<![CDATA[ Artist: DJ Maj Album: Speckled Goats II Track: So Free DJ Maj, one of my favorite producers and personalities in music today, penned a great song in 2007 about relaxing, enjoying the ride and being free. And it’s still one of my favorites. It’s great during the summer, of course, but also helpful in…

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<![CDATA[Tye Tribbett, Fresh, “Only Help” So I’m going through some things. Like, the kind of “going through” that you might hear from one of the saints who’s been around the block a few times and is waiting on the Lord to get their breakthrough… that kind of “going through.” One of the things I’ve noticed is…

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<![CDATA[ Put away your money, I’ll buy you a slice / you ain’t gotta worry how high is the price / don’t dine with this world, you’ll die on their diet / they’re like, “sit down, eat your slice of pizza, and be quiet” Put away your money, I’ll buy you a slice / Who…

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<![CDATA[(This poem was written to me by my friend James, after he witnessed a particular exchange I had with my uncle at a church function. Without unpacking all of my personal history, I can say that I found it to be deeply moving and personal. If you know James personally, that shouldn’t come as much…

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<![CDATA[(Author’s note: the following was written as a short story, intended for submission into a competition. At the last minute, I balked, because I didn’t want to pay what I felt was an outrageous entry fee. But I selfishly kept the story to myself. Consider this post an apology.) (Author’s note, redux: this story, by…

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<![CDATA[ Right now my jam of the moment is from Korean-American emcee HeeSun Lee featuring vocalist Shanelle Gabriel, entitled “Open Your Eyes.” There are two great attributes about this tune, essential for any song to reach Jam Of The Moment status: how it sounds, and what it says. First, how it sounds. When it comes…

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<![CDATA[Artist: Chaka KhanAlbum: I Feel For YouSong: I Feel For You This song make me giddy. Yes, absolutely giddy. I love everything about “I Feel For You.” I love the staccato sample intro of Grandmaster Melle Mel’s voice saying, “Cha-Cha-Ch-Ch-Chaka Khan.” As an 8-year-old budding rapper, I probably repeated this phrase incessantly. (Perhaps my sister…

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<![CDATA[So I decided my site needs a regular feature besides the longer-form stuff that I do either for UrbanFaith or for sermon adaptations. Once upon a time, I fancied myself a blogger extraordinaire when I started my last blog, Mixing It Up. But I never quite figured out how to do shorter posts. Even when…

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<![CDATA[Will ‘Sing-Off’ Contestants Become the Next Take-6? Or the next R-Kelly? My background with music and my love for it, especially vocal music — not to mention numerous friends talking about it — has led me to follow the return of NBC’s “The Sing-Off,” the a capella group singing competition. In particular, I’ve had my…

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