Track 4 D Day!
To start this new segment, let's start strong and share the works that may be popular with those overlooked; elements that are known, and those under the radar. Combining, contrasting, and sharing the space with Christian and Conscious Hip Hop, the Track 4 D Day seeks to critically review the artist, their works, their trajectory, their testimony, and the support of a conscious attitude and perspective. The space is critical, dialectic, ideologically reframing currency, post-national, diegetic, a lexicon of liberation, culturally founded, and contests socio-political actors and agents of power.
 If you talk - rap - the talk, but don't walk the walk we're gonna call you out! A space for the Hip Hop Headz and the faint of heart looking for gems to add to their playlist. Let's Talk About It!
Christian Hip Hop and Culture: Bizzle and Jared Sanders
Bizzle, "This Ain't Love"Â featuring Lavoisier and Sevin, God Over Money.
Bizzle is one of those names that holds a staple in the old school-new school Christian Hip Hop circles. This track throws back to the late 1970s-80s with horn tracks and the subtle keyboard undercurrent. The lyrics flow evenly across the groove that pulses in a present but not overwhelming beat. It's a feel-good, honest track that can safely introduce one to the world of Christian Hip Hop.
The bonus is the features, Lavoisier and Sevin. Â The Hog Mob Christian Rap Ministry, founded and maintained by Sevin, frames a post-gangster culture attitude with a strong faith-based directive. Hog Mob continues to welcome new talent and supporters who drive this music ministry forward.
Jared Sanders, "Sunday Paper."
If you're not hip to Jared Sanders, take a look at his work and history. A voice that is not to be overlooked, and one that is subtle in the background of Christian Hip Hop. This track speaks to a prophetic element and grooves hard. Framing and calling out the core evolution of Hip Hop culture, Jared Sanders forces the viewer to see the urban jungle in a juxtaposed light. The lyrics contest these elements- the black church vs. the urban jungle. The integration of the shout-outs, the ripping snare, and the hype-man shouts all equate this work being born from the grassroots of Hip Hop.
Conscious Hip Hop and Culture: Cyclonious
Cyclonious, Featuring Nate, "Peak"
If you know, you know. If you don't, then sit down, shut up, and listen. Cyclonious is that real name on the global Hip Hop stage that stakes a claim and calls it like it is. Rising from the UK ghettos and hood, Cyclonious doesn't fear away from the realities of the ongoing colonial/post-colonial British Empire. Â
What captured my interest in the works of Cyclonious was not only the sound lyrics that talk to a contemporary re-evolutionary voice but also the location of his videos. Framed in the urban centers of the UK and elsewhere, Cyclonious uses the living elements of the globe to provide a critical reading of globalization and the mental industrial complex.
As a sign-off from Cyclonious, enjoy the track "Jalex Africa." The inclusion of Reggae elements and North African popular music sounds couched together in a harmonious Hip Hop track, it lays smooth and drives persistence.
Until the next Track 4 D Day, Let's Talk About It!
Alan Lechusza
