MUSIC

The Making Of New Legends: Street Talent Outside Of The Churches Rapping And Rocking For Christ!

In the church that I’ve attended over the last 12, it is very rare to be exposed to new talent, much less local jewels from our community, or even within the walls of our mighty churches. And perhaps out of frustration or generational differences, this new, emerging, growing, bold and on-fire for Christ, body of local artists is carrying a new torch, redefining Christian music, singing, holding worship and fellowship, despite our awareness or support.

My cousin and I, both in our forties, recently came across this lovely group of creative, passionate, local talent when we were invited to an event themed as P.U.S.H, an acronym that stands for pray-until-something-happens.

We had no real idea of what we would experience, but we liked the idea of a Christian Social in Jacksonville, so off we went to some hotel on the opposite side of town.

We arrived around 830pm. Neither of us had ever been on the premises of that particular hotel, so we were both a little hesitant when we exited the truck, wondering a bit about our safety and if there really was a scheduled event after all.

In no way could the selected hotel be considered an upscale event, nor was the lingering aroma entirely pleasing, BUT it was a place where over a few hours, a good amount of people gathered themselves for fellowship, entertainment, spoken word, games, and food in the name of Christ and for His name sake.

And so it was, during this prosaic, unstructured night, we discovered many young singers and poets, but one who stuck out in particular, a young singer, promoting herself under the name, Lady Mahogany.

Passionate, charismatic, outspoken, and unabashedly unashamed about anything…and she boldly did what she had come to do…sing the Gospel in such a way that at first you might have thought you were listening to a Jill Scott or whoever sings that song…I busted the windows out your car.

There was no bragging, mention of bling, vulgarity, promotion of materialism, or thinking one was running this town tonight, or dissing for the sole purpose of humiliating another in the songs of Lady Mahogany, but rather the emphasis was on thankfulness, memories and moments where God had entered and changed her life; real humility, love, and awe of God.

And on that night, it was a mixture of interest, evidence, and enlightenment to discover and this new world of local, youth talent doing it for themselves and by themselves without any organized involvement from a major church. It was kinda cool particularly when you see that most entertainment today is overshadowed by reality TV and power shows like American Idol.

This young, emerging, bold and on-fire-for-Christ, body of local artists may not have the privilege of being heard on the radio or singing at the biggest and latest conferences, but they definitely keep it real.

Over the next few months, I have decided to uncover these fascinating, unknown jewels, through a series of interviews, articles, and videos.

If you are truly looking for real, face to face, ministry in the Jacksonville, Florida area where fellowship and love is front and center, you should join their events and support their young, adult lives as they work for the Kingdom to make our communities a better place.

Check them out online.

About the Author

Pebe Paule is a laid back, low profile writer from the south with an eye for local growing, changing trends. For more information, contact her at www.Servantgrp.com or 904.502.5428

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