Positive Hip Hop: Shad

In my last post, I hit on Common Market, an independent hip hop group from Seattle. For this entry we’re going to head North to the fine country of Canada. Yes, you heard me correctly: Canada. For those who don’t know Canada has risen to hip hop fame throughout the 2000s although you may not have heard of all the artists (or knew that they were from Canada) that have sparked this revolution. You’ve probably heard of Drake and k-Os (we’ll be returning to him later) who have broken into the mainstream and created a stir, but the artist I’ll be focusing on in this post is Shad. Shad is a hip hop artist who, once again, I heard about through Relevant Magazine and who I finally started listening to thanks to Grooveshark.

Shad’s first album entitled When This is Over is both contemplative and fun, boasting tracks that occasionally tie both silliness and deep issues together in a captivating manner. This mix of humor and introspection is welcome, especially in the way that Shad manages to combine the two. His humor is never vulgar or sexual, and instead is self-deprecating and relies on clever twists of phrases to encourage laughter. The one song that best illustrates how Shad manages to tie together both the humorous and the serious is probably Out of Love. Out of Love tackles the way men and women perceive and use each other for their own gains and his own personal longing for a relationship of his own. He raps: “Why’s this pseudo-pimp pressed against your pink dress?/When he drinks Ex does his stink breath impress/Cause he has no genuine interest, the only thing’s sex/Not your heart, soul or IQ…I’m a guy too/And so I’m qualified to say/That what a lot of guys display are just some hollow lies devised to get play.” Later in the song, adding a touch of humor, he raps, “I want a Claire Huxtable y’all/Cause if I had a Claire Huxtable I’d tell her shyly/I’m like the letter Q, nowhere without you beside me.”

Although Shad’s more humorous tracks are quite enjoyable on a variety of levels, his slower, more contemplative tracks are where his thoughts come through loud and clear. He often touches on issues related to racism, poverty and religion. Shad is a Christian, and this comes through more in his overall approach to his music than in his actual lyrical content, and when he comments on his faith it is in a authentic, often critical way. On When This is Over one of the best tracks is I’ll Never Understand, a slow burning rumination on some of life’s hard questions. Touching on social-economic and racial issues he raps, “The fact that to this day nobody cares/for the innocent/Victims of a full-fledged holocaust/because folks only holler if the cost of dollars lost is high/So regardless of the number of lives/When poor blacks die/they always turn a blind eye.”  And while the music on When This is Over would be improved over Shad’s next few albums, his lyrics and message would stay at the same level of quality.

Shad’s next album The Old Prince mines the same territory as When This is Over, continuing to provide a mix of humor and social consciousness in his lyrics.  The album’s most humorous song is probably The Old Prince Still Lives at Home, where Shad regales us with tales of still living at home, without any money, trying to make it big and be successful. As someone who loves self-deprecating humor, this track is a gold mine. But it’s not all fun and games on this album, and Brother (Watching) is one of the album’s hardest hitters as Shad examines the state of today’s black youth and the way that others oppress and shape the way that young African-Americans view themselves. He spits this in the second verse:

Even with this music we so limited-it’s rap or produce/and that narrow conception of what’s black isn’t true/Of course, still we feel forced to adapt to this view/like there’s something that you’re having to prove/Now add that to the slew/of justification that the capitalists use/for the new blaxploitation/Many actions excused/in the name of getting cash/That’s adversely impacting our youth/With mental slavery, the shackles is loose/And it’s hard to cut chains when they attached at the roots.

I would love to quote the whole song, as Shad offers up some practical advice and optimism at the end of the track, leaving us challenged instead of just depressed. But what he is saying in the portion I excerpted is definitely true, and I know for sure that these issues are not things I think of consistently, so getting to hear about them is very important. What is equally important is that Shad speaks to these issues without falling into desperation or becoming simply another mudslinger,  refusing to launch attacks against specific politic parties or figures.  He touches on political ideologies and the media, but these things are entities, not people and he deftly examines the issues that are present.

On the album’s final track, Get Up, Shad once again touches on issues of the media, activism, politics and change, speaking to the brokenness and fragmentation that is beneath it all. “We can’t help but fell detached from this/Capitalist confusin’ communion of corporate sponsors and advocates/Where every actor is an activist/but a movie cast won’t fix these broken homes full of fractured kids…some kind of miraculous world change can happen quick/but these problems don’t take seconds to solve/And getting mad ain’t the same thing as getting involved/We need to get up.” Shad is both hopeful and realistic, striving to produce change that is founded in reality, not a flash in the pan activism.

Shad’s newest album, TSOL, is fantastic, my favorite of his three released so far and has many more songs worthy of discussion. Keep Shining is an ode to women, full of respect and encouragement for the many downtrodden women of this earth, Rose Garden is a upbeat meditation on persevering through life’s trials and A Good Name finds Shad rapping about the importance of having a legacy. The one song I want to highlight from TSOL is At The Same Time, a sobering track about the many things in life that make us laugh and cry at the same time. The first verse is especially thought-provoking especially for anyone who shares in Shad’s Christianity: “I never laughed and cried at the same time/Until I heard a church pray for the death of Obama/and wondered if the knew they share that prayer with Osama/Blasphemy and karma, the comedy of drama…/Until I imagined, they were suddenly aware of it/but wondered who’s the heretic, and is the true terrorist American or Arabic?” The rest of the song is equally thought-provoking, but this verse in particular always gets me when I hear it. There are just song things in life that provoke both laughter and tears, and Shad demonstrates some that some of these situations are capable of provoking a surprising amount of thought.

Shad’s music and lyrics combine to make an interesting blend of humor, self-introspection and social consciousness, that manages to do all three of these things without being vulgar, but still retaining a sense of realism. Within this realism Shad manages to hold on to an optimistic viewpoint, something that is a struggle for me to do. In a world that seems to be making me more cynical, Shad still manages to find the good, and that is what positive hip hop is all about.

Positive Hip Hop: Common Market

Seattle is a city most well known for coffee, rain and grunge rock. Recently, however, they have experienced a boom in independent hip hop as artists like The Blue Scholars have been steadily producing high quality hip hop, musically and lyrically. My personal favorite group from Seattle is Common Market. I was turned on to Common Market by Relevant magazine, and I picked up their second full album Tobacco Road. I was met by a plethora of chill beats produced by Dj Sabzi and perfectly strung together words spit by the immense talent of RA Scion.

The first thing you’ll notice about Common Market is the intelligence that they bring to hip hop. Scion’s lyrics are a melting pot of story and biography, and his raps are an adventurous romp through an array of expertly delivered vocabulary words that make up a truly unique hip hop experience. Both members of Common Market are Baha’i, a faith that values nonviolence and peaceful treatment of others, and this spiritual and political bent shows through in their lyrics. We’re going to take a look at some of their music to highlight their positive contributions to hip hop.

Their first album Common Market is packed full of songs that are full of a driving energy with real hope behind it that seems to suggest that we can band together to make things better. On Every Last One Scion spits:

It’s our intent to re-implement modesty/Demandin’ self-respect be the market’s hottest commodity/Regulate the wealth and decimate extreme poverty/and educate kids with every dollar from the lottery/We ’bout to change the mentality/of old world savagery into a new reality/One where teachers and lawyers will change salaries/and liquor stores are razed to make way for art galleries…

This is not your average radio hip hop. This is two dudes, passionate about changing the way we think about the world and encouraging us to think about how we can actually make a change. Later on in the album on Love One, over a soulful beat from Sabzi, Scion raps about the women in his life: his mom, sister, wife and daughter. It’s a beautiful song that celebrates everything good about femininity and shows that Common Market’s approach to women is not formed by the prevailing view of the hip hop genre.

After their first album, filled with many more songs like those I highlighted above, Common Market released an EP before dropping Tobacco Road. Tobacco Road is a stunning album, dripping with soul, Scion’s lyrics perfectly complemented by Sabzi’s production. The album bursts out of the doors with Trouble Is, but it is the second song Gol’Dust that captures my attention immediately. The song is a exemplary look at greed and the many ways it influences our daily lives. My favorite lines come at the end of the song: “And what’s a legacy worth next to mined metal, yo/Measure me first–depression, it’s better we work/For change, not for pennies, if anything the commodity traded is us for flakes of gold dust.”

Tobacco Road is an album concerned with the way in which we work, the affects of industrialization and, ultimately, the way we live our lives. Nina Sing touches on poverty and societal inequality in work and economic conditions. The final verse is a perfect example: “Seein’ fam fallin’ through the cracks in the variance/Famished on a barren land of AIDS and malaria/One percent could fix it with a tenth of their inheritance/Freedom buried in the treasure chest of the nefarious.” Regardless of whether or not you agree with their conclusions, there is no doubt that Common Market is exploring important territory with a level of maturity and verbosity that should be respected. The album concludes with the title track, an homage to Tobacco Road in Kentucky, which also offers up a introspective look on growing up and leaving home. “Mindful of the nights in that state, who they say life is what you make it/When really life is what makes you…The schools failed me, thank God the farm taught me/The value of a calloused hand, how to work and plow this land/How even a modest crop will make your pop the proudest man.”

Common Market is a independent hip hop group that is not afraid to tackle big issues and they do it in an intellectual, effective way. Their songs are loaded with words and ideas that are available for anyone who is willing to listen. Positive and socially conscious, Common Market is making great music with a worthwhile message.

Positive Hip Hop: An Introduction

While the debate over the artistic/moral validity of hip hop has decreased over the past few years, there are still those who see hip hop as merely a vehicle to promote misogynistic and hedonistic lifestyles that revolve around drugs, alcohol and violence. While I am not discounting the abundance, in some manner of speaking, of this type of hip hop, to discard the genre as worthless without first exploring it more in depth is a grave mistake. Over the next few weeks (months?) I’ll be highlighting some hip hop artists that make compelling, challenging music and showing how this oft-maligned genre is capable of speaking with the same depth and power as any other genre of music.

Before embarking upon this series of exposes of individual artists, I want to speak to the overall state of hip hop in general, and how there is positive and uplifting hip hop even within the mainstream and from artists you may not expect. While I am certainly not the most qualified to speak to the state of current hip hop, I think I can give a fair picture of where the genre currently stands at least in terms of its impact and potential impact, both positive and negative.

Positive, often termed socially conscious, hip hop has not always been on the forefront of the genre, and I would daresay it still is not, but its presence is being felt more and more. Mainstream, radio hip hop is still often full of content that one would not consider uplifting or encouraging to a way of living that is concerned with deeper issues, but we must be cautious of labeling every artist or every song as things which are not worth attention. To make this point I’m going to point out some great, thought-provoking songs from some of the more morally derided hip hop artists of the past few decades. Let’s clear our minds of the assumption that every hip hop artist, mainstream or otherwise, regardless of their reputation, makes music that is irredeemable.

I’m only going to be tackling a very small cross-section of mainstream artists here, looking specifically at Eminem and Kanye West. Let the record show that I agree there are a number of artists making rather meaningless music, but a knee-jerk reaction is not something beneficial to either our critical thinking skills or to art in general. Even artists traditionally known for producing “offensive” music have their moments where they shine light onto some important issues.

Eminem is not known for being a very positive emcee, as he is probably most well known for his violent, profanity-laden and at times racist and sexist lyrics. But those who stop there, condemning Eminem without a second thought, miss out on some poignant commentaries on modern hip hop and on his life that reveal a thoughtful, introspective side of Eminem that has some important things to say. The song and video above, “Like Toy Soldiers”, tackles the issue of violence within the hip hop community, as Eminem points a finger at himself and the entire culture that surrounds so called “battle” raps. The song speaks to the violence that has been propagated by this culture and concludes with Eminem rapping, “I’m just willing to be the bigger man/If y’all can quit poppin’ off at your jaws well then I can/ Cuz frankly I’m sick of talkin’/I’m not gonna let someone else’s coffin rest on my conscience.”

Other songs from Eminem such as “Mockingbird”, “When I’m Gone” and “Stan” stand out as tracks that offer more than just profanity and shock value. In “Mockingbird” and “When I’m Gone” Eminem spits about his daughter and family and how he wishes some things were different, taking a very candid look at his own life and evaluating it. “Stan” warns of the danger of celebrity worship, by over-exaggerating Stan’s admiration of Eminem and showing it for the dangerous thing that it can actually be. And while Eminem’s output hasn’t been markedly less offensive after “Stan”, it seems that in the song  Eminem is realizing the potential negative  impact his music can have on those that listen to it. While Eminem’s music is still not for those easily offended by profanity, some of it is quite profound and provides us with insight into a man who has some beneficial comments to make.

Almost known more for his public outbursts than his music is Kanye West. Famous for having an ego the size of Jupiter, Kanye is often not taken seriously thanks to the persona that he emits. However, if we look past that, we can see that some Kanye’s music has a great deal more depth to it than just the ravings of an egomaniac. “Jesus Walks” got a lot of publicity when it was released due to its rather up front spiritual message and listening to it again today provokes much of the same reaction if one can separate their bias for or against Kanye from the equation. Apparently, Kanye has released a new version of the video for “Jesus Walks” but I like the old version much better (please excuse the video quality). It seems as if Kanye grasps the Christian message of grace for everyone in the song and video better than some Christians. The song is also an indictment of the mainstream hip hop scene’s unwillingness to grapple with spiritual issues, as Kanye raps, “So here go my single dawg radio needs this/They say you can rap about anything except for Jesus/That means guns, sex, lies, videotape/But if I talk about God my record won’t get played, huh?”

In addition to “Jesus Walks,” Kanye has a number of other songs that deal with issues such as self-confidence, materialism and poverty or other social issues. Also on his first album The College Dropout, are songs like “All Falls Down” and “Family Business,” which touch on topics such as Kanye’s self confidence and his relation to his family. On his second album, he explores conflict diamonds and the wars fought over them in “Diamonds from Sierra Leone” with Jay-Z and raps a heartfelt song for his mom with “Hey Mama.” Graduation boasts plenty of braggadocio, but also contains some uplifting tracks like “Homecoming” and “Big Brother” and “Everything I Am” finds Kanye looking back at his life and asserting, “Everything I’m not made me everything I am.” Kanye is still immature at times, and certainly isn’t providing deep content every time he rhymes, but he has his share of songs dealing with serious things and trying to spark change in his listeners.

I hope that this brief introduction to hip hop has shown you that not all hip hop is crude and profane, but contains music that is meaningful. Admittedly, at times we must look through the rough exterior to see what is within, but I believe that is a worthwhile endeavor. As we continue on in our look into positive hip hop, the artists I’ll be spotlighting will more consistently comment on social, political and religious issues than Eminem and Kanye. They will approach these issues from a variety of perspectives and come to a myriad of conclusions. These artists all have something important to say and are deserving of an audience who is looking at their work critically.

Let it Burn Higher

Fire. The word evokes long tongues of flame, yellow, orange and red, flicking back and forth through the night air. It follows no discernible pattern, untamed as it is, beckoning and threatening with its selfsame light and heat. Perhaps it is the mysterious quality of fire, its burning and comfort, that has so endeared it to the artist in his search for the perfect metaphor or simile to express the necessary emotion.

Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee in The Road.

 

I recently watched The Road which tells the story of a Man (Viggo Mortensen) and his young Son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) in post-apocalyptic America as they journey southward in search of a better place to survive.  Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same title by Cormac McCarthy, The Road is bleak, as grays, brown and blacks dominate the landscape, with the only respite being flashbacks to the time before the war started. In both the film and book, however, there is a ray of light that bursts through the clouds from time to time as the Man interacts with his Son, spurring him on throughout the many difficult times they have.  Refusing to let hope die, the Man tells his Son to keep carrying the fire, the fire within his soul. Often it seems as if this fire, this hope, is the only thing that sustains our main characters.

Fire is such a potent metaphor for this internal hope, this endless struggle between perseverance and defeat. If one fails to keep stoking their fire, it will inevitably go out, weakly smoldering until it ceases to give off warmth or light, a pile of forgotten black ash that returns to the soil. Such is the human life, and without doubt all our fires will encounter this final dampening. But what is so horrific and disappointing is those, like the bandits in The Road, who have put out their fire before their deaths. They have squelched their flames and given in to the ceaseless drudgery and overwhelming brokenness of life, their ashes only awaiting the final scattering to the wind. I sense in The Road a fierce rebellion to this way of looking at life, even though the characters inhabit an America filled with even more reasons to abandon hope.

It is this fire that hip hop group The Roots sing of in The Fire on their latest album How I Got Over. Like The Road, How I Got Over is an album filled with tales of hardships and problems that refuses to forsake hope. Black Thought raps, sounding like he’s read The Road, “I’m an icon when I let my light shine, shine bright as an example of a champion…Burn like a chariot, learn how to carry it…Fuel to the flame that I train with and travel with…I realize I’m supposed to reach for the skies, never let somebody try and tell you otherwise.” It’s a fantastic song that urges us to never give up, even amidst struggles and difficulties, which will surely come in this life.

If you permit me to speak metaphorically, we all have this fire inside of us, burning to varying degrees. Hope is hard to find sometimes in this world, but it exists, and it is this hope that can sustain us in the darkest of times. Don’t let your fire be put out by the cares of this world, keep blazing. After all if we’re carrying this fire, let’s carry it well.

Top 5 Films of 2010

2010 was not an altogether bad year for film, and while the summer had its constant supply of dreck, the rest of the year saw some great films. Unfortunately, as per usual I wasn’t able to see a number of critically acclaimed films (i.e. The Social Network, 127 Hours), both foreign and American, so this is a somewhat truncated list of the best films from 2010 that I saw. Enjoy.

1. The Fighter

The Fighter is the best kind of sports movie: one that focuses more on its characters and how they respond than on its climatic sporting bout. Boasting powerhouse performances from Christian Bale as Dickie Eklund and Mark Wahlberg as his younger half-brother Micky Ward, The Fighter uses its sports backdrop to focus on the complex dynamics of Dickie and Micky’s family and of Dickie’s drug addiction. Throughout the film, the authenticity and emotions of the characters are readily apparent and they make for a thoroughly enjoyable movie experience. To top it all off, the movie is shot and directed beautifully, and it lends a certain grace to a film that is populated with ungraceful characters. The Fighter is a fantastic film and deserves to be counted among Hollywood’s finest boxing films.

2. True Grit

I’ll admit it, when I first heard the Coen Brothers were making a remake of True Grit I was a little skeptical. While I’ve enjoyed certain Coen Brothers’ films, I’m not overwhelmed by all of them, so at first I approached True Grit with some trepidation. Then some good reviews started to roll in, so I went and saw it. I was blown away by how much I enjoyed the film. Riding the performances of young Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross and Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn, True Grit is typical Coen Bros from start to finish packed with witty dialogue and superb visuals. But unlike some Coen Brothers films (Burn After Reading) True Grit has a heart that is not lost amidst the Coen’s typical pastiche and dark humor. Sparkling with insight and questions into grace and justice, True Grit is an excellent contribution from the ever prolific Coen Brothers.

3. Exit Through the Gift Shop

Is Exit Through the Gift Shop a documentary or not? This is the question that looms large throughout this extremely entertaining documentary by British street-artist Banksy. As Banksy explores street-art and the life of Thierry Guetta, a self-proclaimed documentarian of street-art turned street-artist himself, we are exposed to the world of street art and its artistic evolution. The finale of this movie, when Guetta creates an art exhibit based solely off hype is either a devastatingly real view of today’s art community, a bristling indictment of street-artists “selling out” or a wicked satire of both street-art and the art community. These are the questions Banksy raises, and yet he provides no answers. A stirring look at art, hype and the art community, Exit Through the Gift Shop is sure to keep provoking discussion for a long time.

4. The King’s Speech

The King’s Speech is one of the best period films I have seen in a long time. Everything about it is spot-on. Terrific acting, beautiful costumes, fantastic cinematography and a superb script all combine to tell the story of King George VI and how he overcame a speech impediment to give the speech that brought Britain into World War 2. I can’t say enough about Colin Firth (King George) and Geoffrey Rush (Lionel Logue, the speech therapist), who both steal the show with tremendous ability. The King’s Speech is dramatic, but also humorous, a combination that has unfortunately been lacking in recent films. Beautifully executed, The King’s Speech is one you don’t want to miss.

5. Winter’s Bone

Winter’s Bone is a chilling portrayal of a young woman’s search for her father, grounded in the harsh reality of a drab and dark existence in the rural Ozarks. Director Debra Granik takes a chance exploring this subculture, but manages to mostly avoid making any of the people in her film into caricatures, instead telling a moving story focused on the wonderful performance of Jennifer Lawrence as Ree Darling. The film really comes into its own as it starts to examine the role of women in the culture it portrays, but with implications that spill over into broader society. Winter’s Bone is an excellent film, beautifully ordinary while also filled with suspense and intrigue.

Honorable Mentions:
Toy Story 3
The Secret of Kells
Inception

Top 5 Albums of 2010

Well, it’s that time again, although judging by the hundreds of year-end lists that have already appeared, I seem to be a little late. I don’t understand the preoccupation with forming year-end lists in early December. I mean the year isn’t even over by that point, I’d rather wait until January, which I have done. Anyway, if you read my Top Ten Pieces of Impacting Culture over at Mockingbird Blog you’ll notice a lot of overlap from that list to this one, as to be expected. I’ll be writing about five albums in particular, because I felt like picking ten was a bit of a stretch as I wasn’t able to listen to as much new music this year as I would have liked. So here’s the list, complete with Youtube videos galore.

1. The Age of Adz-Sufjan Stevens

I’m not sure what more I can say about The Age of Adz that I haven’t already said, but it continues to remain a revelation to me. By reinventing himself, Sufjan has created a masterful album full of strange noises and at times even stranger lyrics. But underneath all the alienating electronic buzz and depressing musings on life, runs a pulsing current of vitality, the same current that has always run through Sufjan’s music. This is Sufjan at his most personal, albeit slightly disguised behind the seemingly impersonal musical landscape, but I think this musical approach allows Sufjan to truly explore some of the darker corners of his personality without it become overbearing. Regardless, The Age of Adz is an amazing album, its joy tempered and then exalted through the very reality of life.

2. High Violet- The National

The National’s music is so beautiful, in part due to its understatement. Everything about The National seems relaxed, from their laid back music to their abstract lyrics. On closer listen, however, it becomes evident that The National is exploring deep emotions of the soul, often doing so through the mood created by their music and lyrics. High Violet does this exceedingly well, weaving tales of love, loss, fear, addiction and more together into an album that forces you to confront the insecurities and depressions of your own life. It’s an intense look into the soul and mind of the postmodern individual, revealing the struggles of most twenty-somethings that populate America right now, yet High Violet does manage to carry a sense of weathered hope, especially in its closing triad of songs.

3. Sigh No More-Mumford and Sons

If High Violet is beautiful in its understatement, then Sigh No More is beautiful in its zealousness. The neo-folk of Mumford and Sons is brash, hopeful and full of excitement. Blasting through its twelve songs, only stopping for breath briefly, Sigh No More is full of grand statements about life, love and God which is part of its charm. The British quartet is not afraid of wearing their collective heart on their sleeve, a refreshing change from some of the more emotionally guarded bands that exist. What I love about Mumford and Sons is that their optimism is grounded in reality. Sigh No More is relentlessly optimistic and hopeful, but it never sugarcoats the realities and problems of life, but points to a hope that these problems will eventually be made right. A beautiful album measured with grace and humility.

4. How I Got Over-The Roots

How I Got Over is an album that has continued to grow on me since I first heard it in the late summer. The Roots are one of those groups that consistently release albums that are thoughtful both musically and lyrically which is something that I greatly respect. How I Got Over is a dark album that by its end has risen above the darkness in triumph, celebrating life for both its peaks and its valleys. There is a definite shift in the album toward hope as its approaches its midpoint, and this hope comes to fruition in the album’s climatic song The Fire. It is made all the more celebratory because of what came before it, a beautiful realization that sometimes life’s best moments are found after going through the storm.

5. The Suburbs-Arcade Fire

In my opinion, The Suburbs is the Arcade Fire’s best album. It manages to combine their unique musical approach with lyrics that are able to evoke strong emotions, while avoiding many of the problems people have had with their lyrics in the past. The Suburbs is an honest album, delving into the experience of growing up in the suburbs and what suburbia has done to America. It is both nostalgic and critical at the same time, a difficult balance to strike. Full of the bold instrumentation and soaring vocals we’ve come to expect from the Arcade Fire, The Suburbs continues in the same steps as its predecessors, but is better than those albums ever were.

Honorable Mentions:

Here’s a few albums that I couldn’t put on my top five list, but deserve to be listened to as they are a bit out of the ordinary.

P.A.R.C.E.-Juanes

Juanes is not incredibly well known by English speaking people, but is one of Latin America’s hottest recording artists, for a good reason. He makes great music, pop-rock infused with a Latin sensibility, and sings more than generic love songs. His latest album is another great piece of music and is well worth checking out.

All Day- Girl Talk

I mentioned this album in my blog about the mashup, and I’m still digging it. All Day is extremely fun and creative, combining various pop hits from the past four decades into a new creation that gives these old songs new life. It can be downloaded for free here.

Feedback- Derek Webb

I love Derek Webb and his new album is an instrumental exploration of the Lord’s Prayer. The album is a multimedia affair, coming with abstract art and photographs that complement the music. Webb is always one to try new things, and Feedback is a stunning piece of art that needs to be experienced through the ears and eyes.

Painting

“The world today doesn’t make sense, so why should I paint pictures that do?”-Picasso

I’ve recently taken up painting. For those who know me that may come as a surprise, due to my overall lack of ability when it comes to drawing or the visual arts. For me, however, it is merely another step forward in exploring and encouraging my creative and artistic spirit. I know I can’t draw, but having been recently inspired by abstract work from artists like Makoto Fujimura and Scott Erickson (painted paintings for Derek Webb’s recent instrumental work Feedback), I decided to try my hand at some abstract art.

Yes, I painted this.

Needless to say, I have learned a few things about myself and art already. Painting is difficult. Especially if you are trying to create something that is more than just slapping some colors on a canvas. Art, even abstract art, is not something done recklessly. You have to have a plan, and even if you deviate from that plan, if you sit down to paint without a plan, it doesn’t work well. It’s so important to know what you are doing and do it.

Being a perfectionist, painting can be deadly. Every line I paint that isn’t straight or that blends with the wrong color makes me wince inwardly. It’s been good for me to have to let go and realize that if everything had to be perfect I would never get it done. I just have to do the best that I can and be satisfied. Painting with acrylic is fairly unforgiving, especially when using a darker color. I can’t go back like I can with writing and fix my mistakes; I have to accept what I did. Painting forces you to take your time and make your decisions deliberately, something that is refreshing in this fast-paced world.

However, what I love the most is the peace that comes from sitting down and painting. There I sit, jamming to Girl Talk or Derek Webb’s Feedback and I let the colors cascade from the brush to the canvas. I juxtapose red and blue, I mix red and yellow, I create something new. And even if my paintings never touch anyone but me, I am confident that in exercising the creativity that comes from being made in the image of God I am constantly growing in a better understanding of the world and myself.

Away We Go

As far as I remember, Away We Go didn’t make a huge splash when it was released. This strikes me as kind of odd, due to the fame of both director Sam Mendes and co-writer Dave Eggers. You would have thought that this combination would have, at the very least, inspired the numerous indie/ postmodern twenty-somethings to come and check it out. Add to this the fact that John Krasinski (The Office) and Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live) are our protagonists and you would imagine the hipster cred of this film to be off the charts. Needless to say, when I sat down to watch Away We Go I expected a witty, ironic ride through the lives of a couple trying to find a place to raise their expected child. What I didn’t expect was a film filled with a tenderness and respect for the ups and downs of the human condition, but this is exactly what Away We Go delivered.

Krasinski and Rudolph play a thirty-something couple (Bert and Verona) who find themselves pregnant and, looking at their current residence, decide it’s time for them to find a better place to raise their child. The first half of the movie is largely played for comedy as they visit Arizona and Wisconsin, meeting some truly outlandish friends and acquaintances along the way. This changes with the second half of the movie, as they travel to Montreal to visit some old college friends and them to Miami where  Bert’s brother has just been left by his wife. Suddenly, the film cuts right to the heart in a way that reveals the deepest struggles that we all have. Bert and Verona lay on a trampoline in his brother’s backyard and share some of their greatest fears and deepest struggles, and there I sit, seeing my own life and my fears reflected right back at me. I connected with them, in a way I haven’t connected with a character in a film in a long time.

This moment was so powerful because it revealed that not just Bert and Verona, but all these characters, like all of us, had baggage. Their lives were tossed and turned by life’s waves and they all had things that had influenced and changed their lives for good and bad. This is a profound truth about life, that no matter how much love our parents, friends and significant others give us we will have baggage. Our minds will have been messed with, our lives twisted around, sometimes by people with the best of intentions. Some people try to repress this, or offer up reasons for why their lives are so screwed up, like some of the characters at the beginning of the film. But others, like Bert and Verona, own their faults and move ahead, aware and unashamed of the people they are.

Every day we are faced with the choice to be authentic or fake. So often I opt for fake because it is easier to admit I have no problems, instead of picking up my baggage and carrying it with me. It’s been my experience that the only ways to begin to correct your problems and find peace in your messed up life is to admit that you do, indeed, have problems. Just like everyone else.

Guest Post!

Hey all, here is a guest post I wrote for Mockingbird Blog as a sort of year-end recap. Hope you enjoy!

Here’s the post!

The Tree of Life Trailer

I realize the Internet is already flooded by people talking about the trailer for The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick’s next feature film, but this trailer is so good that I feel like I have to comment on it and the more buzz it gets the better.

Malick is a director whom I have gained great respect for over the past couple of years. His artistry is unmatched and his films carry such a beautiful sense of the divine within them that I often can’t tear my eyes away. The Tree of Life looks to be no different, and looks to be striking at a core struggle in all of us: the struggle between self-sacrifice and selfishness.

Enjoy the trailer! Make sure you watch in HD.