Bun B recommends Lecrae to this Twitter followers

One of the great things about Twitter is that if you follow the right combination of people you can see their back and forth conversations in real time.

Like this exchange yesterday when Bun B recommended Lecrae's music to his 197,000 Twitter followers.

As you may remember, "Professor Trill" is co-teaching a "Religion and Hip Hop Culture" class at Rice University this semester.

He's already had Houstonians Tre9 and 007 (of the 5th Ward Boyz) there as a guest lecturer to discuss Christian hip hop. Maybe Lecrae (who was born here) will be next?

VID: KJ-52 bathroom freestyle

You:
Recite pre-written rhymes while a classmate bangs on a lunch table.

KJ-52:
Freestyles topics suggested by fans on Twitter & Facebook while a professional drummer makes beats on fixtures in a public restroom.

He wins.

DJ X: MTV's first Twitter Jockey?

Courtesy photo

The DJ for a popular Christian rapper may be MTV’s first Twitter Jockey.

Given our post-modern, hyper socially-networked society, surely at least one of the words in the previous sentence perked your interest.

Starting today, viewers can vote for DJ X (aka Xavier Moreno) to be the youth-channel’s first TJ (Twitter Jockey) – a modern version of the original MTV VJ (Video Jockey.) MTV General Manager Stephen Friedman told the Associated Press that the TJ position is "a natural evolution of how we connect with our audience."

DJ X was one of the first 18 candidates hand selected by MTV for the competition. The ultimate winner will relocate to New York, make occasional appearances on the network, and earn a one-year $100,000 salary as their online personality for music and pop culture.

Over the years, Moreno has developed a strong following as a frequent tour DJ for best selling Christian rapper KJ-52. With KJ, he’s traveled and performed at hundreds of venues each year including the Get Motivated business seminars where he’s shared the stage with world leaders like Rudy Guliani, Colin Powell, former President George W. Bush, Dwayne Wade, Joe Montana and others.

The gig, along with his popular Ispeakwithmyhands.com blog, has occasionally led to questions about his calling. “Is he a Christian rap DJ?” many ask. “If he gets this MTV job, will he be selling out and promoting ‘worldly’ music?”

“I’m a DJ who has a faith. That carries over into all aspects of what I do,” X said. “I just want my convictions and what I stand for to filter into all aspects of my life. Whether that’s on a Christian festival with KJ-52 or in a night club environment, DJ X and who I am doesn’t change.”

Although originally from the Bronx, X’s family relocated to Fort Myers, Florida when he was 14 years old. It was there, through church and friends, that he met KJ-52. As one of the genre’s most in-demand artists, KJ often needed a DJ with the talent and time to enhance his many performances on the road.

X accepted the gig and was able to observe first hand how well his MC counterpart was able to connect with his fans. Always on the bleeding boundary, KJ was one of Christian hip hop’s first artists to have a regular podcast, video blog, Facebook page, and Twitter feed.

“X is definitely high on the fashion/music tip, where I tend to be a little more savvy on different apps and such. But we complement each other well, an ‘iron sharpens iron’ type thing,” KJ said. “And when I saw the competition he’s up against I thought he really brought a creative edge to what he does that I didn’t see in some of the others. I think he’s going to knock it out of the park.”

And although he’s often pegged as a “hip hop guy,” X appears to be a man who is well rounded and passionate about specific social causes and issues.

From the stage, viewers might notice his TWLOHA t-shirt (from To Write Love On Her Arms, a non-profit organization which aims to present hope for people struggling with self injury, thoughts of suicide, depression, and addiction) or his REVOLUTION forearm tattoo (with the letters EVOL –backwards LOVE – shaded in red.) Offstage, they may know him from his over nine years of mentoring youth through engagements and entertainment outlets such as The Bridge Youth Center, Life Skills (Charter) High School and juvenile detention facilities.

“He's a real interesting cat, not some monotonous drone reading from cue cards or talking about stuff that he doesn't know anything about,” Kansas based rapper Cash Hollistah said. “His musical palette is diverse too. Not just hip-hop, but indie, folk, rock, whatever. He's that dude!”

X sounds like he’s looking forward to using his potential MTV platform to challenge his audience to also be activists for change.

“Knowing where I came from and the roots of what I saw and observed as a kid, I always want to be able to give back and show that I’ve been able to come out of that and be successful and not let my environment influence who I am,” X said.

You can follow DJ X on Twitter @officialdjx and vote for him in MTV’s Search for the First TJ online challenges on Facebook until July 20, 2010.

Christian Chirp = Twitter knock-off

Christian Chirp.com – a faith-based alternative to Twitter hit the Interwebs this week.

Florida businessman James Paris says he launched the site after being banned from Twitter for speaking in favor of conservative talk host Rush Limbaugh and being bombarded with inappropriate spam.

To me, this reeks of a bad Christian knockoff and unfortunately continues the long-held copy-cat tradition of our church subculture. If it works for you, cool. However, another alternative to consider is to only Tweet and follow people that respect, reinforce, and strengthen your faith.

BTW, the site appears to have recently come under cyber-attack as of the time of this posting. Not sure what that's all about.

Also, you can follow me on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/sketchthej

I'm Back from 2040

Last week Sho Baraka (aka @lionsandliars) started what turned out to be a fun Twitter trend of #imbackfrom2040. The spark was the different levels of outrage between Michael Vick's crimes and Rick Patino's mistress's abortion.

Here's the rundown. Hopefully you'll find them as interesting as I did.

********************************************************************

lionsandliars: I'm back from the year 2040, and I'm sorry to say that Dogs, trees, and whales are still more important than humans.

lionsandliars: I'm starting a trend: #Imbackfrom2040 and skinny jeans are still unnacceptable on men!

lionsandliars: #imbackfrom2040 and when you say the gospel, people say,"Oh that one movie with all those Black people! Yeah that was terrible!"

vincentpowell: #imbackfrom2040 and when you say Jesus kids leave cookies and milk out...they think He's a joke. Yet, EVERY KNEE shall bow!!

smsouljah: @LionsandLiars #imbackfrom2040 and ppl still consider Toby Mac HHH!! And D-Maub submitted over 20,000 leaks 2 dasouth.com wrecked all of em!

SketchtheJ: Like @LionsandLiars, #Imbackfrom2040 and the "Christian rapper" vs. "Rapper who is a Christian" debate still rages on.

SketchtheJ: Guess what? #Imbackfrom2040 and Ryan Seacrest and Larry King still have jobs on TV.

SketchtheJ: Also, #Imbackfrom2040 and robot rappers are using a vocal effect called "HumanTune."

SketchtheJ: #Imbackfrom2040 and @wadeoradio is on Hot 97 and syndicated across the country. Same lame monotone cat doing the Holy Hip Hop News Blasts.

SketchtheJ: Fire up your Playstation 12 or Xbox 720: Madden 40 is out today. Brett Farve is unretired (again) & on the cover. #imbackfrom2040

SketchtheJ: Sho nuff: #imbackfrom2040 and fat laced Adidas are still fresh.

SketchtheJ: It FINALLY happened: Lil Wayne ran out of skin space for tats. He's outsourcing them now. #imbackfrom2040

SketchtheJ: Just caught up to some lyrics from Andre 3000, @redcloudhiphop, and Jurny Big. #imbackfrom2040

SketchtheJ: #imbackfrom2040 and can't believe I just heard ANOTHER "Air Jordan On 'Em" remix.

Xodiz: #imbackfrom2040 and Gucci Mane and Oj Da Juice are still realeasing a new mixtape every week. Lord help us!

SketchtheJ: #imbackfrom2040 and brothas with bass are letting the trunks rattle. As per @poptheculture: That is STILL not cool!

Holy Tweets

The Stuff Christians Like blog has a great entry about how we can (and often) try to make our Tweets sound more holy than we really are. I know I'm guilty sometimes.

Heads up: This site is full of satire and humor. Laugh a little.

Twitter = Blog Killer

As my man Matt Sonzala said, Twitter is killing my blog.

It's just so much easier to post pics, links, and ReTweets of important info from my iPhone than the PC.

Still, I know y'all like the bloggy blog and it DOES offer me a better way to share more photos and written pieces longer than 140 characters.

Just trying to adapt to the new tech and figure out how to integrate the two.

Valuable postings to come. I promise.

Twittering SXSW

I'm heading out to Austin tonight and will be Twittering throughout SXSW for those that want to track me.

Find and follow me at www.twitter.com/SketchtheJ

I'll be at the DaSouth.com stage tomorrow with B.L.U.E, Dooney, Kaboose, Braille, the Much Luvv Fam and Lecrae.

I also plan to hit the After Party and want to try to catch a Rootbeer (Pigeon John & Flynn) set if I can.

Look for pics, set info, and other randomness.

Here a Tweet, there a Tweet, everywhere a Tweet, Tweet

Yeah, so apparently everyone in America joined Twitter in the last two weeks. (It even was even awarded VH1's "Best Week Ever.")

I did the same.

You can follow my mico-blogs @SketchtheJ.

Add @The_REAL_SHAQ too. He's legit, funny, and often gives out free tix to Suns games in different cities.