| Hip-hop worshippers hope to spread the rap | | Posted Tuesday, November 07, 2006 1:21:34 PM by Blog57 Team | | NEW YORK, Nov 6 (Reuters Life!) - First came the hip-hop Mass, then a hip-hop prayer book, and now a group of hip-hop Christians are hoping to spread the word across the United States with a new CD that puts their service to music. New York Episcopal priest the Rev. Timothy Holder, who goes by the rap name "Poppa T," created the HipHopEMass two years ago after an armed hostage situation at his South Bronx church made him focus on the neighbourhood's younger generations. Using rap music and the hip-hop vernacular, he got the attention of some teenagers and young adults, going on to hold about 75 hip-hop inspired services around the country over the past two years, attracting from 12 to several thousand people. But he hopes a CD produced by his rap flock will be used as the basis for more services.... | |
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| | | RAP: Diddy-guided stars on album could do better on their own | | Posted Saturday, November 04, 2006 11:31:49 AM by Blog57 Team | | Would-be world dominator Sean Combs' occasional forays into music have seemed more and more like forced family outings led by a distracted father. Diddy's questionable level of involvement doesn't de-legitimize his efforts; as a conceptualizer, he's on the level of former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, whose own records were often hailed as works of genius (and which contained few of his own contributions). But you could argue the all-star assemblage of "Press Play" - Diddy's first solo set in half a decade - would have been even stronger without the auteur's direct involvement and certainly without his pedestrian rhymes about love and life. It's fairly strong, regardless, with Timbaland recapturing his flair for futuristic funk and a cast of dozens (led by Mary J.... | |
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| | | Varieties spawn, multiply like loaves and fishes | | Posted Sunday, September 24, 2006 3:06:58 AM by Blog57 Team | | Forty years ago, Christian rock was but a gleam in the eye of pop music. Today, Christian versions of ska, emo, rap, industrial-rock, hard-core, punk, thrash and even death-metal bands are a part of the pop-culture tableau. How did we arrive here from there? 1960: The King of Rock and Roll releases His Hand in Mine, proving that a rocker can do gospel. 1967: Bob Dylan releases John Wesley Harding, featuring All Along the Watchtower, which includes lyrics supposedly inspired by the book of Isaiah. 1969: Larry Norman releases Upon This Rock, often considered the first Christian-rock album. The Byrds record Jesus Is Just Alright for the Ballad of Easy Rider album. 1970: The album Jesus Christ Superstar, the worlds first gospel rock opera, is released. (The Broadway version makes its debut the next year.) Norman Greenbaum releases Spirit in the Sky.... | |
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| | | Arlington Church Launches Battle Against Rap Music | | Posted Friday, August 11, 2006 9:16:55 AM by Blog57 Team | | ARLINGTON, Texas -- A fight over rap music is heating up as some parents say the hip hop culture is a bad influence on their children and they're making their message heard at an Arlington church. Hundreds met at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington to destroy mountains of rap music and piles of hip hop paraphernalia. Video .... | |
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| | | BEEF TAINTS HIP HOP MUSEUM IN NEW YORK: At issue is whether or not to include an exhibit on gangsta rap. | | Posted Sunday, August 06, 2006 7:06:51 AM by Blog57 Team | | *If the New York City Council has its way, the world's first hip hop museum will not include the presence of such important rap acts as NWA, Tupac Shakur or Snoop Dogg. According to NME.com, council members and organizers are arguing over whether a section on gangsta rap should be included in the overall retrospective of hip hop and its roots in the Bronx. Scheduled to open in late 2008 or early 2009, the facility has received $1.5 million from the New York City Council. The legislative body, therefore, feels it should have a say in what types of artists should be on exhibit. "We're not talking about gangsta rap," said Bronx council member Larry Seabrook according to the BBC.... | |
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| | | 'I want peace,' leader tells Polynesians | | Posted Sunday, July 02, 2006 1:29:08 PM by Blog57 Team | | Like last year, as an honor guard of young people raised flags from America, Alaska, American Samoa, Samoa and Tonga, children sprinted on the grass, women sang prayers and men in aloha-print sarongs turned teriyaki turkey tails on smoking grills. But the mood at this year's Polynesian Flag Day, a celebration of the century-old political relationship between the United States and Samoa, was different. The talk turned as serious as the slate-colored clouds that hung over the Delaney Park Strip at midday. "Shooting or fighting is not the life!" Chief Leuluso'o "Willie" P. Fualauito'alasi Leatutufu, 74, chairman of the Polynesian Association of Alaska, told around 500 mostly Polynesian people gathered there Saturday. "I want peace." Leatutufu and other community leaders, including Mayor Mark Begich and deputy police chief Ross Plummer, took the microphone during the daylong event, imploring parents, young people and religious leaders to help stop the violence among Pacific Islander youths that has thrust the community into headlines in recent months.... | |
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