For a long, long time, good Christian music was slim pickins. Trust. Unless you wanted to listen to Amy Grant or DC Talk or some other cheesy group, Christian music was sheer torture that my Nana invented to keep me from listening to Prince or Duran Duran. So for years and years, I continued with my heathen ways and listened to music I wanted to listen to because I saw no other alternative.
At one point, about eleven years ago, I went through this ruthless cleanse and dumped all of my music in this giant dumpster behind Michael's apartment. Goodbye Prince....farewell Beastie Boys...adios Wu-Tang Clan. Killa beeeeez. Part of me wanted to climb in that thing and pull it back out. I mean, what would be my alternative? Kirk Franklin? Jars of Clay?
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh.
Personally, I don't know what defines something as "Christian music". There is music that is non-offensive and good for "little ears"...Christians shouldn't object to listening to that sort of music, right? Then there is the music you hear on "Christian" radio stations...which personally, I find very boring and non-inspirational. Not so much because of the content but because of the style of music. Ya'll know me...I need some funk, hip hop, punk, ska, reggae, rap and rock. Then there is the music you would sing at church...which I clarify as "worship music". And I like worship music, I really do. But the other stuff...cringe.
Thankfully, I stumbled upon Fred Hammond's Pages of Life. And Cross Movement. Wooooo boy, talk about havin' church up in here! Those two artists saved me over the years, until I realized that the music I listened to didn't define me. But I still had to be cautious about what I listened to because it affected the state of my heart and mind.
These days, there is so much more to listen to. The chil'rens fill up their MP3's with Lacrae, P.O.D and Moi. They are constantly asking for some Rage Against the Machine but I have to deny them because of the profanity.
And...I don't want them to be heathens just like their mama.
So I leave you with Lacrae and his anthem from 2006. Yeh, this song is two years old but my boys bump it like it's new.
