Jahaziel: The award-winning rapper returns with 'Heads Up' album

Sunday 19th January 2014

Tony Cummings spoke to the London-based emcee and social activist JAHAZIEL



Continued from page 1

Jahaziel: The themes vary because I didn't write the album with a concept in mind: I just wrote each song as it sounded natural and looked at what the concepts were afterwards. I've got one song on there, "Falling Stars", which is talking about celebrities and how human they are backstage, and the pressure to be something in front of everybody leads to a secret life, or some addition and insecurity. God loves the real you: we don't need to put on a front. There's songs like "Round And Round", which is a personal story of how growing up in particular environments can affect the way you think and who you are as a person - sharing some of my experience, how I struggled growing up around a violent home and how that affected me later in my life, finding myself being the type of person I always said I never would want to be. I've been quite personal on some songs, quite reflective. There's songs like "They Don't Know", which we shot the video for lately - social commentaries talking about the environment I live in, the local estate, the social ills I see around me.

Tony: "They Don't Know" has got your uncle on it.

Jahaziel:  The award-winning rapper returns with 'Heads Up' album

Jahaziel: That's right. The song seemed really appropriate for us to collab, so I asked him and he was down. It was a real privilege getting him on the track and shooting a video.

Tony: A lot of people are surprised that Maxie Priest would come in, because he's not a Christian as far as I know. Did he resist the idea?

Jahaziel: Not at all. The song is about a topic that's close to both our hearts. He's my uncle, we've had family members that've been murdered, and as many people have been affected by knife violence. It's a subject we want to see a change in socially - especially in the urban and black community. He was happy to get on a song dealing with that. Even though he's not a Christian, his mum is a Christian, he was raised in a Christian home. He understands the principle that the solution to these problems is not found just in social activism and police and education, but man will find peace with man when he finds peace with God.

Tony: I'm interested that you've addressed celebrity culture on the album, because I've met musicians with egos the size of a house - even gospel artists.

Jahaziel: Totally. I think this is both a ministry and a business, and sometimes we lose sight of the right balance. It becomes more about business and a career than it does about communicating God's heart and obeying his word. There's a song where I speak about that called "Numbers Game", which is a reminder for me and other people involved in this gospel music thing to not get too caught up in the numbers as far as how many you're selling, how many people follow you. Numbers doesn't always dictate what is or isn't successful. Some people would say that Noah wasn't successful because only his family ended up on the boat, but the Bible says he was a hero of the faith.

Tony: Have you been tempted to think of yourself more than you should've done?

Jahaziel: Totally. It's something I'm always aware of. I've got good people around me who would tell me if I'm getting a bit gassed up. It can sneak up; you don't even realize it, but after the show you just want to get out: you only want to associate with people who have got status. You've got to keep your heart in check and always be like Jesus.

Tony: Tell me about Eden Tollington. You've committed a lot of time and effort, sacrificially. Are you beginning to feel it's worth it?

Jahaziel: It's totally been worth it. What the work involves is not just working in a deprived area, but moving and living and being a part of that community. A lot of the stuff that we do is basically building relationship between the community and the church by doing different things like youth club, football club, cell groups - just to give different levels of engagement that people can get involved in the church, and the church can get involved in the community. You've got a gardening team, a job club where we help young people find work - just trying to be practical. We've got stories of successes, but also not so great stories: we've had people murdered, stabbed, imprisoned, thrown out of home, abortions. Just being here has really broadened my picture of ministry, and I think it's so much more than what we do on the mic for Christian artists: there's a great amount of ministry goes on on-stage and on CDs, but sharing your life is really where it's at; and that's what Jesus did." CR

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.
About Tony Cummings
Tony CummingsTony Cummings is the music editor for Cross Rhythms website and attends Grace Church in Stoke-on-Trent.


 
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