Chicago's Bruh Luuh on DaSouth.com, the life of a producer, and whether or not he would have voted for Rhymefest

I recently caught up with Bruh Luuh via e-mail to discuss his DaSouth.com connection, his music, and his thoughts on Muslim rapper Rhymefest running for office in his Chicago hometown.

Sketch: Your connection to DaSouth.com goes back to founder Richie “s/ave” Douglas and ONEMIND Magazine/om95.com. How’d a Chicago-based MC like yourself get hooked up with s/ave and his media endeavors?

Bruh Luuh: First of all, rest in peace to my big homie, Richie a.k.a. "Slavey-Gravy Train" b.k.a. "s/ave" Douglas and my prayers are forever with his wife "Tee."

I've been accepted as a "Chicago-based MC" as of late, but a lot of people don't know that I'm from Foley/Mobile, Alabama but I was born in Pascagoula/Gautier, Mississippi.

I hooked up with s/ave back in 1999/2000-ish when I got saved and was keystyling and battling MCs on the net. It was awesome and divine intervention because he was doing all things Christian hip hop at the time. He reached out and told me, with brutal honesty, everything that he loved and hated about the music that I was putting out. I loved and appreciated that and we became instant friends.

I have a lot of respect for s/ave's vision because he wanted all Christian MCs to be of "One Mind." That's what the "O.M." stood for in "om95.com." I remember when I asked him what the name “s/ave” meant. He told me that the empathy that he had for us as black people during the period of slavery and the civil rights movement drove him to take the name, plus the fact that ALL humans are slaves to sin and only Christ makes us free. As you can see today, he was a true servant to God.

I watched the om95.com message board evolve into a place where you could get good advice, beats, or music. Before the secular industry had caught on to mp3 technology (Napster was a free song file sharing site and there was no such thing as iTunes), he and James "BL" Parry were showing me how to tag my songs with metadata. BL ran the production section of the site and had a Christian channel on mp3.com called the “Bru HA.” Those two were a dynamite team. I remember s/ave being excited about getting the Corey Red cover/interview for the magazine and 4th Avenue Jones to cover the DaSouth.com debut. I still have my OM media in mint condition. I miss my homie.

Years before s/ave’s homegoing, his obedience to God led him to a school for the deaf. He told me that a close friend of his, Bobby "Tre9" Herring, had a dope vision for DaSouth.com. Tre9 deserves a lot of credit for what he has done with the site and in the industry period. He kept the culture of the site edgy, high-tech, and competitive with any hip-hop site that you can name on the internet.

Sketch: You’ve been grinding in the Christian rap game for quite a while as both a rapper and producer. Which artistic outlet have you found most challenging? Most rewarding?

Bruh Luuh: Selling beats is rewarding. Hmmm... I've been spitting for a long time too, but I find both equally rewarding because of the final product. I love coming up with new rhyme patterns and flows in the studio, but I was forced to learn production because the price of beats were insane. Add studio rates on top of that…

There weren't any of these beat licensing sites that we have today where you can license a track for $11.00. I got serious about production and copped my first keyboard in 2002. Production was the most challenging because I actually made myself sit down and read each manual in its entirety when I bought a new piece of gear before I even turned it on.

Making beats is easy if you have the basic concept of sequencing music, but then you need to learn to track it out, mix, and then master. Learning to mix and master was a beast, but here I am.

The “producer” title also has a dual meaning in my eyes. Anybody can rap and there are a million beat makers on this planet. I can honestly say that I can take an artist and a budget from lyrics on paper to a captured sound on a professionally mastered CD in a jewel case with shrink-wrap and a barcode. That's rewarding.



Sketch: Where does your latest release, Pen to the Paper, rank in the Bruh Luuh catalog?

Bruh Luuh: I wrote, produced, mixed, mastered & released Pen to the Paper underground in 2002. This is a re-release for my new album. It's timeless in a sense. I rank it pretty high because cats are just now catching up. I'm like that cartoon kid "Dexter" formulating my next invention in my secret lab.

When you say the name Bruh Luuh, it's like you're talking about and speaking to a new artist. I have people in my fan base that have been following my music since I dropped my first project, Fresh Manna, in 2001 then The Maxi-Single then Spiritual Advisory under the handle "Brother Love." If you dig, you can find all of my underground releases. I stopped writing to learn production and now that I'm a beast on the beats, I'm back. Automaticity is the name of my next album. That’s an exclusive for you, Sketch.

Sketch: Mainstream rapper Rhymefest (a professing Muslim who won a Grammy for co-authoring Kanye West’s hit record “Jesus Walks”) recently ran for an alderman position in Chicago. As a member of both the hip hop and Christian communities in that city, what was your take on his campaign? Would you have voted for him if given the chance?

Bruh Luuh: I'm familiar. I met Rhymefest through a company here in Chicago called MidwestLive.com. He was about to go on stage for a charity benefit for the Haiti tragedy called "Every Drop Counts" when he made time for me. That was brief, but I got a chance to see 'Fest move a crowd live from behind the stage.

Outside of the music arena though, I try to govern myself as Dr. Martin Luther King did and judge people by the content of their character. As a member of the hip hop community and being a Chicago resident, yes... I would vote for Fest 100%.

Unfortunately, I don't live in the ward that he ran in so I couldn't vote for him and although I received some invites, my schedule was in conflict with his campaign outreach dates. He got a lot of media coverage, although I wish there was more.

When you live here and when you've been shot at by these little gang-bangers like I have, you realize that they need to see an ex gang-banger in a respectable position of authority. So many small children and random people here in Chicago die every year as a result of gang violence. He would have been the voice that could have changed that, but he was robbed of that chance by shady politics. He should run for office again.

Being a part of the Christian community, I must say that I try my best to pick the best candidates when dealing with politics.

Sketch: What’s your take on the current Christian hip hop scene? Does anything in particular excite or disappoint you?

I'm overwhelmed by the leaps and bounds that I've seen Christian rappers take in the last 10 years. Most Christian rappers' production is sounding better than the secular ones and that's what is needed in these last days.

The only things that disappoint me are when I see or hear a carbon copy of Lil' Wayne, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, etc. I call them "Gospel Groupies."

I love the fact that God's MCs are becoming more and more commercialized. But at the same time, I hope that "newly converted" or born-again believers get our messages in the midst of our popularity, profiles, and budgets.

Rhymefest talks about "Prosperity," authentic Christianity, and Joel Osteen

Mainstream conscious rapper Rhymefest recently grabbed my attention with his “Prosperity” song and video that took aim at churches and pastors that seem to be more concerned with commerce than spiritual significance.

Interestingly enough, the Grammy-winning co-author of Kanye’s “Jesus Walks” is a Muslim by faith but definitely seems to respect and be attracted to our Savior.

I got to interview him for Rapzilla.com about the song and a number of other issues including his most positive experiences with Christianity.

Rhymefest: The most powerful, positive experiences that I’ve had with church are when people have their own Christian groups within their home - when they practice outside of the institution of the business of church. When people are trying to figure out answers, when people have prayer sessions for the sick and they come visit the sick, and they pray over them and people are in their basements.

When I’ve gone to those type of things that’s when I’ve seen the most genuine, authentic Christians. The most passionate Christians are the ones who get together. I mean, what does it mean to be religious? It means you do something religiously – a group of people get together and combine on praising the same, worshipping the same way.

I think that when people do that, you know, that’s a good thing. It’s a very good thing and the best way that I’ve seen it is when people do it within a community or home.

I have problems with “mega church.” Mega churches, I just, I have problems with it. I have problems with churches that get involved in politics. I have problems with churches that take corporate sponsorship or government money. So the most positive Christians that I’ve seen, that I believe are more authentic, are the Christians who say “We’ll do this thing within our home and we’ll have a spiritual leader and we’ll learn together and we’ll grow together.” I think that’s better for the community - smaller church.

You know who I love? What’s that guy with the curly hair? What is his name? A white guy. He has a huge church. He’s on TV all the time. He talks about health and wellness…

Sketch: Oh, Joel Osteen?

R: Yo! I LOVE that dude!

S: He’s right here in Houston where I’m at actually.

R: I watch him as much as I can. Man, I really like that guy. I like that guy better than like, a lot of the other guys that I’ve seen. He comes across as just a beautiful person and not only because he’s a handsome guy with a beautiful family, but because he’s so tender with his flock, you know? And he doesn’t preach, he teaches. And he inspires. So I like him.

S: Yeah. Would you not consider him to have a mega church or to be a prosperity preacher? Because a lot of people I know probably would is why I ask that.

R: I think he is, but, within this talking about prosperity preachers, let me also say this - some people are better off there.

Some people I understand have a need to belong to something. They have a need to belong. The problem you have is when these people start setting themselves up as God. When they start saying, you know, “Follow me.” Then it stops being a message from the Lord that teaches. You’ve got some people that just want to maintain power.

I like his message of wellness and health. But I’m conflicted about the T. D. Jakes and the Creflo Dollars because, although I know that what they’re doing is wrong in the eyes of the Lord, what they’re doing is dead wrong, they are helping some people. Some people need that.

But I think the mistake is that if those people are following those ministers and not ultimately following the Lord that’s just… in their heart, that’s for God to decide, not me.

Catch the rest of our conversation, including Fest’s thoughts on Muslim/Christian relations, problems in the American black church, and Christian hip hop at Rapzilla.com.

"Jesus Walks" co-writer, Rhymefest, slams "Prosperity" preachers in new song/video

Rhymefest dropped this gem of a video and song on the Interwebs today in which he takes aim at the "Prosperity Gospel" message of televangelists and TV preachers who seem to exploit people looking for genuine salvation.

The general market, Chicago-based MC has covered Christian themes and topics in his raps before, having co-authored Kanye West's "Jesus Walks" which won a Grammy in 2005.

NOTE: The song contains two words you probably wouldn't want to be overheard saying in church and a couple of cleavage shots that might be distracting to some viewers.

Still, do you think Rhymefest is being too harsh here or hitting just the right tone with this branch of faith?