had to move from the area I was in because a lot of the influence would have still been around me if I weren’t able to separate myself. That was the big factor in me making the transition. From there I started to say, “I’ve always wanted to do something for Him personally, because I love the Lord so much.” I don’t necessarily do this for the church. I don’t necessarily do it for the streets. I do this because I really appreciate what the Lord has done for me personally. My objective is to use the skills and talents I have to show people that it’s all about a relationship with the creator.

“My objective is to use the skills and talents I have to show people that it’s all about a relationship with the creator.” So the stuff you hear in my music is probably more like a testimony or breakdown of my scenario. I like to express and try to relate to people and give them something to relate to.

SWING: Let me go back to what you said earlier. Did you say you were raised in the church but weren’t rapping? When did you start rapping? WHUTEVA: Naw, I was raised rapping, but when I came back to church I didn’t even pick up a pad and pen for a minute. I was rapping since I was 6 years old. I was actually recording when I was 13 years old and got my first deal when I was 18 years old. So, it’s always been apart of me. It’s in my blood, if you wanna say (laughing). I grew up in Hollis, Queens so I always used to see Run DMC, LL Cool J, even Lost Boyz, I can go on and on. SWING: So you were rapping secular while in the church? WHUTEVA: There were a lot of things I was accustomed to. Those were the paths I had to go through to make it to where am and to grow to where I could appreciate it. Like I said I knew His truth for so long even back then. I would go to church, but I wasn’t really there. I would keep some things but I was at the club the next day. I was in a group, like I said I got signed when I was 18 years old, so I was out there doing my thing. When I finally gave the Lord a chance that’s when I came back into the church and I really didn’t have the desire to do any music at all. I was so impressed with the Lord revealing Himself to me that I was caught up in that. SWING: That’s interesting to me. With you being in the church, you said you were there but not really “there”. What clicked for you? What did you hear that finally made sense? Was it like your back was up against the wall type situation where you were looking for answers? WHUTEVA: I can’t say it was a life changing experience. It wasn’t like a gun was to my head or anything like that. It was a lot of conversations with my mom. I guess with so much deposited, and at the same time I was at a certain point in my career where I was real frustrated. I put so much into this music. It was really a part of me. When I was 15yrs old I got a prophecy from my pastor. She was like, “your gonna have the chance to minister to millions of people and do your music in front of them, but you’re gonna have to do it the Lord’s way.” I was like, “Millions of people? That’s hot!” I didn’t understand the fact that I had to do it God’s way. I was going hard for awhile and certain things would happen. I did a song with Big Pun, and I was doing soundtracks. SWING: Tell me about 50 [Cent] and your experience with the G-Unit camp? WHUTEVA: I pretty much taught 50 how to rap, so it wasn’t like he was some rapper I just found out the blue when he was hot already. We go back to when he was rapping at all. After he had gotten shot he started the G-Unit tour. The album was just about to drop (50’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’) he called me out the blue.

S.O.U.L | Pg45

Rockwilder was with him, and I was thinking, ‘This is finally it’. It’s funny, because before this I had to go back to work full-time. This was humbling because I used to make paper here and there. So now I was on the road and everything, on BET and MTV and all that. Here I’m thinking, ‘this is everything I thought I’d be doing.’ I thought the money was gonna start rolling in soon, but I still was incomplete. I still wasn’t whole. I started to realize the things I thought it was going to do it wasn’t fulfilling. I was still missing something. So I can’t actually say there on the tour is when I was like, ‘you know THAT’S IT!’ But I had already started drifting away.

“The album was about to drop (50’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’), and he called me out the blue. Rockwilder was with him, and I was thinking, ‘This is finally it.’” I obviously didn’t fit into the whole façade of what G-Unit brought to the table. 50 and me are like brothers but we’re like night and day as far as that’s concerned. He grew up doing that kind of thing. I used to hustle here and there but that was their complete lifestyle. I was more of a rapper. It was really like a mutual decision, so I actually came back and was thinking about a whole lot of things. Like, ‘This is just not was I expected.’ From the outside looking in it was in it dope, but I just didn’t feel right. I wasn’t complete. A couple months past I was like, “I’m gonna give the Lord a chance.” I had reached a level and it just wasn’t working. With all the stuff that was deposited in me it just came back to me and the Lord gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse. Finally for the first time in my life I jumped in with both feet, instead of, ‘yeah I’ll go to church’ then go to the club. It was then that things really started to change for me. SWING: You’ve been touring a lot recently. How have the fans accepted you? WHUTEVA: I think they’re more familiar with Rockwilder (Laughing) SWING: How is/was your relationship with 50? Was it a smooth transition as far as that relationship was concerned? You guys still talk? WHUTEVA: I haven’t heard from him in awhile. I actually tried to get at him at the office but he wasn’t there. He was out of the country. I tried to reach out and holla at him, but I think I had a little bit of uh… it was a mixture of fear and pride that kept me away from him for so long after we kind of separated. He never kicked me off or anything. It was sort of just obvious that it wasn’t going to work out. I just didn’t fit under that whole umbrella or that whole picture. He called me, so it wasn’t like I asked him to be on the road. He called me. It was that respect he had for me as a little brother. I thought it was great he called me to be on the road, but when we got on the road it was just something different. He tried and I tried but just didn’t work. SWING: How do your old friends and former entourage treat you now? WHUTEVA: At first they felt abandoned. Of course they didn’t understand. If I was still there they would have a lot of influence over me. It would have probably changed. The separation was vital. If I didn’t do that it would have been a problem. At first, they probably felt abandoned though. It was my entourage, you know, we used to travel all over the place too including with Rock. They really didn’t know how to take it. They thought ‘Oh he’s doing a Ma$e!’ I got antagonized a bit, but when they started to see how I was real with it and they were like, ‘That’s cool.’ Then after a while they were like, ‘Oh, that’s kinda hot!’ ••• for moe on Whuteva visit: www.whuteva.com or myspace.com/whoiswhuteva

S.O.U.L | Pg46

Un.orthodox - church.hip-hop.culture [Book and CD/DVD in stores now] “5 star rating. In this book, lead pastor Tommy Kyllonen equips church leaders to effectively engage hip-hop culture.” - Rick Warren’s Ministry Toolbox “Anyone reading this book would be enlightened about new ideas and finding encouragement related not only to hip-hop but also to surrounding culture. With it’s three sections giving a broad overview of Kyllonen’s journey to Crossover pastor, the history of hip-hop, and incorporating the church into its surroundings, Un.orthodox becomes a must have on the bookshelves of any growing church.” - Publishers Weekly

Now Available - exclusively on itunes and at Urband.org

“Home” feat. Bobby Tinsley

+ Exclusive instrumentals, accapellas, and remix albums now on iTunes.

Urban D. is available for concerts, workshops, preaching, youth groups, retreats, school assemblies, camps and more. Check out www.urband.org for booking info., videos, music, news, articles and the new video blog.

By: Janine Carrero

Ever had a childhood dream? After working so hard to achieve it would you walk away from the chance to make it happen? How about if God had other plans for you? Che-Che Da Supastar, born Anise Robinson in Newark, NJ to use her words, “has always been a busy body”. From repairing televisions and radios, to rapping on the court, she was known around the way for her skills. In love with basketball, she knew one day she’d be playing ball professionally. So much so, she had plans to start in the WNBA. Having been formed approximately a year earlier, the only thing left for her to do was sign a contract with the Charlotte Stings. But God had other plans… and Che-Che obeyed. During the years leading up to that moment, “Teachers and other people in my life invested in me, teaching me the importance of being exposed to more than one’s surroundings. Amongst them; my father who has always been in my corner, my grandmother, whom I was extremely tight with, like glue, as she was more like a mother to me and my mother who died in 2004 to lung cancer. The more exposed, the hungrier one becomes to pursuit those things,” Che-Che recalled. Followed by, “There’s more to life than hangin’ on the corner.” This profound view on life had resulted in straight A’s and a secular record deal at the age of 10 where she opened up for Onyx and Das EFX. She was not a solo act, but when her girl got stage freight, Che-Che knew the show must go on and put on such a show, that she was offered a solo deal. Convinced ball was the way to go, she turned it down as she knew she would have other opportunities to rap. This was a wise choice, since playing ball led to a scholarship at Johnson C. Smith University located in Charlotte, NC where she worked towards a professional career in the WNBA while pursuing a career in Film and Video Production as well as Business. She was excited, but later disappointed that her beloved grandmother did not live to see her graduate from high school, as she died her junior year.

S.O.U.L | Pg48

“In the street you feel like you have to hold things in to show you are hard. Yet, I found the strength and courage to share my heart.” The person Che-Che would share her heart with was Mrs. Sandra Barnes, the Director and creator of a family literacy and living program where Che-Che worked before heading off to college. “Mrs. B poured into me and always invited me to her church, but it wasn’t until my other grandmother died and I felt I really needed God that I decided to take her up on the offer. She insisted on picking me up that day since I admitted to driving an unregistered car. Insurance was expensive and I was about to head out to college (LOL) - at no time did I know I was on my way to church with anyone other than a simple churchgoer. Then we walked in and it wasn’t until she went to the pulpit and began to pray that I found out she was a Co-Pastor. Had I known prior, I wouldn’t have gone. She got me, but you see God got me as well. I felt alive for the first time since my grandparents died and from that day got so connected with the ministry… I loved doing the ministry thing. Shortly after, I went off to college and had a phenomenal breakout season that led to a tryout for the Charlotte Stings. But I encountered a problem - the tug of God on my heart to go into ministry my sophomore year. I decided to go back home and what should have taken a day to acquire the three necessary signatures to transfer out, took three and a half weeks, as everyone insisted on counseling me to stay. Everyone thought I was crazy. They even sent me to the cafeteria lady whom everyone called Grandma. But she knew the deal and told me, “When God tells you to do something, you’ve got to do it.” And I did. A year and a half later I was ordained as a Youth Minister, where I started a television and audio visual dept. for our church. A few years later I was ordained as an Evangelist and continued to learn and grow doing whatever needs to be done, including playing the drums and going to Bible College.” Equally as exciting, God has allowed her to minister on the court as well, as she plays SemiPro ball as a guard on the Big East Ballers team in New York. Che-Che also found herself on stage doing Christian Hip-Hop, something that she laughingly recalled she once thought was a sin. This was no doubt due to the reputation Hip-Hop had due to the ‘gangster rap’ wave. “I just rapped about God and what was on my heart for fun, not professionally.” But God was far from done with blessing Che-Che. A chance meeting led to her acquiring a manager and opening up for her favorite Gospel artist Vickie Winans. “I didn’t have songs, but I had a manager”, Che-Che said laughing hysterically. This was followed by a string of underground releases and touring the country. Then in 2001 God put it on her heart to start her own label. “Che-Star Records is more than music, it’s a lifestyle. Every rapper and dancer on my label aspires to live a platinum lifestyle for Christ as we perform and do Bible study together.” Che-Che Da Supastar also has her own digital radio show. “Radio just fell in my lap and I love it. The chance to be live on the dial and internet gave me the opportunity to lead people to Christ from the air, not just locally but from countries like Israel as well. Che-Che Da Supastar is an example of what God can do with someone who puts aside their plan for God’s plan. Current CD is “Playa/Coach,” featuring “Runaway” with Mike Winans Jr. available on cdbaby.com. Up and coming projects include; “Camp Amazing” scheduled for release in the fall of 2008, it is a fun-loving spirit filled cd featuring collaborations with such artists as Canton Jones. Additionally, God has put it on Che-Che’s heart to start an actual youth camp called Camp Amazing that will target youth from all over focusing on every aspect of growth, encouragement and inspiration. The camp will also teach them how to start their own record labels, production, recording, etc… scheduled for debut in the summer of 2009.

Contact Info: bookcheche@yahoo.com or call Che-Star Records at (862) 703-8084 myspace.com/cheche77star

S.O.U.L | Pg49

Do you remember what it was like to be in the 8th grade? Or maybe you are in the 8th grade now… Either way, could you see yourself turning away from life as you know it, to follow God? What if you were living ‘Da Gangsta Life’ and the only way out was to get jumped? Would you do it then? I was blessed to catch up with RedCloud while on tour in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma who took time out of his busy tour schedule to bless the readers of S.O.U.LMAG with his street story… blow for blow as he goes the distance for Yahweh.

Name: RedCloud Resides: Los Angeles, CA Discography: 3 • Winner of the 2005 SouthGate Nissan emcee battle. • The hit single When Kenpo Strikes held a top 10 spot on TVU for several months. The video knocked the platinum recording artist P.O.D. out of the number 1 position. • Music has been featured in films such as “It Runs In The Family” starring Michael Douglas, as well as the surf documentary “All The Way Live”. • Took the throne of the Los Angeles Power 106FM freestyle battle for five weeks straight. Artist: RedCloud Album: Hawthorne’s Most Wanted Tracks: 14 Label: Syntax Records / Koch Release Date: May 22, 2007 Availability: Nationwide

S.O.U.L | Pg50

• Has been on four nationally recognized tours, performing in clubs, high schools, Indian rez’s, sold out arenas, churches, quinceneras, festivals, Pow Wows as well as speaking at schools against violence and gangs.

“It was a Friday, my 8th grade year of Jr. High at about 3:03 in the parking lot across the street from the school. The entire week I knew I was getting jumped after-school that day and with the word spread around school, a large majority of my classmates were there to witness it. I was jumped by 3 large Samoans and 2 Mexican homies, all of whom were waiting for me. I had thought about ditching school that day but, with my Pastor’s blessing and advice “I took it like a G”. I even threw the first punch and hit the largest of the 5 square in the mouth (it did absolutely nothing, he didn’t even step back)… Til this day I have never felt any pain like what I felt that day. I thought I was going to die. The adrenaline numbed the majority of punches, but the kicks to my back and sides took my entire wind. The last thing that happened was I got stomped on the back of the head, while I was on the concrete and it made me black out. My sympathetic classmates brought me out of unconsciousness, helped me up and walked me across the street to the nurse’s office. When I looked in the mirror, I saw the most horrible thing - the blood vessels in my eyes had completely ruptured. There was no trace of white, just blood red in its entirety and my brown pupils. It took 2 months to go away. The stomp that put me out for the count gave me a knot on my forehead that I have til this day (smaller and less noticeable - but its there).”

“

I don’t really like to get personal on songs. I’d rather speak through parables in my songs...

“

One might think that in order to willingly go through such an ordeal RedCloud must have always known who he was created to be, but just made a conscious decision to run away from it. To the contrary, RedCloud never knew his birth father and his birth mother never returned to pick him up from his babysitter’s house. He struggled with finding his identity. “I wondered why he never came to look for me, I wondered what had happened and where I went wrong, I wondered why my birth mother didn’t love me enough. At a very young age I questioned my existence and purpose in life. As I grew in Yahshua and matured as a young man, I became more and more content with my scenario, and felt blessed. Everything I went through trained me to be the man I am today.”

Today he is a “tour monster” as he so eloquently put it. His sound? Described as only he can… “Indigenous Hip-Hop. Indigenous, for the obvious reason of being native. However, in the sense of the actual definition - original, as in ‘the first’. When Hip-Hop first hit the streets, in its indigenous form, it was uplifting… it was warrior music… it was positive. It wasn’t about money, diamonds, clothes, sex, cars and all the things the world and the enemy has to offer. On the contrary it was about love, the state of the world, peace, happiness and fighting the great fight. Watch out for Syntax Records, we are taking it back.” And with back to back accomplishments as a result of him being obedient, RedCloud has had a string of tracks that have inspired many to leave it all behind for Christ. His most personal being ‘Boulevard Knights’ off his new album -Hawthornes Most Wanted. “I don’t really like to get personal on songs. I’d rather speak through parables in my songs, like ‘Yahshua’. I’ve done that in my debut album on Syntax and in my sophomore release, but sirROCDOMZ (CEO of Syntax) brought it out of me one day and I can’t tell you how good it felt to vent. It’s one of my best charting singles on ITunes and YouTube. The response from the fans really encouraged me to continue to share my heart with the listener. The most rewarding has got to be ‘When Kenpo Strikes’ from my first album - Is This Thing On?. That single made it to big screen motion pictures, in video games, and just simply brought me a cult following that in a million years I would never expect to have.” As with any Christian, the journey has its challenges. For RedCloud, his most difficult challenge has been syncretism. “The fusion of my relationship with the Creator Yahweh and my cultural beliefs as an indigenous man…I’ve been told my entire life by the church body that the Bible is right and that all my native culture is - wrong. To this very moment it kills me.” What’s NEXT for RedCloud? ”Well, I’m going to continue to be a tour monster. Syntax is releasing -Hawthornes Most Flaunted …a collection of top notch remixes to my latest album and some exclusive joints as well. The Night Owls series will continue to haunt your ears, and Lord willing we will launch ‘Indian Ink’ a subsidiary of Syntax Records where we will release native style albums like Night Owls called ‘Indigenous Legends’ and bring indigenous HipHop artists from all over this continent to your boom boxes, cars and iPods. - Blessings!” •••

for more on RedCloud visit: • redcloudhiphop.com • myspace.com/redcloud • syntaxrecords.com

S.O.U.L | Pg51

In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the gansta rap of crews like N.W.A., the politically incorrect montras of Public Enemy, and the “booty” bass of the 2 Live Crews ruled much of the radio rotations and club deejays’ turntables. During this musical revolutionary era, the voice of hip-hop was starting to be heard across cultural and socio-economic lines painting pictures of

S.O.U.LMag: At what point in your life did you realize

that Hip-Hop was an option for you?

street life more vividly than ever before. In the midst of this,

PLAY: I never really took it seriously even when I was

there was a contingent of emcee’s and crews that remained

working on House Party. The fact is that I considered it as just

true to the lighter, “let’s get this party started” side of hip-hop.

the music and the music was my vehicle for successful social-

One of these crews was Kid N’ Play. Christopher “Play” Martin

izing. Let me keep it hood.... I was trying to get with the girls!

and Christopher “Kid” Reid formed the group in 1988. They

The reality of it being a culture to me didn’t really enter into my

experienced chart topping success with 1989’s “Rollin’ with

mind until way later in life. I strongly believe that holds true for

Kid ‘n Play” (#11 on the Billboard R&B singles chart), 1990s

most, if not all, from what we consider the golden age of Hip

“Funhouse” (#1 on the Billboard rap singles chart), and “Ain’t

Hop. As an option? Within the last 5 to 8 years, maybe.

Gonna Hurt Nobody” (another #1 rap hit). Their stage show incorporated the Kid N’ Play trademark Kick Step and the

S.O.U.LMag:

Can you describe an event, situation, or cir-

Funky Charleston. They used the success and popularity of

cumstance that you consider the high point of your music and/

their music career to branch into acting with four movies (1990

or movie career?

House Party, 1991 House Party 2, 1992 Class Act, 1994 House Party 3). They even had their own Saturday morning cartoon

PLAY: I think the highest were many, one being now. Hav-

series (Kid ‘n Play 1990-91) and a 1992 Marvel Comics comic

ing the insight to know purpose and consciously being empow-

book based on the television series. The crew peacefully split

ered to be in more control of a God-given gift. In regard to the

in 1995 as Kid continued to act. Play became a born-again

early days, like I said, there were multiple peaks. I think every

Christian and has since founded HP4 DigitalWorks producing

time my friend Kid and I accomplished something for ourselves

film, digital and live theatre projects. He also founded Brand

and the movement, we thought that was it! I cannot get any

Newz, an online and television newscast focusing on positive

better or bigger, but we were wrong. First, all I wanted was a

community leaders and events. In this interview with Play, we

single. The 12” record was titled “Last Nite”. All I needed to get

get the opportunity to hear from the heart of a man that rose to

with the women was just one record. But when we got a New

great heights of success, fell to humble new beginnings, and is

York / Tri-State hit ........ ahhh man! It was on!!! Second, was

back on rise with new purpose, and new projects that use the

when we did a music video. We didn’t do one for Last Nite (but

same God-given gifts without being in the spotlight of fame.

we should have). The company, Select Records, didn’t want

S.O.U.LMag: What was Christopher Martin’s life like be-

fore he became known as “Play”?

PLAY:

to miss the boat again and definitely wanted to do one for the next single titled “Do This My Way”. That was an incredible, unexpected dream come true. Third, a movie and the rest is history. Cartoons, Comic Books, etc.

Life for Christopher Martin before “Play” really

has two answers. One, being what I know now in hindsight. Two, is trying to remember my state of mind at the time. I am

S.O.U.LMag: What led to your life change towards God?

pretty sure those two answers represent two totally different

PLAY: The more Kid and I were accomplishing. It’s funny

individuals (laughs). The first thing off the top of my head is

coming off the last question creates a twilight zone experience

how desperate I was for a nickname, which really meant an

as I’ve always described it. The more I got, it felt like a chunk

identity. Having a nickname...that was everything and I mean

of something would be leaving me. I could never verbalize it

everything! When I speak to crowds, I share with them how I

for a long time...until now. It’s like I was loosing more and more

was a serious accident ready to happen. Either my life was in

of self and coming closer and closer to self! That’s the twilight

danger or someone else’s was. I was a very serious example

zone thing. How can both be happening? Well, I was being

of the Gangstarr cut “Just To Get A Rep”.

confronted with a decision that my flesh man did not want to

A lot of people ask me do I miss it and my short answer is

“No”

face. How much am I willing to pay for what the world calls success? I was coming in closer and closer to the truth about what goes on behind closed doors. But, when we are introduced to it, we refuse to believe it’s true and dismiss it as “entertainment”. Examples; Jim Carey’s “The Cable Guy” and his character “The Riddler” in one of the Batman movies. There are so many books and movies that tell it, but we’re not ready for

S.O.U.L | Pg55

the raw truth. A huge part of it is why so many of our popular

S.O.U.LMag: You are also the host of a soon to be nation-

entertainers loose it. Then what do we say when it’s reported?

ally syndicated show Brand News. What is your target audi-

“They buggin’! I would never go out like that!” It’s in those times

ence for this show and what do you envision to be the impact

for those individuals that God attempts to really show himself

of the show?

and then we have a choice. The bottom line is mankind was never created or designed to withstand the glory that only God

PLAY: Everyone who has an inspiring, encouraging, posi-

can handle and deserves. There’s a part in the movie Space

tive story to video and share with the world! We misuse MyS-

Odyssey 2001 where one of the astronauts is finally about to

pace and YouTube to show the worst of humans. I want to be

know everything he traveled to find out and, BAM! He becomes

a part of a network that provides exposure of the best of the

a baby. In real life we go crazy (like the Jim Carey characters

human experience. I am not interested in being the focus part

in those movies) after getting everything we thought we should

of the network and it’s works. I have agreed to be used to draw

have, from materials to the praise of man. We don’t know what

attention for those who have a lot to share. Provide a voice in

to do with it. We act like we do, but we don’t.

the categories of Health, Law & Politics, Arts & Entertainment,

S.O.U.LMag:

Sports, Human Interest, etc. It’s exciting and the response is How do you feel about the state of the hip-

hop culture today compared to where it was in the early 90’s?

PLAY: It’s definitely a different world now. But I can sum it up with this, “God saves the best for last”. Within his grace, he’s allowed a lot of people to experience so much. But there

truly encouraging and supportive. “Good Newz” needs its 15 minutes of fame and more.

S.O.U.LMag: You were recently in a serious car accident.

How did that situation affect you?

comes a time in everyone’s life that they know what they know.

PLAY: The funny thing about the accident that was just

The spirit has proven itself and now it’s time. That holds true

like the Volkswagen commercial where two people are just

in any culture or race. But getting at what I think you mean. I

simply driving and then all of a sudden BAM! Michelle and

will put it like this as well.... A lot of people ask me do I miss

I were ready for a nice early evening after celebrating her 6

it and my short answer is “No”. The reason why is because it

year-old daughter’s birthday. Thank God her daughter and son

isn’t the way it was when Kid, I and many others like Salt &

were not in the back seat as they would normally be. Then it

Pepa, Heavy D, Big Daddy Kane, Eric B & Rakim, and Will

seemed like an atom bomb explosion went off under us. But

(Smith), were doing it. I probably have my fiending moments

we did not panic. It was almost as if I felt ready to go. I just

now and then.

instinctively held her as tightly as I could. The truck felt like it

S.O.U.LMag: You are still involved in the industry behind

was tumbling in the air and then started sliding and dragging on the ground on the passenger side where she was sitting.

the scenes. What inspired you to start a motion picture produc-

The experience led me to be alone right after I knew Michelle

tion company?

was good. I shut myself in and I asked the Lord, “What am I

PLAY: It’s what I know. That’s so valuable to me! I was

suppose to learn from this, Lord?”

once taught that after Jesus turned the Disciple’s lives around and a situation arose where it was time to take care of some business/taxes. Jesus took the opportunity to bless Peter and then sent him to take care of the matter in a way that Peter knew before meeting Jesus. He was a fisherman. He did not send him to take care of the matter by painting or building a house, or to be a soldier. He had him do what he knew to do and still be effective to Kingdom building. I love doing what I

It felt like all hell broke loose within me shortly after asking that.

do, because there was a time for a long time that I did not know

The answer finally came over a period of time. It started with

anything. I looked like I did, but I didn’t. I enjoy the fact that I

me remembering something my dad once told me “No matter

believe most of life on a microphone and in front of a camera

how wrong everybody is, it does not make you right!” Then it

is behind me. I am inspired by the relationship between Mo-

was capped later in a T.D. Jakes sermon that said, “You’re tell-

ses and Aaron. It was time to pass the staff, so to speak. In

ing people about me, but you not talking to me. You’re telling

this case it’s a microphone (LOL), if it is not time, it’s definitely

people you’re working for me, but you’re not spending time

close.

with me!” It was time to return back to what God has wanted from us all from day one. The intimacy.

S.O.U.L | Pg56

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think every time my friend Kid and I accomplished something for ourselves and the movement , we thought that was it! I cannot get any better or bigger, but we were wrong.â&#x20AC;?

S.O.U.L | Pg57

S.O.U.LMag: You are also a college professor. How do you S.O.U.LMag: On behalf of all of your adoring fans, is there

stay relevant to the new students of hip-hop?

PLAY: I do not accept the title of Professor because they

any chance of hearing that Play is back in the recording booth with new music?

are many others who worked hard, deserve, and have earned

PLAY: (laughs) Nah. I have been taking my time on what

the right to have that title. I don’t know what I should be called in

I would consider my life project. It’s a hybrid mix of a biography

that community, so I’m cool with “educator”. My degree is from

and documentary that I call a Biomentary. The working title for

the school of hard knocks, and man, is the tuition expensive!

it is “Just One More Time”. My do’s and don’ts for the perfect

The great thing about my Artist in Residence position at North

house party! I have been so blessed to have so many photo-

Carolina Central University is I just need to be me. I guess I

graphs and video footage of almost everything. The friends,

am like when you read about George Washington or another

the behind scene footage from the movies, and music videos

historic figure and all of a sudden they just come walking into

with a lot of familiar faces will all be on there. It’s taking way

the classroom. I lived most of what we study in the class called

more time than I thought it would, but it will be worth it. It’s re-

“Hip- Hop in Context 101”. I get frustrated with some of the lit-

ally for my family, especially my children to know their family’s

erature we read because it can be off sometimes. Sometimes

history. What started out as a Kid ‘n Play story is turning into

it’s so off I start second guessing my memory and call friends

the story of a black American experience, from slavery to Hip-

like Kurtis Blow or Dana Dane just to check. But it’s all good

Hop. There is a teaser of it on www.Mybiographyonline.com

and fun! I thank the Director Kawachi Clemons and the other powers that be for their faith in me. We’ve had friends like MC Lyte, Doug E Fresh, DMC, Trey Songs, Buck Shot, Big Daddy

S.O.U.LMag: What do you want Christopher “Play” Martin’s

legacy to be as in how do you want to be remembered?

Kane, Pete DJ Jones and more come visit to kick it with our students.

Play - A man of God’s, a friend of God’s, a husband of God’s and a father of God’s. I believe the effort to accomplish that will cover everything else in between. •••

S.O.U.L | Pg58

>>>>>>>

You’ve heard him on tracks with Timothy Brindle and The Cross Movement, to featuring on the “13 Letters” compilation with the 116 clique. He blessed us with his debut album “Solus Christus” which is a classic in its own right. Now he’s back to bless us with his long awaited second album. S.O.U.LMAG caught up with the lower.case emcee [shai linne] to talk about his new album “The Atonement”.

S.O.U.L | Pg62

>>>>> s.o.u.l:

Before we get into questions about your most recent project “The Atonement”. When did you start doing Hip Hop music and did it start off as Holy Hip Hop? I started writing seriously in the mid-nineties. And there was nothing holy about it. At that time, my music was an expression of my unregenerate heart. My lyrics were filled with boasting, immorality and generally attempting to direct people’s attention to me. When the Lord snatched me up, He changed my heart, which also changed the intent and focus of my lyrics, which is now to draw attention to Jesus. “Solus Christus” has to be one of the greatest albums I’ve ever heard. Me being a fan and knowing other fans of your music... I have to ask, what took so long for you to drop the Atonement?!?!?!? LOL

shai:

s.o.u.l: shai:

Three main reasons: 1. The Lord blessed me with a full time job, which limits the amount of time I can devote to recording. 2. Music is a relatively small part of my ministry. Teaching, discipleship and serving at my local church are my main priorities. 3. I started working on my new album called “Storiez” not long after TSCP dropped. As we were finishing up Storiez, The Atonement was heavy on my heart. The problem is that I had no beats and nothing was written yet! But I couldn’t shake the sense that I needed to do a project that focused on the Cross of Christ. After praying about it, we put Storiez on hold and began a whole new project, which added more time to the delay. Your second installment is just as solid as the first but it has a different feel... Explain “The Atonement” and why did you go in this direction with the project? All music is not appropriate for all subject matter. For instance, it wouldn’t make sense to play “The Electric Slide” at a funeral, because it would take away from the seriousness of the event. Hip-hop beats often have that trivializing effect. I wanted the music of The Atonement to be an appropriate backdrop for sobering Biblical themes such as sin, penal substitution, redemption and the glory of God. I also intentionally switched up my vocal tone in an attempt to convey seriousness and point people to what I was saying more so than how I was saying it. “In Adam all die” you start off with some powerful lines saying “Everybody knows that they’re guilty/ Our conscience condemns us, shows us we’re filthy/ truth be told, we really have no answers/ for why we fall short of our own moral standards/. Would you consider yourself an apologist? Do you find yourself defending your Faith a lot in such a culturally diverse place like Philly? In light of 1 Peter 3:15, I think there’s a sense in which every Christian is called to be an apologist. One of the issues in Philly is that many are churched and believe they are Christians. The challenge here is not so much convincing people that the Bible is true, but attempting to show what Biblical Christianity looks like and being clear about what the gospel is.

s.o.u.l: shai:

s.o.u.l:

Who are some of the producers that contributed to the project and why did you choose not to have features this time around? The Atonement was primarily produced by deejay essence, with additional production from Tony Stone and muzeOne. Not having features wasn’t really a conscious decision. It just worked out that way. I had one feature that fell through due to time constraints. To me “Atonement Q & A” is one of the dopest tracks on the album because you give the definitions of words that we hear as Christians but we might not know what they mean. You also give answers to questions like “what is the bible about?” What made you do a track like this? The idea for this song came from the old-school catechisms, which give brief definitions for Biblical doctrines. I wanted to take advantage of one of the strengths of rap, which is the ability to convey large amounts of information in a relatively small amount of time. Hopefully, it will encourage people to look further into Christ’s atoning work, because the song is just an appetizer pointing to the Bible, which is the main course.

shai:

s.o.u.l: shai:

s.o.u.l:

Well thank you so much for your time Brother Shai, Do you have any last words for the readers? Thank you for the privilege of doing this interview. The most meaningful thing that I could ever say is that we are all sinners who have offended an infinitely glorious, holy and just God, who must punish sin. No amount of good things we do will ever be enough for us to be accepted by God. In His unfathomable mercy and grace, God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die as a substitute for sinners. Jesus suffered under the righteous wrath of God on the cross, even though He Himself was sinless, which He proved by rising from the dead. All who turn from their sins, trusting in Jesus as Savior and valuing Him as Treasure shall be saved from the wrath to come, loved and accepted by God forever. That is the good news that has transformed me and many others. It’s why I do what I do. Soli Deo Gloria! •••

shai:

For more on shai linne visit: lampmode.com or myspace.com/shailinne

s.o.u.l:

shai:

Artist: shai linne Album: The Atonement Tracks: 19 Label: Lamp Mode Recordings Release Date: February 22, 2008 Availability: Nationwide S.O.U.L | Pg63

Our mission is to provide male juveniles, at risk, in the inner city of Philadelphia, with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We work to unlock the potential in each young man through mentoring, Bible study and the development of an organized sports program.

At one point in my life I was a bad government statistic waiting to happen: wayward, out of control, living by my own rules. But, God poured out His amazing grace on me, an eighth grade drop out with no bright future or direction.

I was raised in the inner city of Philadelphia by a single parent with eight siblings. At an early age my fate was determined by a vicious cycle that fostered little or no respect for anyone. By the time I reached the age of twelve, I was labeled a non-conformist by a psychiatrist and told by the authorities that I would spend many years in prison. I became a total nightmare for my mother who literally ran out of options for me.

At thirty one I received my high school diploma. At thirty seven I was married. At forty I became the father of my baby girl. At forty one I became the owner/operator of Osborn Collision Inc. Now at the young age of forty five I’ve embarked on establishing a ministry targeting at risk inner city kids through a sports program, as well as introducing them to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As I look back on all of my trials and tribulations I’m 100% sure that with God all things are possible.

I was taken to a boxing show and liked it so much that I started to train. At thirteen I had my first boxing match, and at fourteen I won a bronze medal at the Junior Olympics. At sixteen and seventeen I made it to the Philadelphia Golden Gloves finals and at nineteen I won the Pennsylvania Golden Gloves. At twenty-two I retired from boxing where I represented the USA boxing team in an international competition. Upon retiring I started working as a union roofer and by the time I was twenty-five, I was hired as a union organizer. After one year on this job, unbeknownst to me, the FBI came into our building and placed electronic surveillance resulting in my indictment on federal charges of raqueteering. I was sent to prison and completed my time as well as my parole. After being out of prison a few years, I was introduced to a personal relationship with Jesus. Within a year, I was given the opportunity to travel with a mission’s team to Russia to take the Gospel to young boys in prisons. Upon my return, I immediately got involved with a prison ministry at Philadelphia’s detention center for boys and took part in a weekly bible study there. It was during this time that I took notice of countless young boys who were going down the same path that I had chosen many years before. They were lacking a significant male role model to encourage good behavior, dropping out of school, showing total disrespect for authority, and facing many years in prison. I continually repeat Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path.”

S.O.U.L | Pg64

ONE ON ONE WITH BUDDY OSBORN: SWING: How long has Rock Ministries been around? BUDDY OSBORN: Five years now this past May. SWING: Congrats on that. Tone Bruno filled me on the

ministries about two years ago. Can you give me a little insight into the foundation of Rock Ministries? What is the main goal? BUDDY OSBORN: It’s still the same. Our mission is to deal on the front lines with hard core, inner city, at risk thugs. Of course not every one of them are thugs. I use the word “thugs” because many times they are the hardest to reach. What we find is with boxing, every thug thinks he can fight. Every guy who puts himself out there and thinks they’re tough… they’re who we’re interested in! Of course we’re willing to share the Gospel with anybody, but our target is these hard-core kids. Any kid between the ages of 10-22. SWING: When the ministries first came about how’d

you go about promoting it to the people? What happened was, it started when I was about 10 years old. I grew up in one of the toughest neighborhoods in Philadelphia and it was almost like God prepared that. I started boxing at 13 and had my first amateur bout at 16. I was #1 and state champion in the city at 19. I represented the US in boxing team 13 times around the world. After that I got involved with the labor movement, and ultimately that led to my indictment. I woke up one morning and my face was all over the paper and the news. I was served 8 years and did 5. When I came back home, 3 years after I was released, I accepted Christ. It was BUDDY OSBORN:

December 31, 1995 8:30 at night. Interestingly enough 9 years to the day, December 31, 2004, we opened up the ministry right on the same streets I used to hustle. How it got started and the word got out there is I took a missions trip across seas in Siberia in the eastern part of Russia. I was only a Christian about 7 months. While there I met this guy Paul Orr (co-founder of Rock Ministries). I remember when my pastor was asking ‘who wants to go on a mission’s trip over there”, I remember thinking ‘He’s talking to me. That’s me.’ So I got home, and there was a bible study that was started at the house of corrections for juveniles and I wound up joining that. One day we were teaching in the study and I asked the young bucks, “Who in here has heard the gospel from their mom?” A lot of hands went up, “How about your grandma’s?” A lot of hands went up again. “How about your dad?” Not one hand went up. I said to Paul, “We gotta do something that’s more aggressive to stop this.” When I found out that 9 out 10 kids in the inner city here are fatherless by the time they are age 5. So we thought about it and prayed, and prayed and prayed and come up with this plan that we’d reach these kids primarily through boxing. We also had weights, since Paul had a background in weights and mine was boxing. That’s pretty much how it was started. I tracked about 13 of our close friends down and shared the vision with them and all agreed it was a good one. So we had 3 guys come out to the bible study. We’re doing what we started with Tony Bruno. Now that we’ve been at this current location for going on 3 ½ years we’re pushing 1,800 young juvenile males. Many of the kids come and hear the gospel and come back. SWING: What is the perception of Rock ministries from the city and its people? Is it well received? BUDDY OSBORN: One of the things we’ve done is to open a place 25 feet away from one of the most notorious drug spots in the country. You walk outside our door and it’s loaded with prostitutes and junkies and hustlers. So people ask, “Why are you there?” Well that’s where we want to be because we want to get these kids and absolutely give them the gospel. So as far the city knowing what we’ve done, we’ve done so much because the power of God. We haven’t taken one dollar of any government money. If they want to give it then that’s fine but we won’t compromise with the gospel. We believe that the word of God stands on it own and that’s what changes and transforms lives. So to answer to your question, they’ve done an article in the local newspaper. We’re not looking for publicity though. I dig your magazine because I hope we can make an impact for just someone, even just one kid who reads it and get excited about it.

ship of the world. Ringside, it’s the largest tournament in the world with over 1,700 competitors. We had Brandon Prance; he won the 100lb division in the Ringside tournament. Our team is actually young. About 15, 16 and 17 years old. We have one kid, Emmanuel Folly that’s just a phenomenon. He just turned open class. You’re gonna hear from this kid. SWING: Last question, what’s your favorite

scripture that you’ve found comfort and why? I think there’s several, but the one that sticks out in my mind is; Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths. One of the things we fail to remember is that the path that we chose doesn’t work. Yet when we trust in the Lord who is supernatural - His standards will be the right one. It’s like Saul on the road to Damascus. He thought he was on the right path and God has to stop him in his tracks and say, “Yo cuz! You’re bumpin’ off my people here!” Then he wound up on his path. I think of that in my own life because all of the things I’ve done in my life has prepared me for the mission’s field. I have to continue to remain humble and I will continue to “clean toilets” until the day that I die, man. I want to be a servant of the Lord. That’s how you keep it real, man. Trust in the Lord always and trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and Swing, He will direct your paths. I know that He’s doing that in your life right now too. •••

BUDDY OSBORN:

Keep up with Rock Ministires @: www.rockministry.us

SWING: How instrumental was boxing to YOU growing up? When did

you know this was what you wanted to do?

BUDDY OSBORN:I was a street fighter, you know, so I could always

handle myself. Then I was always in trouble. I was always doing stuff that young people now a days couldn’t dream of doing. It settled me down when I got involved with the sport of boxing at 13. From there it took over my life. My propensity for violence never diminished. That followed me into my young adult life, my early 20’s. I would think nothing of doing something to somebody. The charges that I was convicted on that sent me away were very serious. In fact if I was convicted of these same charges in today’s law I’d still be in prison today. I had more levied against me than Al Capone. I would be facing 165 years. What totally wiped out my propensity for violence was when I got saved. Then I used my boxing skills to reach out to the kids in the hood. SWING: What are the future goals of this ministry? BUDDY OSBORN: One of the goals is we don’t want to just be box-

ing. Boxing is just a tool to preach the gospel. We envision one day having the best boxing program in the country. We want to do it for the Lord. As far as getting bigger, I don’t know if bigger is better. I just think that if we can save just one soul through the gospel…and we’ve done that. I believe that boxing and Christian rap are linked side by side. It’s bangin’!! It’s really something to see. Kids can identify with each of them, you know? I don’t know where the Lord has us right now. We have a building that’s under renovation right now and we’re taking it one room at a time. Not everyone wants to be a boxer so we want to say, “Here’s a library, a chapel, classroom, art room. So when kids say, “Hey I don’t want to box but I want to condition my body and be in the art room.” That’s what we want to see as we go along. SWING: Any outstanding success stories from Rock Ministries that

you can share with the readers?

BUDDY OSBORN: Our team is actually a young team. Last year we

had two kids win, Emmanuel Folly, he won 106lbs amateur championS.O.U.L | Pg65

FEATUREDTHREADS

*MeekOne Clothing + meekone.com

Models (L to R): Jessica, Clock, Rheah, Todd

S.O.U.L | Pg68

*Christ couture + christcouturemovement.com

S.O.U.L | Pg69

*VIntage Clothing + vintagelimited.com

S.O.U.L | Pg70

*One mind + onemindshirts.com

S.O.U.L | Pg71

Christian hip-hop has truly come a long way. So many have come up in the ranks of being quality artists who flip the message of Christ and make the great commission their mission through their music. The pool of albums from these mission-minded quality artists has gotten so large in the effort to counter the norm of modern-day hip-hop content, and every year that pool is growing. Of course, time & space doesn’t allow us to review all that we would like to, but we picked a few this year that are definitely worthy of recognition... -check ‘em out... If you would like your album reviewed by S.O.U.LMAG or would like to have our Hip.Hop.Shop carry it, contact: >>hhs@flavoralliance.com<<

Braille

“The IV Edition”

- Syntax Records

syntaxrecords.com • myspace.com/braillebrizzy When I first heard Braille perform live in Tampa at Crossover for Flavor Fest ‘07, I knew I had to cop the new album! I missed his performance that Saturday night as I was part of the film crew on the other stage, but thankfully I got to check him out as he performed in Sunday’s services at Crossover. We were all blessed to hear his best and most heartfelt track “Blessed Man”. WOW! Right when I heard that song I was like...where and when can I get the album that this track is on! Collaborations include Manchild, Mr. J, 88 Keys, Rob Swift, Marco Polo, Poems, Theory Hazit, DJ Bombay, and the list goes on. Already, I can tell that this will be an album that I’ll be bumpin’ for a while. I believe this album is the closest to his heart, which I felt shining through his lyrics track after track...all 17 of them! Overall as an artist, Braille is probably one the most transparent cats I’d ever heard. Tracks like “Get It Right” (my favorite) and “Many Stories” are just an example of how much of his heart and emotions that he has put into this album. “The IV Edition” is a must have...believe me, you will be blessed! -DJ Dash

Othello

“Alive At The Assembly Line” hiphopismusic.com • myspace.com/othello

- HipHopisMusic

Othello is the maestro of Jazz Hip-Hop. He is part of my favorite crew Lightheaded along with Braille and Ohmega Watts. Drums, bass, guitar, Fender Rhodes, Trumpets and Saxhorns! If you love live instruments and authentic samplings, this album is for you. He has smooth, skillful deep lyrics. His underground hip-hop is loved by the listeners in the U.S and internationally in Europe, Australia and Japan (where I’m from) as well. You can check the video for the lead single “Let’s Just” onothellorockswell.net. This album is “the wake up call, to wake up ya’ll” -Elijah

S.O.U.L | Pg72

Eric Cross

“The Art Of Composition”

- Beatmart Records

beatmart.com • myspace.com/ecrossmusic

The Art of Composition, what may be the last offering from Christian hip-hop label Beatmart, is definitely a must for true Hip-Hop heads. Hailing form Milwaukee, Wisconsin with a delivery similar to that gutter Marcy projects flow, add a heart for God and you get Eric Cross. Three things stand out when listening to this album, his ability to deliver a steady flow no matter the pace of the tempo, excellent choice of beats and a God given gift to educate the streets on why Christ is the answer. Some tracks that stand out “How we roll”, featuring DM, “Way I Live” and “Verse”. Eric Cross is definitely here to stay and get ready for the follow up album “The Signature” dropping in 2009. It keeps getting better! -Todd Mitchka

shai linne

“The Atonement”

- Lamp Mode Recordings

lampmode.com • myspace.com/shailinne

The ATONEMENT, do you know what it means? I don’t think you do… The lowercase MC shai linne is back with his sophomore installment The Atonement! The title speaks for itself in this groundbreaking release by the Philly native. From the beginning to the end of the album shai hits us with some in your face lyrics that go back to the fall of man and explains the cross of Christ like never before. This album is definitely lyrical theology at its finest! Tracks to pay attention to are “In Adam all die”, “Where you there”, “Through my eyes”, and “Atonement Q + A”. Not only does this album answer questions that your non-Christian friends have been wondering about, but it also challenges the believer to look at themselves in a new light. The Cross of Christ is a serious thing! Thanks shai for breaking it down for us. -Clok

“Life By Stereo”

- Cross Movement Records

crossmovementrecords.com • myspace.com/jrinstereo The first time I heard the soulful sound of J.R. was on his debut album “Metamorphosis” (CMR). The tracks on that project really spoke to me. Prior to this he was, and is still, one of the most recognizable voices on most of CMR’s albums. Now, just out the kitchen, on J.R.’s sophomore joint, “Life by Stereo” my favorite track – You Chose Me, allowed me to reflect on how despite my imperfections, my God did choose me. Also, the track – When the Thrill is Gone, featuring Lecrae, personally touched me, as I thought back on all the things I did to fill that void in my heart, when all I needed was to rest in God. So whether your preferred dish is Rock, Pop, R&B, or Hip-Hop… this main course of this musical meal will satisfy your appetite! -Brother Greg

S.O.U.L | Pg73

I AM LEGEND I AM Legend has a relevant Christian message in regards to love, compassion, and sacrifice. The movie’s lead character, Robert Neville (Will Smith), is depicted as a “hero”, a “savior”, someone chosen to save mankind from a ravaging disease with his own immune blood. The virus, like sin, darkened the body, soul, and spirit of humanity and turned beautiful people into dark seeking zombie like creatures that ate flesh to survive. Sin, like this virus, alters who we truly are, twisting and mutating our desires, making us disfigured and enslaved. Neville unselfishly had no desire to kill what was lost, but to save it. Light and darkness were big themes of the movie. He saw beyond the outward disfigurement of humanity and made a personal commitment to bring it back to light. In the end Neville (in a parallel to Christ) gave his life to stop the virus. There are some good clips on wingclips.com that you could use to tie into a small group teaching or a message. REVIEWED BY: G 86

BRAVEHEART Great films allow us to take the lessons we’ve learned through the journey and take it back to the world we live in. In such movies we learn to overcome and find a balance (The Karate Kid), to let go of the past and break generational sins (Top Gun), they warn us of social ignorance and the façade of improper wealth (Iron Man), and that there are some things worth the sacrifice (The Lord of the Rings). Great movies push us to take from the story those things that would benefit our own world, and there is no better film in my opinion than Braveheart to tell our soul of what it really is. When the story begins, England, under King Edward “the Longshanks,” has begun to take over Scotland. So when years go by, and young ones grow up, it’s Israel in Egypt all over again. Children grow up not knowing anything of freedom, of being a country, of being a nation. Grown-ups get used to living for other’s superiority. As a people they’ve lost distinction except for being known as conquered. Even its nobles shake hands with the enemy in order to keep their lifestyle, until a woman comes along and changes the course of history. And you might be saying, “a woman?” Yes, a woman. “What about William Wallace?” He comes in later. “But it’s his story. He has the brave heart. What about Wallace?” Yes that’s true, but it all started with a woman. It all started with a romantic desire. It all started with a dream.

S.O.U.L | Pg74

EXPELLED Can science prove the existence of a God? Can the Theory of Evolution surpass the new millennial research on our planets creation? Ben Stein is storming America with his highly controversial movie, “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed,” proclaiming “FREEDOM” to the millions of students, teachers, scientists, and others who have dared to question the “truth” of Darwinism. The documentary features several people who have been cut off for even questioning Darwinism. But as the scientific evidence continues to grow it’s easy to see that Darwin’s theory is imploding. I strongly believe in what Ben Stein is accomplishing here and I believe that everyone in the world should go check this movie. Since I was a kid, I’ve always been interested in science and how we discover methods and paths to which our world was created, this movie answers SO MANY questions that lots of us have about human existence. This is one not to miss, America! REVIEWED BY: Los 1

And then… the wedding. And then… she was taken away. And then… William Wallace. In the beginning, Wallace wanted nothing to do with war. He was content to keep away from the issues. He was fine living his life. All he wanted was a farm and a family, until, that is, his wife was taken from him. And when she was killed all his dreams went with her. But so did the façades. That’s the point where Wallace realizes all the dreaming in the world means nothing if you’re a slave. But there’s a difference between Wallace and the Scottish people, especially its nobles. Wallace knew his God, and that he was a servant to Him and Him alone. The people and the nobles knew the name of God, but still acted like slaves to other men. They didn’t see Scotland the way God and Wallace saw Scotland. God and Wallace saw a Scottish country where others saw an extension of England. Wallace fought battle after battle, not for him, but so that the Scotts may believe that Scotland is free and any man who says otherwise has to face the swords of free men defending a free land. You and I are free, too. Because the Son has set us free, we are free indeed. But we still act like we belong to the corporate world, to our television sets, to the clubs, to the liquor, to anything that takes the place of our God. And we forget our dreams; we forget our desires. We forget that having God means nothing if we still live like slaves to the enemy. The story of William Wallace urges us to see ourselves as God sees us. Free. It’s because of that we push on. It’s the fuel to press forward and live for others, so they may know they are free, too. REVIEWED BY: Roy Saringo

S.O.U.L | Pg75

The Case For Christ Lee Strobel (Zondervan) - www.zondervan.com

Two and a half years of studying something is an awfully long time to invest in a project. I personally do not know of many people that have invested this much time in order to prove someone or something wrong. When someone puts that kind of time and energy into some cause or plight, they obviously have either a strong conviction that they are right or a vendetta against someone or something. That was precisely what Lee Strobel had when he started his crusade in order to prove Christianity wrong. Much like many atheist of the past, Lee Strobel was out to discredit the Bible and destroy Christ and the gospel. After two and a half years much to Strobel’s surprise, everything he was trying to disprove and destroy backfired on him. He was shocked to learn that there was a mountain of evidence for the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Moreover, Strobel not only discovered historical, scientific, and propositional truth accuracies of the Bible, but he also discovered the one thing that he had been running from and tried to lead people away from his entire life… He found saving grace that can only be found in the one true living God. He found intimacy with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that not only filled him, but gave him a new purpose, a new nature, and gave him a new life changing ministry. That is where Strobel found the courage to write the book, “The Case For Christ” that led to a documentary. Anyone who has ever struggled with the questions; Did Christ really exist? Did he really walk the earth? Can we really trust the Bible? Was Jesus a myth or urban legend? …Questions that at some time or another run threw our heads… will find answers in this documentary. The case for Christ is for the person who is just starting a relationship with Christ, or the Christian who is trying to help reach lost souls for God. This documentary is geared for believers and non-believers alike. I personally loved it because not all that long ago I too was an atheist just like Strobel, who did not believe in God, let alone Jesus Christ. If you haven’t seen this documentary, I highly recommend it! Reviewed By: Luther Conigliaro – insightministries.us

Harmony “Reflections”

Crossover Worship Team (Flavor Alliance Media Group) - www.crossoverchurch.org For someone who is intentional about reaching the Hip Hop Culture contextually, one thing is painful reality; the lack of Hip Hop/R&B styled praise and worship music. For many years I have asked the question, if there can be praise and worship music styled after the genres of Rock, Folk, Jazz, and Gospel why not Hip Hop and R&B? Now not only as a DJ, but also as a church planter targeting the Hip Hop Culture, this question sparks urgency. Enter Harmony’s “Reflections” Hip Hop double disk worship album. Harmony, the worship team from Crossover in Tampa, brings a much-needed resource for the toolbox of today’s urban church. The first disk contains 12 worship songs in various tempos while maintaining a Hip Hop or R&B feel. They took time to think beyond selling a product to provide the individual, small group, church plant, or existing church necessary resources on disk two. Included are the instrumentals to all but one of the songs so that you can easily put it in your DJ setup or CD player without having to have a band or having to dig for comparable instrumentals to lead a worship service. Also included are Power Points of all the songs along with Word version lyric sheets. It’s rare, regardless of style, to find a resource for worship that includes of this and at a price that won’t break your bank. It’s worth your purchase for you to listen, to aid in your worship service, to spark creativity of your own, and to show how to put together an excellent resource for the Kingdom. Reviewd By: DJ Rhino - Revolution Church

S.O.U.L | Pg78

The Manual

Brady Goodwin (The Phanatik) - www.christ-in-a-hip-hopper.com Turning the pages of “The Manual”, one will be most impressed on how it’s subtitle, “Where Theology Meets the Streetz” is broken down and explained in such a relevant, up-to-date manner; with issues that truly demand the reader to examine the culture, church, and even their own heart. “The Manual” is a compilation of various topics written by different authors that speak on subjects like the “Historic Christian Faith”, every believer’s “Spiritual Disciplines”, and what it really means to have “A Successful Ministry.” Each article concludes with questions that will stimulate your mind and challenge you to look deeper at what’s really being discussed. “The Manual” is a definite must read for anyone who is serious in their walk with the Lord and has a heartbeat for urban ministry. Reviewed By: DJ D.vize

WingClips.com

Movie clips that illustrate and inspire. - www.wingclips.com We live in a visual multi-media driven culture. There is no way around that. Spirituality and faith is something that we’ve seen more and more on the big screen in the past few years. Even films that don’t have a spiritual theme will many times have some powerful moments that point to God. Wingclips.com is a resource that provides movie clips to its members for absolutely free. Actually you can sign up and pay a subscription fee to get higher resolution in your clips, but we’ve found the medium resolution clips for free work just fine! These clips can tied in with messages for church services, youth services or small groups. The site even features several clips from movies that are still out in the theaters. I know people may think you bought the bootleg version from the flea market, but in the bottom corner the wingclips logo appears and at the end there is a graphic from the movie with credits. The site is very user friendly as it has a search link and most helpful is the topic link. If you type in the word forgiveness you’ll get clips from Antwone Fisher, The end of the Spear, 39 pounds of love and many more. This is a valuable resource that is right at your fingertips. Reviewed By: Cisco

S.O.U.L | Pg79

“CERTAIN” Its Certain there is a lot of worry going in our world today. That word worry comes from an Anglo Saxon word, which means to strangle. A lot of us are worrying right now. Gas prices are rising, unemployment is rising, food prices are rising, electric prices are rising… all that is Certain – it is going up. That can cause us to worry, right? But, worry is destructive. It can lead to missed opportunities. It can lead you to medication, the hospital and even the grave! It can strangle us! In Luke 12:24 Jesus said, “consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than the birds! Who of you can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” You know what frees us from worry and being un.certain? Pure faith. That’s it! Not faith in stuff. Not faith in the economy. Not faith in the price of a barrel of oil. Faith in God! When we can learn to have pure faith we begin to look at things through new lenses. The impossible now seems possible. People might look at us like we’re crazy…but we know what’s up. I’ve put my faith in Christ for over 15 years now and I’ve watched him do his thing when I trusted him instead of worrying. I’m not gonna lie, I’m still human and I still worry at times. But, all I have to do is look to him and my lenses get refocused and I can see clearly again. I’ve been in the un.certain world of urban ministry for over 12 years now and there have definitely been some blurry times, but we learned to trust and we watched God do miracles again and again. As I’m writing this I have some of the hugest tasks in front of me that I thought I’d never be facing. These are things beyond my skill set and my experience. It’s easy to feel inadequate. It’s easy to worry and be un.certain… more about that in the next issue. These are the times that push us to look to our creator who is the source of our certainty. This is the last thing I’m turning into the design department. We go to print in just hours. This magazine seemed un.certain just last week, but we looked to God, as we knew for Certain this is what he has us focusing on now. We didn’t worry. It came down to just days…and then in the same day we had several huge advertising partners join us and everything miraculously feel into place. It’s all in His timing. It’s funny how people put their faith in things that they think are so certain, but in reality, they are un.certain. The enemy loves to flip the truth and make the bootleg version look good. We can easily feel un.certain when we are self-absorbed. If you feel un.certain, I invite you to ask God to embrace you and make you clean. Ask him to take self out and put Christ in. Become Christ-absorbed. You can then be Certain about your eternity and Certain about where you stand before God. Be Certain.

Remaining Certain,

Tommy aka Urban D.

S.O.U.L | Pg80

Braille

Bob Young aka Precise

Braille again.

Izreal of Everyday Process

The Ambassador & The Crowd

Monty G O’ look, Braille.

Eric Cross Soul P [no hoodie]

Urban D. & Bruva Greg The Ambassador

Elijah on camera

Soul P

Verbs

General Session DJ Wise Iomos Marad

Another picture of Braille...

The Phanatik

Ras’

Urban D.

SirRoc & MaxOne of Syntax Records

Rawsrvnt The Ambassador once more.

Leg Up Studios The AMBA-“SS”-ADOR

Braille Brizzy Hip.Hop.Shop

The Tonic

S.O.U.L | Pg81