Live Grammy blog

9:50 - Neil Diamond? Really?!? Shouldn't he be performing a Super Bowl halftime show or something?

P.S. My wife will kill me for this post. She's a ND fan.

Blogging the Grammys

I've been chilling in front of the TV with the laptop most of the night so thought I'd blog my thoughts Facebook-status style.

Here's what I've got so far. The rest will be posted as they come to me.

5:52 - Sketch is hoping Lil Wayne gets shut out of the Grammys.

7:22 - Sketch is thinking the Grammys have been pretty dope so far: U2, Al Green, Timberlake, and now Coldplay.

8:04 - Sketch wonders if Kanye will throw a hissy fit tonight. Please! It's become an award show tradition.

8:14 - Sketch is thinking he just heard a Jonas Brother's voice change mid-song.

8:36 - Sketch thinks the Jay/Kanye/TI/Wayne set will be cool but let's ease up on the "historic hip hop summit" hype shall we?

8:43 - Sketch is yelling "The British are winning! The British are winning!"

9:11 - Sketch was still "meh" about the "Swagga" set. All I could think was 1) Man, they're pushing the "Rap Pack" thing HARD and 2) Jay and Ye need to cut their hair to look younger.

9:20 - Sketch is feeling Radiohead with the marching band. I gotta buy "In Rainbows."

9:30 - I think T.I. started before his backing-track.

Flix: CY @ Fellowship of The Woodlands

Just wanted to share this pic I took with the iPhone last night of CY the Ringleader on stage at Fellowship of The Woodlands. He and the rest of the Much Luvv Fam rocked a youth retreat weekend.

Look for a recap soon.

Even Taco Bell knows mainstream rap is wack

I think I caught this commercial during the Super Bowl and it provided plenty of laughs.

We know Christian rappers have provided similar satirical commentary for years (most recently: When theBREAX Sold Out), but it's still funny to see that even the corporate suits that will pimp hip hop to their advantage see the emptiness of most of today's radio raps.

Here's the MC Cha Ching (Feat. Squanderah) "Money In My Pocketz" video in full.

Recap: CaJo in Huntsville, TX

Photo by Sketch the Journalist

Last week I had the pleasure of hitting two top-notch Christian hip hop shows in two nights. Both reschedules due to Hurricane Ike, I was able to catch Canton Jones on a Thursday and KJ-52 on a Friday. Such is the advantage of living near a major city.

To start, I have to say the Canton show surprised me. For one, I wasn’t that familiar with his music. My main exposure has been via the stuff Wade-O has played and the “Kingdom Business” album I received as a Christmas gift. And of course, I also had my mind cluttered with mess I’d read about CaJo on Christian rap message boards.

And I have to admit that I misjudged the dude. Honestly, I expected a big ego and lots of lots of money talk. Instead, I saw a genuinely funny guy that knows how to put on a performance, lead worship, and spend time with his fans.


Photo by Sketch the Journalist

My man spent a good hour knocking out his hits, mixing in some familiar beats, and then really helping the audience engage in vertical communion with their Creator.


Photo by Sketch the Journalist

At one point, he took a bunch of mainstream beats and flipped them into worship tracks. Normally this would strike me as a corny crutch. But CaJo cut the secular sounds off quickly and totally redirected the songs. The blend from T.I.’s “Whatcha Know About That” to “Awesome God” was particularly well done.

And at the end, he spoke his heart and shared the Gospel. Three young people ventured forth to say they made a decision to follow Christ and Jones closed the show by joining the crowd in a grimy circle hop to “Give U What U Want” and did fan meet and greets afterward.


Photo by Sketch the Journalist

Would I co-sign with everything he did and said from stage? Maybe not – but how often do I do that with anybody?

In the end I was thoroughly impressed and very glad I was able to check him out in person and not rely on second hand opinions that clouded my judgment.


Sketch & CaJo after the show

Setlist

1. A Milli intro
2. The Password: Jesus w/ "Planet Rock" remix
3. The Professional
4. 5 Seconds
5. Hater Day
6. Stay Saved
7. Love Song
8. Worship remix: I'm So Hood / He's So Good
9. Worship remix: Whatcha Know About That / Awesome God
10. Worship remix: Flashing Lights / I Love You Jesus (?)
11. Awesome God
12. What You Want

Additional photos:

Hosted by fellow CHH writer & SHSU alumnus: Dwayne Lacy

Opening act Beezy


Other openers: CNE (Christ N Entertainment)


CaJo on stage

Welcome to the Interwebs DJ Wade-O

My man DJ Wade-O has just launched wadeoradio.com where you can get all the goods on his most excellent audio.

And a special shout out to those of you reading this in the "Sketch's Corner" in the lower right spot of his site.

Congrats homie!

Leak video: Redd Lettaz remixing Mahogany Jones' "Morphed" album

I love it when I see Christians embracing the innovative aspects of hip hop and our modern "remix" culture.

Check out some samples of Redd Lettaz' remixes of jawns off of M-Jones' "Morphed" album.