*I used to crusie in the cities of St. Paul with my old h.s. buddies to their music-especially "Crossroads". A friend (Passion, from Louisiana) of mine told me that her dad used to help make their music-cool, huh!
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - Tha Crossroads [Full Version]
"This Christian Rap / Christian Hip Hop track is called Street Anthem and is performed by Aprentiz and Witness. Addresses the spiritual battle being waged for the souls of today's young people. Listen to more Christian Rap at http://holyrapmusic.com "
"T-Bone's new video "Name Droppin"' features appearances from Toby Mac, Jeremy Camp, Rachel Lampa, Audio Adrenaline, Eric Dawkins, and many more legendary artists. Pick up the album Bone Apetit' to cop this song!"
Salt N Pepa - Shoop ( Classic )
Rapper 'Salt' finds her way
Pushed to the edge, "Salt" took time for God and herself.
By Rebecca Cusey, Religion News Service
Last update: March 7, 2008 - 2:34 PM (StarTribune) "When Cheryl James abruptly abandoned her red-hot career as "Salt" of the hip-hop duo Salt-N-Pepa and became a Christian, she also shattered her relationship with partner Sandra (Pepa) Denton.
Ten years after drifting away from the band, James, 43, is trying to be true to both faith and friendship by reconciling with Denton in the VH1 reality show "The Salt-N-Pepa Show."
"Kids look at [fame] and all they see is the glamour," James said in an interview from New York recently, "but there's a dark side."
When Salt-N-Pepa first hit the airwaves in 1985, 20-year-old James reveled in the freedom to make music she loved. "I found something that made me excited and something to be passionate about," she said.
Her passion paid off. Salt-N-Pepa, with aggressive, often raunchy lyrics ("Let's talk about sex, baby"), was the first female group to conquer the hip-hop genre. They won a Grammy, scaled the charts and released five albums.
Their most popular songs ("Push It," "Shake Your Thang," "Whatta Man" and "Shoop") featured catchy rhythms and get-stuck-in-your-head lyrics that remain some of the most popular dance songs from the late '80s and early '90s.
"S-n-P brought female empowerment to the forefront," says Andrew Ryan, an adjunct professor at George Mason University in Virginia, who teaches courses on hip-hop and is executive director of the online site the Journal of Hip-Hop. "Their music spoke directly to women."
Even as her onstage career exploded, however, James began to find her backstage reality oppressive.
The busy schedule left no time for relaxation or reflection. She felt suffocated by the demands of people who relied on her for their livelihoods, and the pressure to be thin pushed her weight worries into full-blown bulimia.
Hitting rock bottom
James felt she had lost control of her life and became severely depressed. She drifted away from the group, baffling her bandmates (Dee Dee "Spinderella" Roper joined in 1986) as well as fans.
"Most fans of hip-hop are unaware of the private lives of the artists," Ryan said. "[They] would not understand why one would leave the limelight and supposed monetary gain of rap music."
Looking back, James said she simply "got to a point where I just couldn't handle it anymore. I hit rock bottom."
In the throes of depression, she struggled to explain her decision to leave. "I was so focused on me that I felt I had no room to think of them," she said. The group officially disbanded in 2002, leaving Denton and Roper angrily holding the shreds of a once-promising career.
"I got to that desperate place where nobody could help me but God," James said. On her knees and praying for help, she felt she received an answer from God: "I want all of you."
"That meant to me that I needed to shut down a lot of things and focus on God because that was where my healing was. I needed to take a beat for myself," James said.
Forgiving, reconciling
Immersing herself in a church, she sought healing for her underlying wounds. She worked on forgiving her father, whom she describes as a great man weighed down by alcohol. She reconciled with Gavin Wray, her daughter's father, and the couple married, had a son and settled in New York.
"Change is not an event; it's a process," James recalls her pastor saying. Over time, she won her fight with bulimia, as well.
When VH1 offered James and Denton a chance to work together on a reality show, James saw an opportunity to not only jump back into entertainment, but also to repair her relationship with Denton. The first season of "The Salt-N-Pepa Show" was "me trying to explain, and her trying to forgive, and both of us trying to untangle the mess," James says.
Some might be taken aback by James' decision to team up with Denton, still a party girl, but James sees the struggle of finding common ground and rebuilding friendship as compatible with, even necessary to, Christian faith.
"There are different kinds of people in the world," she said. "Christians often want to hide behind the walls of the church, where we are comfortable, but sometimes we have to come out of the box."
"
"My son challenged me a few years back. He said, "Dad, you write good Gospel music but I bet you can\'t write a rap song". Well, I did and performed it at a concert I had at our Church and here it is for you to enjoy."
"NEW YORK (AP) — Snoop Dogg wants you to know that he's tired of hip-hop, is Bob Marley reincarnated and is embracing reggae instead of the culture of guns he once rapped about.
Also, he's got a new name: Snoop Lion.
The artist said at a news conference Monday in New York that he was "born again" during a visit to Jamaica in February and is ready to make music that his "kids and grandparents can listen to."
The former gangster rapper is releasing a reggae album called "Reincarnated" in the fall. He said that in Jamaica, he connected with Bob Marley's spirit and is now "Bob Marley reincarnated."
Bob Marley's son Rohan attended the conference and gave Snoop his blessing.
"I feel like I've always been Rastafarian," Snoop said of the spiritual Jamaican movement. While there, he said, he visited a temple, was renamed Snoop Lion and was also given the Ethiopian name Berhane, meaning "light of the world."
Snoop didn't explain why he was switching from "Dogg" to "Lion," but it's likely a reference to the Lion of Judah, a religious symbol popular in Rastafarian and Ethiopian culture.
Later, he played five songs for a small crowd, including one called "No Guns Allowed." It features his daughter and includes the lyrics, "No guns allowed in here tonight, we're going to have a free for all, no fights."
"It's so tragic that people are doing stupid things with guns," he said.
Snoop, best known for hits like "Gin and Juice" and "Drop It Like It's Hot," is an avid supporter of marijuana rights and has been banned from entering Norway for two years after trying to enter the country with a small amount last month.
He said that in Jamaica, where he stayed for 35 days, he grew closer to his wife, who saw his transition. He added that he's excited to perform music that his family and children can listen to.
"As a 40-year-old man ... I've got to give them something," he said. "That's what you do when you're wise."
Snoop Dogg said he's not completely retiring from hip-hop but is "tired" of the genre because it is no longer challenging.
"Reggae was calling ... it's a breath of fresh air," he said. "Rap isn't challenging; it's not appealing."
The album was produced by Diplo and will feature Snoop singing. It will be released on Vice Records.
The album will be followed with a documentary of the same name, also produced by Vice. It features Snoop making music and will include some personal elements of his life, a producer of the film said. It will debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.
A coffee table book about Snoop's rebirth is also in the works.
"It feels like I'm 19 or 20 years old again," he said.
"
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