We Need Water
This week's STCDNW
As a Curb Your Enthusiast, I know it is too late to say happy new year. And besides, this year has been whooping us left and right and we are only halfway through the D9 Founders Day celebrations.
Really not feeling how ominous this year is! A grip of tragedies in the first week including the still horrifying fires in Los Angeles. My hope is that this post (and frankly, my whole point of being this online) gives you an oasis from the madness.
Our first selection for STCDNW is Kirk Franklin’s appearance on “Sister, Sister”. I do not remember this episode but Lord knows I miss Black shows from the 90s with musical guest appearances. I loved “Revolution” so much that I wrote about it in my middle school paper when “Nu Nation Project” released. Kirk is in my Mt. Olympus of Gospel artists and it makes me laugh now when I think about all the flack he caught back then for “taking gospel music too far.”
Next we have one of my favourite artists of all time, and someone I used to be mistaken for in Charlotte a lot, Fred Hammond. At one point, early in Songs That Can Do No Wrong lore, I argued that Purpose By Design is his greatest album. I truly love this album and found myself revisiting the album this week. This song in particular is gorgeous. It is a great worship song that feels like you could play it during the jazz hour on a Sunday drive. The lyrics have stayed with me through the years, particularly when Fred sings that “I am calling out to you for a strange exchange. I will gladly take your joy for my weakness.” A beautiful reminder of the work God continues to do in us.
KB is so dope. I love this song and its reminder that we are not alone.
This song really hit me this week. Japhia Life has an incredible ability to let you know precisely what God has saved him from. Coupled with a fantastic John P. Kee feature, “Water” is haunting. You feel the gravity of life on this track and the danger that lurks.
I believe DMX is one of the most theologically fascinating artists. His recently released posthumous album, Let Us Pray, is painfully short solely because he is no longer here in the physical with us. Nevertheless, his prayers on this album are powerful and give a slice to the deep faith he held in the midst of his tribulations.