Michael Kiwanuka has become one of my favorite artists over the past few weeks. If you get the chance to listen to his debut album "Home Again", do not hesitate to do so. Sit down in a dimly lit room, with a cool beverage, a book, and some ears ready to listen. His songs "I'm Getting Ready" "Tell Me a Tale" "Home Again" and "I Need Your Company" are some of my personal favorites. Enjoy the cool soul and jazz feel to this greatly composed album.

Social Club Misfit Gang or also known by their full name: Social Club Misfit Gang Wolf Pack. (SCMGWP). These couple of dudes are definitely adding to a whole new generation of rap and definitely are beginning to rearrange the arena for Christian rap music too. Their new mixtape came out just yesterday and they seem to have brought this whole new style of raw aggression to the Christian rap scene that I - to be perfectly honest -have yet to see pulled off by too many Christian hip-hop artists without it being corny.

The Social Club Misfit Gang take their mistakes and their problems and their ability to relate to groups of people who have had their hearts broken and have threatened to take their lives one day and use it all to create a sort of rap style in the Christian scene that at times almost seems secular. They do not neccesarily stand behind a podium and preach to their listeners, but instead they go ham, dance around, and provide an atmosphere to their music that makes you want to get out of your seat and just punch someone square in the face! - in love of course.

What I am getting at is that in most of Social Club's music especially in songs like "Chocolate Bobka" I am able to sense this sort of insanity and sort of energetic nature to both Martymar and Fernie in which because of their lyrics and beats you just feel as if you are also a part of the social club misfit gang. It is as if because of the relatability of their lyrics and compelling beats and the woman's voice that says, "social club is the best" that you also as a listener also begin to believe that social club is the best and that they are more than just rap group, but a group of rowdy imperfect Christians trying to grow and seek to be more like Christ just as much as the preacher on the stage.

The Social Club Misfit Gang are truly a group of very talented people and by the grace of God I hope that they continue to grow with the Lord, but never grow out of their energetic, child-like, and humbling music style.

Click the picture above to be taken to the download link for their new mixtape.

I want to begin diving into critiquing other artist's music that has been released and one artist I want to do that with is Ellie Goulding and her recently released album "Halycon." I haven't spent enough time enjoying it as I would like so hopefully by the end of the week I will get the chance to tell you all my thoughts on her musical quality, lyrics and more. But, for now I hope that you would take a listen to her album and enjoy it for yourself!

I need to be perfectly honest with all my readers...I am at war within myself. I fear the worst is at hand within my heart and mind. I fear that I will begin to start making more mistakes. I fear that my writing will slowly degrade to become some meaningless downpour of thoughts and feelings and yet hold no validity and interest for all those who wish to read my page.
  
    I have had this nauseating feeling within the pit of my stomach ever since I started writing my blogs and figured out that there was some way for me to make money blogging. I was ecstatic, of course, at first, but then as time went on I realized that my writing would eventually start to become about others and pleasing them. That I would not write from my heart, but rather write because I wanted to capture their attention and get more views.

    So far I feel like I have done well with just writing from my heart and mind, but at the same time I still feel afraid. I feel like I am always looking over my back and wanting to see how many views my page has received and so on and so forth. Don't get me wrong it would be awesome to have tons of people reading my blog, but at the same time, I write because I love writing. I write because I view writing as an art, not because I want to make money. If I simply wanted to make money I would approach my blog posts the same way I would approach going to flip a burger in Wendy's everyday -- as a means to get a salary. If I can do something that I love most and still benefit from it financially then I will be receiving, what is known as the "best of both worlds."

    I wish to write daily not because I want to keep my readers updated all the time, but because I want to express myself in a vivid written format. I want people to read, don't get me wrong! I love people reading my stuff, because I see it as someone coming and seeing a painting that I have just spent so much time putting together every single piece and detail. Writing is creating, and therefore every form of writing is an art in and of itself. You do not have to write poetry for it to be art. You do not necessarily have to write a narrative story for it to be constituted as art.

    You simply must create something in which every bit and piece and detail of that work means something to you. This would then mean that if someone were to come by and want to change what you have written, it would tear at the very fiber of your being. Because every word was delicately placed and formatted to generate a specific emotion and appeal, and without that word or phrase your whole piece of art changes to something else.

    I fear that my works may also not be viewed as "Christian Enough" because they are written from the point of view of a Christian who doesn't always speak the name of Jesus Christ in every post. Who doesn't always format his posts to be a resource for Christians to come to as a self-help kind of blog. I fear this almost every time I write. But in the end, I write telling the full and adulterated truth from the point of view of the Christian life. The Christian life is not always invigorating and "all-smiles." It is painful, tiring, and suffering. But yet this pain Christians feel is different, because there is a hope that 2 Corinthians 4 talks about, in which the Christian holds the hope in "Jars of Clay" in order that all may see the power of God. In order that all may see that the Christian is weak and should be broken, but yet still is perfectly put together because the Lord is their strength.

    I love being able to pour out my heart in song, in poetry, in stories, and in written blogs. I just want to write to express myself. I want to feel the joy and excitement of going to my blog page and re-reading what I have written and saying to myself, "I wrote that." It excites me to create! And therefore that is what I will dedicate my life to doing, and that is creating. My heart is now at peace. I have done what I have wanted to do since I woke up this morning, and that is simply just create. I was fearfully and wonderfully made, and therefore will seek to create in the same way.

                                                          "Christian art is the expression of the whole life of the whole person                                                        who is a Christian. What a Christian portrays in his art is the totality of life. Art is                                                        not to be solely a vehicle for some sort of self-conscioius evangelism."
                                                                                            -Francis A. Schaeffer

If I could be a photographer I really would hahah not gonna lie! I just want to give a quick shout-out to one of my good friends Emily Patton! This girl is a great photographer and a true artist at heart. I wish I had the kind of mind she has sometimes! I hope you all will check out her photography blog and if you are ever in the Maryland area and need some Photos taken, she is your go to girl! Click on the photo to go to her Facebook Page and see all her recent pictures.

emilypattonphotography.com