When thinking of hip-hop,to
some, the last thing they would think of is Gospel music, but
in some of the major and smaller city's in America, nowadays,
if you wake up early enough on Sunday morning and tune into your
favorite radio station, to your surprise, your head may be bobbing
to a familiar sound with MCs going hard with hard beats and
lyrics, but guess what,it's Gospel Hip-Hop. This is not a faze,
but a movement and we had the opportunity to talk to one of the
next generation of gospel MCs that will help usher in a format
that will take Hip-Hop to another level in the near future. Not
lacking in lyrics, concepts, or substance, Knowledge is a powerful
MC that speaks a message that a lot of u have heard or can relate
to. From the streets to the church, we introduce you to Knowledge
MC and The Book of Knowledge.
Np: Where are you originally
from?
KN: I'm from St.Paul, Minnesota,
originally.
Np:How did you get into the hip-hop
scene from a gospel stand point ?
KN: Four years ago I was born
again, and after I was born again I learned more about the Lord
and I allowed the love
of GOD to change my life. Two years after being born again the
Lord brought music back to me through revealing what the Psalms
where about in the Bible. How people wrote music and songs and
about life experiences that brought them to God and that revealed
to me that's the place where God
wanted me to be at with my music.
NP: In todays music , do you feel
its better to come across
with a message, and do you feel that the listeners of hip-hop
are ready for the message of Gospel Hip-hop to cross-over into
the mainstream music ?
KN: I feel like right now, what
God has called me to do in regards to the message of my music
and the content of the songs - I feel like it's something that's
necessary. It's for right now, if there's such a time as right
now. People need to
hear what Jesus said right now. They need to know about Jesus
right now, and knowing that, it has to be very necessary right
now.
NP: Do you feel like an artist
has to be saved to represent for God, or do you feel that it's
best for them to know of God before the venture into a whole Hip-Hop
Gospel record or album,because you know like the Kanye West situation
with Jesus Walks, a lot of people loved it and a lot of people
didn't.
KN: Well, I believe that you can't
give people something that you don't have yourself. Like... you
can't give somebody the love of God if God hadn't loved you and
gave you that love to give to others. Knowing that, it is necessary
for God to
heal us and put us in a position where we have something to offer
other people in order to go out and do the work of God because
God will give you work to do, but you’re more important
than the work because he wants you to be saved and in the right
standings first, and then after that comes,then you're allowed
to minister to others through your
music.
NP: When you do shows is it hard
for u to get the audience to accept what you're saying and how
do they respond to what your saying?
KN: I get a really good response
on the things we're doing with the music right now, Because of
the language of the music. I believe that our generation speaks
a certain language and that language is music and the music has
to be on a level where people can actually receive it where the
quality of the music is where it should be and where the lyrical
talent and content of it is where it should be in order to catch
someones attention, and then the message is in there, and then
they get the message that way. But first and foremost, you have
to come with it in order to get anybody’s
attention on anything your doing. When we're serving or doing
something for God, we're called to be excellent and I believe
that's important to make sure we come with the standard and quality
of music that anyone else would come with that is successful in
the music world.
NP: Do you do only gospel events,
or do you do secular (regular) events, also, and is it hard for
you to work in that type of environment that the industry brings
?
KN: I feel like I know I'm called
to be here out in the highways and byways and places where people
need to hear the message.That's what I'm anointed to do, so when
I'm in a secular environment or I'm around people that might not
know the love of GOD, then that's my element ,that's where I
belong, that is what God has called me to do so I'm totally comfortable
in that environment. I'm not by any means offended by anyone lack
of understanding about the love of GOD. I'm there to be used of
God in order to relay that message that it doesn't matter if you
drink or smoke or whatever you do,he still loves you. We have
to go where people are in need of the word of God with the understanding
that it's not for everybody and everybody not gonna receive what
I have to say, but there's some people that may and that's why
I go where I go and do what I do.
NP: What's the title of your album
and how many tracks are on it and who are the guests on it?
KN: The album is called "The
Book of Knowledge," and it has 19 tracks on it. I have AZ
on the album, Heavy D, Ann Nesby, Jamecia, and J-Isaac.
NP: How did you get AZ and Heavy
D on the album and was it hard for them to stay on the subject
matter you talk about? KN: I don't think it was hard for them
at all because of the
songs we did, like "Bring it In" with Heavy, - it's
pretty much a invitation for people to receive GOD and come as
you are and don't worry what you’re coming out of or what
you’re going through right now, Just come to God. That's
the concept of that song. Heavy heard the song and picked that
song to be on and he added what he did and made it a
powerful song.The song that AZ is on,the whole concept is, is
there a spot for me in heaven or can I make it to heaven, or GOD
did you save a place for me in heaven ? And that's the way the
song was written, so that’s a question that anybody can
ask and we all have that question.I don't think that
was a challenge for AZ at all to put that in a lyrical format.
NP: What is your favorite track
on the album and which one do you think gets the message across
the strongest?
KN: I don't have a favorite track,
but one of the songs that points out everything that I'm trying
to achieve on the album pretty much is "Heart of A Thug"
and the reason is because of the hook on the song, it's literally
the prayer of salvation. If you sing along with that hook and
mean it from your heart, you can be saved, because those are the
words you would say to get born again and the song also serves
as a bridge
from wherever a person may be in life to get to God. That song
to me represents what the whole album is about.
NP: Whats next for Knowledge?
KN: Right now I want to get out
here an push this CD . My vision musically is to do a couple of
other cds also, The Book of Knowledge/The Book of Wisdom and the
last CD would be The Book of Understanding, and after that I would
just have to hear from GOD on that, but my goal is to minister
to the whole hip-hop generation and to show them that we are in
a position to choose right from wrong.
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