Opinon vs Hate

In the wake of the Rey King Black Friday mixtape and its detractors, a good couple of "Opinion vs. Hate" blogs have been posted.

1. Peep Carlos Johnson's excellent "Hate or Opinion?" piece over at HolyCulture.net.

2. And check out DJ MVP (aka Vic)'s similar/companion piece on his I Am Golden State blog.

Your thoughts?

HCR & Illspot.net to merge / Vic resigns

Big news in the online Christian Hip Hop World! Yesterday it was announced that Holy Culture and Illspot.net were merging. The new company will operate under the HolyCulture brand and will offer the full range of services that the previous companies did.

Both Anonymous and Trig assure their community users that there will be a smooth transition as the platforms and services are pulled together.

On a sadder note, Victor “DJ MVP” Padilla, founder of Holy Culture, has decided to resign. Here is what he had to say:

"As hard as it is to walk away from Holy Culture the radio, website, download store, etc., and my active involvement in Christian Hip Hop as a whole, the Lord has given me an amazing peace about the decision!”

He said that now he will devote 100% of his time to serving his wife, kids, and local church congregation.

He continued, “Often times during my years with Holy Culture, the platform somehow began to receive more attention and affections than the God the platform was supposed to be glorifying, and it is with a heavy and broken heart that I admit my guilt in not only being associated with that, but often times being one of the chief architects!

My prayer is that the new partners in Holy Culture will do a better job than I did with the platform in expanding His Kingdom instead of expanding a kingdom. Amen."

You might remember that just three months ago, Vic requested and received control of the Holy Culture brand back from DJ D-Lite after a similar hiatus.

Believe me, I know being the head of a mega-news and info site like HCR can eventually wear you down and out. I’ve seen it happen to several others in the past.

For now, I’ll be lifting Vic in prayer as he begins to release control and pour more time and effort into his fam. I also want to personally thank him on behalf of the Christian rap community for his many, many years of service and promotion of this message music.

And perhaps we can all take a moment to follow his lead and evaluate our own time and financial commitment we give to this game in sacrifice of our own families and spiritual walk.

Clearing the Air: Behind the DJ D-Lite / HCR Split

Sketch & Vic @ the 2006 Texas Holy Hip Hop Achievement Awards


DJ D-Lite @ the 2007 Texas Holy Hip Hop Achievement Awards

Business separations are a reality - even between Christian brothers.

Just before the Christmas break there was split between DJ D-Lite and Holy Culture Radio. I've spent some time with both guys (Vic "DJ MVP" Padilla - the founder of HCR) and hated to see this divide. But in talking with them shortly afterward, we seemed to all be in agreement that the facts behind the issues should be fairly and accurately presented to their respective audiences so that gossip could be squashed and cats could learn.

The article was sent to as many CHH websites and media outlets as I know. It hit their Inboxes at the same time and it was their prerogative whether or not to publish it.

Here are links to the story on the principal players' websites (in alphabetical order). Take your pick and let me know what you think. The text is the same, but obviously each site has different community members that have provided their own comments.

DaSouth.com

Illspot.net