Hip Hop Mass
Those who know me pretty much know that there is nothing "Hip-Hop" about me. In fact, before Friday night, I didn't give much credibility to Hip-Hop as a legitimate genre of music.
My boss's twin sister is an Episcopal minister. She had this outreach event at her church Friday night called "Hip-Hop Mass." They have these events quarterly I think. The group that performs comes from The Bronx in New York City. They are led by a Episcopal priest, who is in his 50's and white.
Three of their musicians could not make it. They lacked a keyboard player, guitar player, and a drummer. Kerry, my boss, emailed me to see if I knew anyone who would be willing to volunteer. I called and emailed a few people, but couldn't find anyone, especially that could perform anything Hip-Hop. I mean, come on, all my friends are band geeks.
I talked to Kelly, Kerry's sister, and told her that I would be willing to play, but she must understand that uhh... well... I am white and haven't a Hip-Hop bone in my body. She was like, "We will take what we can get."
So there I was, in an Episcopal church with Christian rappers from New York, being the only live musical accompanist. I played this little thing from Kenya West's Jesus Walking or something like that. I played this rhythmic loop in the bass. One of the rappers showed me this right before we started. This was for the opening. He told me I could just make something up with my right hand that would fit it. "No, I am fine just doing this" I said.
I played throughout the service when people were talking as ambiance music. I also played during an actual vocal number. One of the rappers did a soulful arrangement of "Power In The Blood" and I just followed him.
Different rappers kept asking me if I could do this or that. Something about doing beats or something. "I am not sure if you have noticed, but... I AM WHITE!" They laughed at me quite a bit. They really seemed to appreciate my help and the fact that I was willing to help even though I was not anywhere near my comfort zone.
The priest would say things like "My peeps" and "Jesus' homies" when referring to the disciples. He also had the congregation say "Word" when he said "Amen." Priest Master G did this throughout the service.
The rappers were actually very good. They were all really nice and you could tell they were all doing this in hopes someone would find Jesus. We bought some CD's.
I have to say, since being in the midst of this, that I now give Hip-Hop its props. It is indeed a legitimate genre of music. I still don't have any Hip-Hop in me.
I survived... WORD!
Wayne
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12:24 PM
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