Here I am at college. Not making friends like I thought I would, my music not being embraced like I thought it would, and feeling pretty much lost as a result. About this time is when I met Jay Money. Money was an interesting cat. He had (and still does) a wide-range of musical tastes. What intrigued me was his love of Christian Rap. After talking to him a few times we came to realize that between the two of us we had just about every significant Christian rap CD that had been released up to that point. Our favorites were pretty much all the same. Gospel Gangstas, SFC and Super C aka Soup The Chemist, T-Bone, etc. I was deathly afraid of making my own beats. I just didn't think I could do it. Not to mention the fact that my passion was rapping. That's pretty much all I wanted to do. Jay Money was making beats. Some of his beats were rap and some were some techno style shits that I didn't really get. I started bugging him to make more beats so we could make some Christian Rap songs. This is the early stages or almost the birth of Mergence.
Jay Money had some beats ready and I was definitely ready to record some of my raps. This was around the time I met J. Roach. Roach and I had a music business class together. I had seen Roach in the studios the year before but had never really met him. We started talking and goofing around in class and found out we had a lot in common. Not only did Roach love rap. He also loved wrestling. We became friends pretty quickly. One night Money and I had some studio time booked and I asked Roach to come up to record a verse or two. Roach dropped this crazy style that had both Money and I buggin' out. We had never heard anything like it. He used two vocal tracks in almost a question/answer style type of rap. It was dope! He never wound up using that style on anything but that's how it started! After a few takes he came out of the booth and mentioned this friend of his named Damien. "He's probably at the Union." Roach said. "Let's go get him and see if he wants to spit!" I said. It was on. Mergence was born. Mergence included J-Dot, Dalexand, Jay Money, and KEC-Dogg aka The King's EmCee. Yeah I used that name for a quite a little while. We recorded an album that was definitely in the vein of Christian rap. The album was called amalgamation and in my opinion it still sounds good today. The group was short lived though. Dalexand transferred to a college in Canada to play basketball.
After Damien split, Roach and Jay Money started working with a singer who went by the name Howie T. They were also working with some rappers that Roach new from St. Louis, his hometown. We were all starting to drift from "Christian" rap. We were all still Christians but we wanted to express ourselves. That is my biggest problem with "Christian" music. As an artist or poet you are forced to limit yourself to certain guidelines based on the church's doctrine. Please do take note of exactly what I said. I did not say guidelines given to us by God or found in the Bible. I said the CHURCH'S doctrine. That's a whole other blog waiting to be written. But I digress.......
Money had been on me for a while to start making my own beats. He and Roach were so busy working with other people that I kind of got left behind a little. I know it wasn't intentional now, but at the time I didn't know what to think. I felt like they were ditching me at the time. They were just doing there thing and trying to work with different people. They did put me on a couple things here and there. Roach and Howie T won the battle of the bands that Greenville College held each year to determine who would do some early morning/afternoon sets at the Agape Christian music festival. If you aren't familiar with Agape think "Christian Woodstock" on a much smaller scale. Roach and Howie T did have me do a song with them during their set. To this day Agape is the largest crowd I've ever played in front of. I'm not sure how many people exactly but I'm pretty sure it was in the thousands.
During this time was in I truly started to find myself in music. The key word in that sentence is started. I wouldn't arrive for a few years yet but the foundation was being set. I started making some beats and started recording myself in studio sessions. This was actually very exciting for me. Once I got in the lab I was like a kid in a candy shop. I never got great grades in Warren Pettit's studio classes. I wasn't so much concerned with every aspect of what he was teaching. I just wanted to be in the studio. I put in just enough effort to get by. I can't tell you how many times I've thought to myself "Should have studied more in Pettit's classes". Pettit loaded the studios with some great gear. A vintage Mini-Moog, a Roland Juno, an Alesis HR-16, and of course Digi Design Pro Tools. I still think back to those studios and how much I learned. This was around the time Jay Money and I did the first Big Fletch album Erase the Hate. This was my last "Christian" rap album. If you listen to it you can hear where I'm starting to make the shift. I did the song Undercover, one of my favorites from that album, in chapel at Greenville. I had a line that said "expose those who pose as pimps and hoes". Jay Money thought it was hilarious I did that one in chapel because of that line.
After college I moved back home to Mason City, IL for my summer internship as a youth pastor at the church I grew up in. I started working at Bonanza again and got hooked up with a job as an Adult Resident Assistant at Lincoln College. For me, it was perfect at that time. I didn't want to live at my Mom and Dad's. Not that I had anything against my Mom and Dad. I just wanted to be on my own so bad. I had already been away at college for four years. The job at the college gave me room to stay in for free and paid a little. Not enough to live on mind you, but I could still work at Bonanza too. I had my computer and Pro Tools Free. I couldn't record vocals on this free version of Pro Tools but I could make beats. Money was still making beats too. I wanted Money and I to be a rap duo sort of like Gangstarr. Money would handle most of the beats and I would do all the raps. I started to drift away from church at this time. I didn't feel like I fit in at all. For starters, I didn't (and still don't) believe there's anything wrong with cussing or the use of cuss words. Who decided which words are the bad words? Isn't that a completely subjective concept? What offends you might not offend me and so on. I've never read a list of words that are never to be spoken in any translation of the Bible. At any rate, that was just one of my issues with "The Church". One of my closest friends, Chris Fink, had just graduated from college and moved to St. Louis. I had the itch to move either to Chicago or St. Louis so I could get involved in the local rap scene. Fink offered to let me stay with him and sleep on his couch until I got on my feet. The Rhyme Commission was just around the corner.
.......to be continued............
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
The fine line between holy and devilish rhymes pt. I
My first love of hip-hop was born out of the Christian rap songs of the deceased Danny "D-Boy" Rodriguez. (Check out his first album at http://posafebeats.blogspot.com/search/label/Sunday%20Supper)
It was actually his second album that I heard first. The title alone was enough to grab my attention. The Lyrical Strength of One Street Poet. D-Boy was the first rapper that I had heard who was talking about God. His message was so positive and powerful. I was blown away. It didn't take long before his music inspired me to start rapping.
So I started doing my thing with my best friend at the time, Patrick Clough. Pat's parents, Greg and Patty Deaner, were musicians. They had this nice little home studio in their upstairs bedroom and would let Pat and I go in there and make music. For me, it was amazing. Pat already knew how to work Cakewalk on the computer and also knew how to use the Alesis HR-16 drum machine. We started writing Christian rap songs. We played a few shows in Pat's church, my church, (Once at my church. Then I was told I could never rap there again.) and several other churches. We did a town fair, pep ralley at school, etc. The Christian music industry was putting out some DOPE Christian rap. If you want a sample just to go my homie Jay Money's blog for the Sunday Supper. Each Sunday Money posts a different Christian rap album for people to listen to. So check that out at the link I listed above for D-Boy. Anyway, I was listening to all this Christian rap and I was writing and performing Christian rap. That was what I felt my "calling" in life was. Then came Greenville College.
Pat and I both wound up going to Greenville College. Greenville is a Christian liberal arts college. Christian and liberal are kinda oppisite in a lot of ways, don't ya think? In high school I was pretty much an outcast. I didn't drink or party and I was trying to live my life the way I thought a "Christian" was supposed to live. I didn't curse, have sex, tried to be positive and respectful, etc. Well, that life philosophy combined with the rap thing didn't go over too well in Mason City, IL. When I signed up to go to Greenville I thought it was the answer to all my prayers. Don't get me wrong. It was in a lot of ways. It just wasn't what I expected. I really truely thought that things were going to be so much easier. I though I'd be able to make lots of friends. I thought people would accept me for who I was. No more judging or persecution because I was going to be around other Christians. Looking back, I was so young and naive. It's like I was expecting a Utopia or some shit.
I found out very quickly that people are people. And people fear what they don't understand. I remember one of my first days at Greenville I was wearing a Gospel Gangstas t-shirt, a bandana, and some jeans that probably didn't fit very snug. I remember people looking at me with wide eyes for a moment and then turning away. I was feeling it already. Rejection. I didn't take it too well. It hurt me pretty deeply to think I was in yet another place where I wouldn't "fit in". That same year Pat started drifting off into his own world. He pretty much stopped doing rap with me. I made things worse by having a little bit of a mental or nervous breakdown during a choir tour. Pat and I were roommates that year as well. After I was acting all crazy during that choir tour he pretty much distanced himself from me. In case anyone is reading this that knows Pat please understand this is not intended to shame him or speak of ill of him in any way whatsoever. We were 19-year old kids at the time. The way I was acting was pretty out there and I can understand if it freaked him or anyone else out. The problem for me at the time was I didn't understand any of it. I didn't really remember a lot of what I was saying, doing or how I was acting.
Now I had really alienated myself from a lot of people who knew me. I'm sure that people who were on that choir tour with me spread the news about my behavior around the entire college student body. I felt it. I was still steadfast in my stance on Christian rap though. I just knew it was what God had "called" me to do. Without Pat in the studio though, I was kind of lost. I had always focused on the song writing aspect of what we were doing in music. I never really tried to learn much of the actual studio recording process. I had no idea how to make a beat! I mean, I played drums....but I didn't know how to make a rap beat on a computer, MPC, or whatever. I had to learn fast if I wanted to make a demo for these Christian labels.
Part II coming soon........
Fletch
It was actually his second album that I heard first. The title alone was enough to grab my attention. The Lyrical Strength of One Street Poet. D-Boy was the first rapper that I had heard who was talking about God. His message was so positive and powerful. I was blown away. It didn't take long before his music inspired me to start rapping.
So I started doing my thing with my best friend at the time, Patrick Clough. Pat's parents, Greg and Patty Deaner, were musicians. They had this nice little home studio in their upstairs bedroom and would let Pat and I go in there and make music. For me, it was amazing. Pat already knew how to work Cakewalk on the computer and also knew how to use the Alesis HR-16 drum machine. We started writing Christian rap songs. We played a few shows in Pat's church, my church, (Once at my church. Then I was told I could never rap there again.) and several other churches. We did a town fair, pep ralley at school, etc. The Christian music industry was putting out some DOPE Christian rap. If you want a sample just to go my homie Jay Money's blog for the Sunday Supper. Each Sunday Money posts a different Christian rap album for people to listen to. So check that out at the link I listed above for D-Boy. Anyway, I was listening to all this Christian rap and I was writing and performing Christian rap. That was what I felt my "calling" in life was. Then came Greenville College.
Pat and I both wound up going to Greenville College. Greenville is a Christian liberal arts college. Christian and liberal are kinda oppisite in a lot of ways, don't ya think? In high school I was pretty much an outcast. I didn't drink or party and I was trying to live my life the way I thought a "Christian" was supposed to live. I didn't curse, have sex, tried to be positive and respectful, etc. Well, that life philosophy combined with the rap thing didn't go over too well in Mason City, IL. When I signed up to go to Greenville I thought it was the answer to all my prayers. Don't get me wrong. It was in a lot of ways. It just wasn't what I expected. I really truely thought that things were going to be so much easier. I though I'd be able to make lots of friends. I thought people would accept me for who I was. No more judging or persecution because I was going to be around other Christians. Looking back, I was so young and naive. It's like I was expecting a Utopia or some shit.
I found out very quickly that people are people. And people fear what they don't understand. I remember one of my first days at Greenville I was wearing a Gospel Gangstas t-shirt, a bandana, and some jeans that probably didn't fit very snug. I remember people looking at me with wide eyes for a moment and then turning away. I was feeling it already. Rejection. I didn't take it too well. It hurt me pretty deeply to think I was in yet another place where I wouldn't "fit in". That same year Pat started drifting off into his own world. He pretty much stopped doing rap with me. I made things worse by having a little bit of a mental or nervous breakdown during a choir tour. Pat and I were roommates that year as well. After I was acting all crazy during that choir tour he pretty much distanced himself from me. In case anyone is reading this that knows Pat please understand this is not intended to shame him or speak of ill of him in any way whatsoever. We were 19-year old kids at the time. The way I was acting was pretty out there and I can understand if it freaked him or anyone else out. The problem for me at the time was I didn't understand any of it. I didn't really remember a lot of what I was saying, doing or how I was acting.
Now I had really alienated myself from a lot of people who knew me. I'm sure that people who were on that choir tour with me spread the news about my behavior around the entire college student body. I felt it. I was still steadfast in my stance on Christian rap though. I just knew it was what God had "called" me to do. Without Pat in the studio though, I was kind of lost. I had always focused on the song writing aspect of what we were doing in music. I never really tried to learn much of the actual studio recording process. I had no idea how to make a beat! I mean, I played drums....but I didn't know how to make a rap beat on a computer, MPC, or whatever. I had to learn fast if I wanted to make a demo for these Christian labels.
Part II coming soon........
Fletch
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Times done changed
What's crackin' everybody? I've got a little something on my mind. I have a blogsite now.....so what the hell?
I've been doing rap since I was 12 years old. Growing up in a small farm town in Illinois was a great experience in many ways. You get to learn a lot about people who you barely know because well, it's a small town. You run into people you barely know or talk to on a semi-frequent basis. This is a story of one of those people in my life.
Now I don't want to name name's here because I have not wish to embarrass or shame this girl. Let's just call her Blondie. So I grew up with Blondie. She was in my class since preschool or kindergarten. I don't remember for sure. By the time we hit high school she was pretty much not liked by too many people....except for a few guys I guess. Use your imagination. Me personally, I had heard through a very close friend that she told him I did some things to an ex-girlfriend that were not so nice. Again, use your imagination. My friend laughed at her and said no way. Good man. He knows me better. I believe that was like our freshman or sophomore year. By the time our senior year was in swing I had really gotten over it. I mean, I didn't like the girl but I didn't have any problems with her. She tried to spread some lies about me but I mean she never did anything directly to me. This next incident with her was during my last year in Mason City.
I had been doing rap for a while. It was pretty well known. I had performed a song for a high school pep rally once. Rapped at the town fair. Stuff like that. So Blondie knows that I rap. One day I was putting gas in my truck. I was facing the street. All of the sudden Blondie drives by. She rolls down her window and yells "WIGGER!" I was actually pretty taken aback by this. For one, anyone who knows me knows I'm not a "wigger". For those of you who don't know the meaning of this semi- racial slur it means a white person who is trying to act like an African-American. For two, I really didn't think this chick had a problem with me. Outside of the nasty lies she tried to spread I'd never had any problems with her.
Oh the story is not over. The funniest part is yet to come. My wonderful girlfriend Gail convinced me to get a facebook page. I reconnected with a bunch of people from high school. I had no intention of talking to this girl. I still haven't. To my great surprise though, Blondie posted a note on one of my pics. She said "wat it do big pimpin? haven't seen you in 4-eva! drop me a line!"
I think I laughed out loud. I'm like "Is this the same girl who called me a wigger when I was in high school? Sayin' shit like "wat it do big pimpin'? 4-eva?" Priceless.
You see, people don't give a damn about you when you're nobody. And people sure will give you a hard time and make fun of you when you're different from everyone else. But as soon as they see that you're doing something with you life that is now considered "cool"......their tune sure changes in a hurry doesn't it?
Aww.....hope you're doing well Bandwagon Blondie! Just please don't ever come to St. Louis to see one of my shows. Cuz I'm afraid I couldn't resist calling you out and telling this story to the crowd.
God Bless Ya Life,
Big Fletch
I've been doing rap since I was 12 years old. Growing up in a small farm town in Illinois was a great experience in many ways. You get to learn a lot about people who you barely know because well, it's a small town. You run into people you barely know or talk to on a semi-frequent basis. This is a story of one of those people in my life.
Now I don't want to name name's here because I have not wish to embarrass or shame this girl. Let's just call her Blondie. So I grew up with Blondie. She was in my class since preschool or kindergarten. I don't remember for sure. By the time we hit high school she was pretty much not liked by too many people....except for a few guys I guess. Use your imagination. Me personally, I had heard through a very close friend that she told him I did some things to an ex-girlfriend that were not so nice. Again, use your imagination. My friend laughed at her and said no way. Good man. He knows me better. I believe that was like our freshman or sophomore year. By the time our senior year was in swing I had really gotten over it. I mean, I didn't like the girl but I didn't have any problems with her. She tried to spread some lies about me but I mean she never did anything directly to me. This next incident with her was during my last year in Mason City.
I had been doing rap for a while. It was pretty well known. I had performed a song for a high school pep rally once. Rapped at the town fair. Stuff like that. So Blondie knows that I rap. One day I was putting gas in my truck. I was facing the street. All of the sudden Blondie drives by. She rolls down her window and yells "WIGGER!" I was actually pretty taken aback by this. For one, anyone who knows me knows I'm not a "wigger". For those of you who don't know the meaning of this semi- racial slur it means a white person who is trying to act like an African-American. For two, I really didn't think this chick had a problem with me. Outside of the nasty lies she tried to spread I'd never had any problems with her.
Oh the story is not over. The funniest part is yet to come. My wonderful girlfriend Gail convinced me to get a facebook page. I reconnected with a bunch of people from high school. I had no intention of talking to this girl. I still haven't. To my great surprise though, Blondie posted a note on one of my pics. She said "wat it do big pimpin? haven't seen you in 4-eva! drop me a line!"
I think I laughed out loud. I'm like "Is this the same girl who called me a wigger when I was in high school? Sayin' shit like "wat it do big pimpin'? 4-eva?" Priceless.
You see, people don't give a damn about you when you're nobody. And people sure will give you a hard time and make fun of you when you're different from everyone else. But as soon as they see that you're doing something with you life that is now considered "cool"......their tune sure changes in a hurry doesn't it?
Aww.....hope you're doing well Bandwagon Blondie! Just please don't ever come to St. Louis to see one of my shows. Cuz I'm afraid I couldn't resist calling you out and telling this story to the crowd.
God Bless Ya Life,
Big Fletch
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