Recap: Gifted release party (11/20/09)

It's anutha belated photo recap post. This time from Gifted da Flamethrowa's release party for the excellent Street Symphony - an album that was one of my top 5 faves from 2009.

Here's the rundown:
All photos by Sketch the Journalist


DJ Primo kicked things off with a spin set that included video mixes and kept the crowed entertained while we waited. (Has a Christian hip hop concert EVER started on time?)


Trevor Lee was MVP of the night - running sound, performing, and acting as a hype man for everybody.


Here's a still shot of the dope Street Symphony video that Primo hooked up to run in the background of the event.


Von Won and the Sheep in Wolves Clothing fam rocked a set with some ski masks. Tracks included "Bow Down," "Jesus Lives" (peep the official video here), and "Game Time."


Von addressed the crowd and informed us that Gifted and his fam were on the way. Apparently Gifted caught a legit flat tire during his travels that delayed him for about two hours.


Gifted's son, Young Anointed aka Y.A., flexed his freestyle skills upon arrival. Kid can flow.


Gifted da Flamethrowa finally hit the stage to perform some new tracks (like "Free Us" feat. Bishop Lester Love) and a few throwbacks including his "66 Ways" jawn.


And of course, he had to bring up Denzil for that dancehall-tinged "Hands Up" jam. (Peep the official video for that here.)


Gifted also gave props to Pastor Mukes who helped him grow spiritually and as an artist with Bound 4 Glory Records.

Through gold teeth and a think New Orleans accent, Mukes gave a message about that value of Christian hip hop and said that if God can speak through a donkey, He can speak through rap music. After all, the Enemy uses it. We just have to take it back and speak life.


Afterward, Gifted kicked with friends, family, and fans.


And showed off the new CD with his beautiful bride (and femcee) Zeeda.

Vid: Michelle Bonilla covers "Jesus Muzik"

Rocksoul is smart.

Michelle Bonilla's long awaited In Spite of Me album drops next week. They also have a new artist, Donielle Rodwell, to promote.

So how do they go about marketing this? Virally - with a clever and creative cover of Lecrae's genre making "Jesus Muzik" track.

Maybe Bonilla has been peeping Trevor Lee's acoustic remake video series for inspiration.

Nice work RS team.

Vid: "Air Jordan" acoustic freestyle - SXSW 2010

I caught just a bit of this as I was leaving SXSW 2010 for the night. I love it when dudes take it back to freestylin' and I really like the acoustic jam session element of this one.

Vid: "Crawl" Christian guitar remix

Trevor Lee is back with a remix of Chris Brown's "Crawl."

If you're like me you may not be as familiar with this track as "Forever" (which got a gazillion spins during the NBA's All-Star weekend) so here's a link to the original for reference.

I also appreciate the blog shout out at the front of the clip.

Enjoy.

Vid: "Forever" Christian guitar remix

It may not mean nuthin' to y'all... but my man Trevor Lee just hit me off with the first of what he says will be a series of "Christian guitar remixes" of secular rap songs.

(And no, he's not implying that the instrument can make/has made Jesus his Savior.)

Normally, I'm not a fan of the "Christian remake," but I'll give Trev some props for giving it an additional twist with the acoustic guitar.

Peep the video below and let him know what you think.