JayZ's death of autotune
is one of many auto tunes/
Spit out by an industry that
mocks Christ and glorifies fools/
Yet majority of his sales
comes from the so-called Christian/
Who think him and his wife's ego
are manna from heaven/
-Cross.Eyed
But hey, this post is not about my critique of JayZ & Beyonce, I've already been there numerous times. The new JayZ T-Shirt above just inspired me to start a discussion on one of the many "controversial" lines in his new CD - Blueprint 3. I want to know what his Christian 'fans' think, or just hear from some disicples.
So in his song entitled "Empire State of Mind", one of the lines states
"Jesus can’t save you, life starts when the church ends".
What do you guys think? Was he just trying to rhyme. Was he using symbolism? Is he an anti-Christ? Is he just being sarcastic? Of course, you saw my opinion at the beginning of this blog, but let me know if I'm being "too dramatic" or looking "too deep"... LEAVE A COMMENT! :)
The complete verse:
[Jay-Z]
Lights is blinding,
girls need blinders
so they can step out of bounds quick,
the side lines is blind with casualties,
who sipping life casually, then gradually become worse,
don’t bite the apple Eve,
caught up in the in crowd,
now your in-style,
and in the winter gets cold en vogue with your skin out,
the city of sin is a pity on a whim,
good girls gone bad, the cities filled with them,
Mami took a bus trip and now she got her bust out,
everybody ride her, just like a bus route,
Hail Mary to the city your a Virgin,
and Jesus can’t save you, life starts when the church ends,
lyrics courtesy of killerhiphop.com
came here for school, graduated to the high life,
ball players, rap stars, addicted to the limelight,
MDMA got you feeling like a champion,
the city never sleeps better slip you a Ambien[Chorus]
In New York,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
Theres nothing you can’t do,
Now you’re in New York,
these streets will make you feel brand new,
big lights will inspire you,
lets here it for New York, New York, New York
Welcome to the bright light..
From battle rapper to Christian rapper?!
Jin initially gained his popularity as the "Freestyle Friday Champ” on BET's 106 and Park, then went on to sign with the Ruff Ryders. In 2004, Jin released his debut album, The Rest Is History, which garnered the lead single “Learn Chinese.” He also made his acting debut in a the blockbuster film 2 Fast 2 Furious. [AllHipHop.com]
But it seems a new day is dawning:
"My name is Jin Au-Yeung. Born and raised in Miami, Florida. I currently reside in Hong Kong. I love God. I love my family. I love music."
WELCOME TO THE LIGHT CLUB
"So I put up this new joint that I recorded about a week agao called "Welcome to the Light Club" and I've be getting alot feedback on it, and I just wanna say thanks for the feedback, good or bad. But what actually caught me off gurad and caught me by surpirse is there's been alot of websites to feature the song or write about the song as well.
Someone told me that there was a forum on a Christian Hip Hop site, HolyCulture.net where someone posted the link in a thread and they were just writing and talking and discussing about it, giving feedback, so shoutout to them. Another one that wrote about it was uh, someone told me about it, I didnt even see it myself but they sent me the link. AllHipHop.com wrote about it... good or bad they write about everything, so yeah, shoutout to AllHipHop. But they also did an article about Jin becomng a Christian Rapper.
So I just wanted to take a moment to talk about this. Because I've been getting alot of emails too, as well as on my MySpace page people asking, "So Jin, I'm hearing that you're a Christian rapper now, is that true?" That's a good question. And I don't think it's a "yes or no" answer that I need to give you guys. Actually, I just want to elaborate. Am I Christian.. yes I am. Do I rap.. yeah! I still do....
Yeah I still rap, Yes I'm a Christian. And does that make me Christian rapper? Hey, I'll let you call it: "
JIN SHARES HIS TESTIMONY:
You can find Jin at the following links:
http://AyoJin.com
http://www.myspace.com/therealjin
For those who want mp3s for "The Best" + "Welcome To The Light Club" just copy and paste the following link: http://www.mediafire.com/?qzzewyzzty1
One of my pieces that I recently did at work.. inspired by all my paper chasers.
Chasin' paper, paper chasin'
To all the ones running after Benjamins
You can gon' ahead and chase the wind
But I'ma chase the one who CREATED the wind
See, He's the Alpha, Alpha Ape, and Omega
THE source of evolution, not Darwin's conjecture
Greater, enthroned as The Official Rain Maker
Yes, Sitting on chrome above your favorite rain-maker
Listen, You don't have to trade God in to get your chips
Your intelligence and wits, a house and new whip
You dont have to trade God in to get your winners Tee
A resume & 2 degrees, to please your frat or sorority
Like a dog chasing it's tail, cats chasing their own glory
Running round in circles for their own success story
Their life is on lease, but wasting faster than a memory
Cause it was only meant to be used for the KING's glory.
Chasin' paper, paper chasin'
To all the ones running after Benjamins
You can gon' ahead and chase the wind
But I'ma chase the one who CREATED the wind
They've aboned purity for perversion, unity for division
All the while thanking the god they say blessed them
But I o know why they look up when they thank him
Cuz their god is is right there in their pocket next to 'em
Money's the god they trust, talk about him all the time
Mind on their money, and their money on their mind
Stacking up paper is what keeps them on the grind
Auctioning off their soul to the almighty dollar... SOLD!
to the man in black with the 2 red horns
He will bless em til they die to keep em from being reborn
Lest they take their eyes off their selves & see the Lord
And realize they're just a pawn in a heavenly war.
Chasin' paper, paper chasin'
To all the ones running after Benjamins
You can gon' ahead and chase the wind
But I'ma chase the one who CREATED the wind
Hopefully, I can post a video soon of me relaying the words live
This is an old post, but it serves as good background info to the most recent blog.
...love is not God, GOD IS love.
Many will tell me I just contradicted myself, but I did not.
Yesterday, after reading this blog and countless others with the same theme, I was deeply moved. All being powerfully presented for the case of Love (vs. God -- or at least, the Judeo-Christian God which many are raising as their banner while fighting against homosexual marriages, truthfully or not).
And many all around the world are joining in with these defenders of Love & Charity, asking "Amidst all the evil being committed in the world, how can any human with a heart deny lovers their desire to be together forever? With heterosexual marriages having a less than 50% chance of survival, why deny homosexuals the flicker of a chance that they are asking for? How does granting them "holy matrimony" affect your flame, or your statistics (which are only getting worse and "less holy" with swingers and the like..)? How? Why? and Why do it in the name of your God who calls himself love? Do your God a favor and allow these people their chance at love, their piece of God." (phrases pulled from many blogs).
And man, was my heart moved by their plea. I broke into tears at my desk at work, my heart burdened with their thirst for love, for God - and saddened that we believe the path to God is love, not realising that the path to love is God. Society and the Devil have succeeded in intoxicating generations with this myth, and homosexuals are just one room in this gigantic house. The 18-yr old PK that becomes madly in love with her boyfriend, and is PERSUADED that since 'god is Love', she does not need to wait til marriage to "make love" to him. The 55-yr old church bishop who is not "in love" with his wife anymore, and is thus CONVINCED that the 'god of Love' wants him to divorce her and marry the church secretary whose spirit he has loved and admired for years now. The 39-yr old Bible-thumper who has been fighting to be redeemed from her homosexual past, but now, with her highschool sweetheart resurfacing and re-igniting 'a love that was undeniable', and being confident that "nothing can separate her from the Love of god, since we are all sinners saved by grace"... she is SURE of 3 things: She is a woman, a lesbian, and a Christian - and only the latter was her choice.
Yes, all 3 examples were "church people", because quite frankly, this commentary is not about homosexuals (whether homosexual marriages should be legalised will be another commentary) but about we, the Christians. We, the Christians, who deem these 'truths' to be "self-evident" and not "God-evident". We, the ones who not only run wild with our own "interpretations", but also quote 50 Scripture references to back up our beliefs, because we have taken God off the throne and instead put love in His place... and we did it all in the name of the Bible. Because, of course, the Bible says, "god is Love"; BUT I assure you the correct phrase is "God is love". Yes, love is the lowercase, because it is the lower in this court case.
And so the verdict is in, the FINAL RULING in the case of Love vs. God is that GOD IS love. God is my love. God is my only gate and source to love. All other persuasions, convictions, and confidants MUST BOW... only His rulings will stand in my life. I love PEOPLE, but I don't love LOVE, I love GOD. God loves people but HATES FORNICATION, DIVORCE, and HOMOSEXUALITY the same way he hates LIES, LUST, AND MURDER because He knows the ultimate result of these carcinogens: HIDDEN SICKNESS, CANCER, DEATH. And I will leave myself at His mercy, because He is the Judge, and He has already ruled! It.is.written.
References:
The Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth, so help me God.
1 John 4:8
1 Corinthians 6:8-10
1 Timothy 1:9-11
