Drake’s MTV Interview

Below, you can check out an interview with Drake and MTV’s Shaheem Reid, explaining the balance he incorporates between rapping & singing. This is a pretty cool interview, so check it out below.

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While Drake works on his debut LP, Thank Me Later, the Toronto MC said there is no method to any of his madness. If he gets inspired to spit rhymes on a track, he’ll get to it. If he wants to croon to a beat, that’s what it will be.

“The balance of singing and rapping has been blurred ever since I did So Far Gone,” he said of his breakthrough mixtape. “I mean, I don’t really have a formula for that. I don’t say, like, ‘OK, I can only sing this hook or I want to rap this.’ I just really hear a beat, and it’s like, ‘If I can write to it on a hip-hop level, if I can pen some raps to it, then that will work.’ And then maybe after I do that, I’ll get in the booth and sing a little part of the verse.

“I like to do that,” he continued. “I like to incorporate singing into my verses. And then I feel like it allows people a break from just constant rapping, rapping, rapping, you know? I think it’s great to incorporate melodies into the songs that I write. And yeah, my goal is just really to make a song that after I listen to it, I’ll just be like, ‘Man, people are going to know the words to that.’ That’s the best thing. I think I’m doing it right, ’cause when I go to the shows, people know the words to the songs, and that’s good.”

Drake has the video for Best I Ever Had out right now and says he’ll probably be appearing in front of the cameras for more clips soon.

“There’s talk to do a Successful video,” Drake said. “Also, you know, I’m shooting the video to Digital Girl with Jamie Foxx and Kanye West and The-Dream. And then there is another song that we have that we might shoot a video for, for the album. So as far as videos go, there is some more potential chances to see [me].”

Allow Me To Vent

Well, if you know me at all, follow me on Twitter, or paid attention to my Facebook, you know that I was going to the Kanye West concert last night. And if you know anything about me whatsoever, you know that I love Kanye West, his creativity, and his music. Well, last night was the first time that I went to a Kanye concert and it was one of the better moments of my life, and no, I am not exaggerating at all. For so long I wondered what it would be like to see Kanye West live and last night I was able to experience it, and personally, that was the greatest show that I have ever been to. Therefore, last night I vowed to go to every Ye concert that is at least four hours in my proximity, ha. I encourage you to go to any and every Ye concert that you can if you are looking for a good time, good music, and to bond with fellow Kanye West diehards. Now, I doubt most of you were there, so here is a clip from the show. Check it out.

As a side note, when we were leaving, people were handing out Kanye’s book Thank You and You’re Welcome. I have been thumbing through it for a bit and I have found several quotes that I absolutely love. Well, below are my four favorites so far:

“Get used to being used! To most people, the saying ‘to use someone’ carries a negative connotation, but I don’t see it that way. To ‘mis’, ‘over’, or ‘ab’ use someone is negative. To use is necessary and if you can’t be used…then you’re useless”

Or

“Love your haters, they’re your biggest fans.”

Or

“You can learn more from a critique than from a compliment.”

Or

“I would rather lose because someone else was right then win when I’m wrong.”

Check out more information and another video after the break.

The Way I See It

Famous musician, Youssou N’Dour once said, “People need to see that, far from being an obstacle, the world’s diversity of languages, religions and traditions is a great treasure, affording us precious opportunities to recognize ourselves in others.”

I must say, I absolutely love the last part of the statement, “…oppoturnites to recognize ourselves in others.” To me, that speaks more than volumes, more than logic, and more than good thought, but it speaks to a central role of the Gospel message of Jesus.

[In Galatians, chapter 3, verse 28, Paul writes, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”]

[In Colossians, chapter 3, verse 11, Paul writes, “Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”]

To me, all three passages show a unique relationship concerning you and concerning me. We see that each quotation has the common idea that we are able to see ourselves in one another, or as Paul directly puts it, there are no more divisions amongst because “Christ is all.” What an amazing thought that we are able to look beyond culture, beyond religion, beyond language, beyond common interests, beyond diversity, and see ourselves in others and see Jesus in others. What a revolutionary truth; we are able to see Jesus in everyone. To me, Jesus is not just in Christians. He is not just in religious folk. He is not just in the spiritual. Contrarily, Jesus is in Christian and religious folk and the spiritual and the non-spiritual and the atheist and Buddhist and the Muslim etc. Jesus transcends culture and language and time and religion and theology; He is in all and is all.

To me, these three statements show us that we are all connected, that we are all related, and that we are all one. Formulate your own thoughts.

…are you alive?

An early church father and saint, St. Irenaeus, once said that, “the glory of God is in man fully alive.”

After reading a statement like the one above, the question must be posed, are you alive? Think about and truly search yourself to see if you are living or existing.

Gandhi says

Mohandas Gandhi once said, “I want freedom for the full expression of my personality.”

Michael Franti says

To quote Michael Franti, “God is too big for just one religion.”

Proverb

Here is an ancient Jewish proverb:

“What is hateful to thyself do not do to another. That is the whole Law, the rest is Commentary.”

I find this to be exactly the message of a great Jewish philosopher and rabbi, Jesus. In Mark, chapter 12 verse 28 to 31, Jesus is confronted by some teachers of the religious law, where they ask him what the greatest commandment is. Jesus replies, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

I love that Jesus says that the greatest commandment is to love God and to love people as ourself. Notice, Jesus says that we must love others as ourself. We must love ourself, too. The essence of the proverb and the teaching of Jesus is to love. And to quote a good friend, Zack, “It is all about love.”

Make sense

I just wanted to show an aphorism that I found while looking on Peter Rollin’s blog.  Peter Rollin’s wrote this, “An interpretation that makes sense of our existence is not a Christian interpretation.” I do not know about you, but this is profound. Profound to the point that I actually had to sit on this truth for almost an hour contemplating the truth behind it. To me, Jesus did not make sense; at all. Everything Jesus said and did didn’t make sense. So, the question then must be extrapolated onto Christians, do the things you say and do make sense? However, I think that this statement is much deeper than just that simple thought. This statement asks us to examine our lives and motives and words. The question, if you are a Christian, is, do you make sense? Formulate your own thoughts on this statement, but keep and open mind because this truly is beautiful.

Tony Campolo quote

“…what can I say to an Islamic brother who has fed the hungry, and clothed the naked? You say, “But he hasn’t a personal relationship with Christ.” I would argue with that. And I would say from a Christian perspective, in as much as you did it to the least of these you did it unto Christ. You did have a personal relationship with Christ, you just didn’t know it.”

– Tony Campolo

Think about it

“Love, and do what you like.”

– St. Augustine

I think that this quote summarizes everything that I am about, and in my opinion, what everyone should be about.  With this quote, there is liberty and freedom.  The liberty and freedom that comes from this quote brings forth a way of living that is good for ourselves and good for others.  The freedom that occurs is a type of freedom where we are not restricted to law or to what others think of us, but to love.  I feel as if when our first motivation is to love, what comes after that is good for not only ourselves, but for others around us.  First, we must love and then we have the right to do as we wish.  Love first.