PREACHERS OF LA: VIDEO OF SEASON 1 EPISODE 1 (PART 1)!

 

Top of the morning to you! What a weekend! had a blast a GA2R's show hosted by Freedom Hall Friday! Those are my people right there! watch this vid of us messing around in Maryland, USA  this past summer  >>>GA2R and DMSQUARED in USA . There was also TAPE by HOTR on Friday and back to studio the rest of the weekend! Back to the blog, I get a call from my boy  Chibills, co-owner of  Different World Records, he begins to go on about Preachers of LA and how in the end times God will use unorthodox means to reach the world with the precious message of Jesus. 

Now Chibills  can be cerebral at times and this was one of such moments. I alluded to some of his points but the castigation the show recieved from the well respected Bishop TD Jakes also left me quite wary>> Bishop TD Jakes rebukes Preachers of LA. 

I decided to search the internet and it seems the guys at Oxygen (the production company behind the series) have done a great job of blacking out the series. However, DM the Boss your premier source of Gospel lifestyle related news has hooked you up, however we cant promise the Youtube wont take this vid down in the next couple of hours so enjoy it while it lasts.

My take is all these Preachers love the camera, they love the spotlight a tad much. As someone who does alot of shows I know how intoxicating this can be and sometimes it might even begin to get to your head. I think it's entertaining, it's not meant to be an hour of televangelism. It provides a vehicle where people can hear about a Gospel in a different albeit shocking manner. I think the show should focus a little more on the Preachers works rather than their material acquisitions. The' in your face' flaunting of wealth is a tad tacky.

The “Preachers of L.A.” cast includes Bishop Noel Jones (the aforementioned brother of Grace), a Jamaican-born self-made success looking for a successor for his business; Deitrick Haddon, a musician and songwriter whose life and career were rocked by a divorce scandal; Bishop Clarence McClendon, who reaches an audience of 250 million people each week with his international broadcast; Pastor Wayne Chaney, a young up-and-comer whose Antioch ministry is poised to become a “mega-church”; Bishop Ron Gibson, a former Crip who’s grown his Life Church of God in Christ flock from nine to 4,500; and Pastor Jay Haizlip, an Alabama-born former pro skater who overcame drugs to lead the Sanctuary of Huntington Beach.

I had to divide episode into two parts as the media blackout was giving me a nightmare! Here's Part 1, I'll drop part 2 tomorrow

My  immediate favourite character is  Bishop Ron Gibson the 'OG' /Original Gangsta.. it's refreshing to see a Pastor go back to the hood and talk to real Crips and not sound preachy. Pastor Jay too is cool, just cause I'm a closet skateboard head! Anyway here's the video, enjoy it till the take it off! and make sure you watch my video caterpillar>>>

It's DM! have a great week!

Boma Diri Live at Cadogan Hall, Sloane Square!

It's Sunday people!! and I'd like to hook you up with an incredible singer Boma Diri, who's going to be liveat the prestigious Cadogan Hall in Sloane Square on the 26th October 2013. Boma has been in the studio working hard on her debut album "Leap of Faith" with acclaimed producer Nicky Brown. Following her international tour previewing some of the songs at the Barbados Gospel Festival, Boma Diri launches Leap of Faith at Cadogan Hall. There are Limited £15 Tickets on Sale now...! http://www.cadoganhall.com/event/boma-diri-131026/

All the best to this beautiful inspiring woman of Nigerian descent doing big things!

KANYE WEST BRINGS JESUS OUT ON STAGE!

'Jesus walks' by Kanye West', 'Hail Mary' by 2Pac, theres always been alot of Christian symbolism in secular rap. Some people call it the quest for artistes to associate themselves with a higher power.

 I feel this is a very dangerous trend. Especially for the Artist. When sacred and Holy symbols loose their significance and used as props in the name of artistic license  we mock the power and all they represent.

Here Kanye brings out what appears to be Jesus. Jesus appears to speak some words of direction to him but the whole context makes me uncomfortable, even the guy holding the camera says 'he's gone too far'. What do you think?

DIFFERENT WORLD RECORDS presents CHIBILLS in 'LORD KNOWS'

 Ladies and gents! Different World Records prsents, the very talented singer/rapper/songwriter Chibills! Presenting 'Lord Knows' the first track off his epic Mixtape 'Moments from Apocalypse'. This is real hiphop the purists will appreciate. A track about hypocrisy in the church with clever wordplaythat gets you thinking... I love it! Different World Records baby!

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

Rap Music is not for Christians...and other stories

It was a Sunday morning just like any other Sunday morning. I arrived at Muson centre for the Sunday morning service at House on the Rock Lagos. I felt the lucid messages from Pastor Paul were always something to look foward to and I guess my sentiment was shared by thousands of others who would struggle to get through the doors to get a good seat. A good seat those days was like a great bargain on   the American Black Friday, highly sought after and quickly snapped up. I was one of the lucky ones that day, I got a good seat in the main hall.

After some small talk with familiar faces from Unilag and Ife I settled into the service. Everything was going great till Pastor Paul dropped a bomb..'Rap music is not for Christians'.Pastor Paul's point was that like drugs after listening to Christian rap , people would desire something stronger, the real stuff and would get into secular rap. Based on this premonition it was not worth the risk.

 I was shocked because as a member of a Gospel Hiphop Group in Ife (New Wine). I had seen the effect of Rap on people. I had seen people break down in tears and give their lives to Jesus to songs like 'All honour'.

The style of today's 'church worship' songs would have been called secular decades ago. Way back there were spiritual debates on a whether the pianos or drumsets could be used in church! As a Gospel Rapper there is almost no way I can be objective on this issue however my opinion based on my relationship with God is this: If God can use a stick, a donkey or a stammerer He can use rap. God asked Moses 'whats that you hae in your hand?' He is asking us today the same question, all some of us have is one microphone with the ability to string words together. God created the world by words. No other genre of music uses as many words in a song as rap. God can use rappers and the gift of rap.

My problem with Gospel rappers is when no one can tell the difference between us and secular rappers. I watched a Gospel video recently and one of the Artistes had shirt with  'Trukfit' boldly printed on. Trukfit is Lil Wayne's designer label. Not only is it ignorant to wear logos in videos of labels who have not paid you to endorse their product, you are promoting the label of someone with a contradictory lifestyle. There has to be a difference. Personally I'm not a great fan of excessive jewellry and I believe although we should look hip, there has to be some modesty so earings, excessive rings (thats for guys) are not things I'm down with.

There is a place for Christian rap. Gospel Rappers have to work extremely hard because we have a serious message that has to be expressed with artistic vocal dexterity.  For instance I dont know how many Christianswill be listening to Don Moen on  the treadmill or how many Christian teens will be playing Ron Kenolly at their birtday parties. If Christian rap is not an option it is understandable why at most Preachers birthdays or kids birthdays Psquare et al are on replay.

Dekunle Fuji now a Nurse, what in God's name?

My name's DMSquared. I'm Nigerian. I am a Gospel Hip hop Artist. This is my first blog.

Yesterday while I was on the set of my 'Caterpillar Remix' video shoot, someone happened to mention Dekunle Fuji was now a registered nurse in the US.  Apparently I happened to be in Maryland, US myself last month and someone mentioned that he was into IT.  Naturally the conflicting info left me quite confused so  I decided to click on a couple of links. Dekunle Fuji is a Nurse. Nursing is a dignified profession, but why would a Nigerian Gospel Star swich careers so surreptitiously?  taken aback, my thoughts meandered down a hazy maze and eventually I came to a conclusion. It was probably the lesser of two evils.

Let me explain. The Nigerian Gospel music industry is a weird place. Your supporters expect great music, top class videos and advancement in your career yet they do not want to pay for the music, shows or anything whatsoever. Most Gospel Artistes are dependent on invitations by Pastors to minister (sing a couple of your songs on their stage/platform as part of the service) where they get honorariums ( usually cash gifts; the amount  is at the discretion of the Pastor) to survive. Needless to say this kind of lifestyle is not sustainable. The Churches have projects they are working on which need funding so the chances they give the Artiste a generous honorarium are few and far between.

Some Churches are an exception and huge events like 'The Experience' et al are the precipice of alot of Nigerian Gospel Artistes dreams.In reality, there is a limit to the number of  Artistes they can accommodate. Most of these events are yearly anyway.

The Gospel Artist has his song screened on radio and usually have to contend with  3hrs of airplay on Sunday morning. The Churches also throw a monkey wrench into the situation when they castigate any traces of 'wordliness' in Gospel Acts but invite secular Acts as headliners at Gospel events and the congregations go wild! To butress my point here's Dbanj at Faith Terbanacle giving a testimony   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX8qmcZprHU maybe I should go release a video like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtJ8GjtJYa8 and come give a testimony about my awards.

The average Nigerian Gospel Act's life is not sustainable. Why should Artistes who write the Gospel songs Christian billionaires worship to not be able to own a car?! At so many Gospel events I attend, I see how alot of popular Gospel artistes take okadas or have to take the bus home. I'm talking about known names in the industry. Who is to blame? the churches? the supporters who  have corporate or private events and choose to patronize secular artistes?
 who pay 30k for VIP tickets for a secular show and expect Gospel events to be free?

A couple of years ago, Dekunle had a disastrous outing at 'The Experience', this might have affected demand from the already notoriously difficult Gospel industry. He probably saw his trip to the US as an olive leaf and was advised that Nursing is a highly sought after skill in the US and jumped at the oppurtunity. What was the oppurtunity cost of Dekunle's decision? A Gospel Minstry in Nigeria where he probably would have to lobby to get into major events and played 'I wonder how much my honorarium will be?' a kind of Holy Russian Roluette Gospel Artistes go through. Hopefully once he's a bit settled we'll hear new material from him. DM d Boss.