CT
The introduction was the track that changed the most conceptually. The intro originally ended with a Christian Music Reborn WARNING and 8 bars of punch lines, but that version was used for the Radio Edit/Sampler instead.
This final version is a Reprise of the Outro from OPEN your HEART to His SURGERY and blends into a suitable verse from the original Praise Your Creator lyrics.
WRK
Also known as The Zephyr’s Endeavor: This song is about diversity. The first verse took a whole new meaning after 9/11. It was also the first song I ever recorded in a professional studio and was the last song on my first album. WRK is based on a 500 word essay about the Sneeches. The local newspaper held a contest for Dr. Seuss’ birthday. I ended up winning first place and got my rhyming essay published in the paper. I love this song because its message of Diversity is endless and eternal. When I decided to bring out some of the old beats, this beat definitely had to be used again; in fact I re-composed it by ear before I recorded it this time around.
PM
The instrumental for this track was called Dear Father / Forgive Me, and was initially intended to be track 4 on Landscape of time. Instead, I used the song for the Lot EP.
The lyrics were intended for a beat composed by Fresh Mann. The purpose was to walk you through my journey of life and share the things I went through, call it a mini-testimony. It takes the view point of the fence and choosing which side to hope over to. But as you can see, it shows how I went from Culture, to Christianity since the world could only cure me on the outside and not the inside.
DR
The instrumental was composed for my first album; Prelude 2 Tearz, but I cannot recall if I had any lyrics for it. I wrote a Rap/Worship song, which is similar to Pre Med with the Testimony versus Question culture scenario. This time I question how a musician should display the gospel in this world. Do we want to make music that the world loves, and just change the words, so it is Good News? Or do we want to make music that is lyrically insightful and appealing and bless them with Gospel Music too!? We don’t want our message falling on deaf ears.
SFC
This instrumental was originally composed for a Family Reunion track. It has a family feel to it. The lyrics were written @ 3am one night, when I couldn’t sleep. I intended on using these lyrics for a song composed by INNATE, but I failed to get the beat from him, therefore I didn’t put the song on OPEN HEART SURGERY. When I went back and looked through all my older beats, this one I found worked perfectly. I knew I could bring out the fun and sarcastic side of the music and lyrics. This song is reminiscent of The Burning Building.
HD
Originally this beat was composed for Owe My God. I didn’t like how it turned out back then, so I never recorded it. I decided this time around I would through on some of my Rap/Worship lyrics. Obviously I wrote the chorus to the beat. I knew I wanted to have Rap and Worship on this track, so I asked Phil Zahn when he was at the studio and he blessed the part that wasn’t suitable for me to sing myself. I love it.
WHY
This beat was used on my Demo – which landed me a deal with a professional studio. Its original lyrics were about losing a loved one. This time around I used lyrics I wrote about abuse. Originally I wrote a song called Two Way Street about domestic abuse. I re-wrote that song a few times because it just didn’t feel right. Finally, I combined the spousal abuse with the beating of Christ. I took on the perspective of the attacker. It seems as if I don’t realize the pain I am causing as I abuse the one I should love. Both examples are taken from real life situations.
PBJ
This song was originally written to be a worship song (called Powered By Jesus), somewhat repetitive but with a rap in there. It had a slower hip hop beat originally, then ended up on a mixtape with a pirate type instrumental, and recently resurfaced as a deep grimy hip-hop beat filled with angst. Although I can get these lyrics to fit many different styles of instrumentals, I figured it would sound best as a spoken word / a’cappella.
FTS
We need to reach this…. Obviously the fruit of the spirit is known from weddings and definitions of LOVE. Don’t they realized this is from the bible? Why can’t we apply this to our lives and live it daily?
LMO
Let Me Out was written to a VTZ beat with FilthyRagz and Rseven in 2006. It was deep and definitely a testimonial song. I’ve used this verse many times on different beats when I perform LIVE. Finally, I made an original beat to emphasize the lyrics and transition into OWE MY GOD / ALL MY LIFE. Of course the words changed here and there, but lyrics grow just like character.
OMG
OMG is a testimonial/hip-hop song, so I use these lyrics quite often when performing LIVE. I’ve had at least 5 beats (if not 10) under these lyrics. I decided to just create a beat around the words to help bring out the integrity of them. On a side note, I sampled John Piper’s sermon on Don’t Waste Your Life to end this song with a strong punctuation.
LSN
Listen to your heart. This song was originally written to a beat with a sample of Listen to your heart. Although I didn’t know that at the time, I just wrote what was on my heart and never really released the lyrics. The original recording of this song was released on a mixtape in 2008 – “Lazy Surgeon, Productive Summer” The poem at the end was written one day at work. It kind of came out of no where and I just loved it, so I through it on here. The beat was composed with nothing in mind, but after it was complete it reminded me of a Braille type of beat. Definitely worthy enough of being a performance track.
SSR
These lyrics were inspired by Sunday Church Service, contemplated the politics of church life & they feel about you being there.
PYC
Praise Your Creator was written as a crunk type song. Somewhere along the lines I changed the verses. The verses on here are from a song called Knowledge+Faith=Wisdom. I guess you can call this a hybrid song. I composed the music around the lyrics to bring out the depth of the verses and to help personify the chorus.
ECS
We still got the sickest! I’ve probably performed this song more than any other one. It’s the perfect dance/performance/live track. It is a track to vibe with and spirit filled. It’s always interesting to see if people respond to the lyrics or the beat more. Either way, I use this to move The Body and Souls! I think only FilthyRagz has heard the original, and we both know it’s too slow. But I did want to slow the beat down a little bit, so here you have a “slower” LIVE track.
UNA
I wrote this to an Eminem type beat. I listened to it a dozen times as I wrote out each part to fit perfectly with what was going on in the beat. That version is on the Mixtape.
I was inspired by commercializing Christ and making Jesus a Hollywood star.
TIM
This Is Me was originally Final Chapter - featured on the Burning Building Mixtape. I re-recorded and re-released it to a VTZ beat called Dying Inside - featured on the Open Heart Surgery Mixtape. I decided to re-compose the instrumental myself to fit the mood and feeling of these testimonial-angst-filled lyrics.
Originally, it was to be my last song, but I decided to re-create Committed (now known as Unashamed) and kept TIM as a bonus track... separate from the album as a whole piece. I think of it as more of an afterthought.
