Thursday, January 28, 2010

Grab Your Peace!



Andre 3000 is the best rapper out, in my opinion. He's creative, innovative, courageous, content-rich, and his skills are simply undeniable. Give me 3 Thou over Lil' Wayne any day! I love Jay-Z and his catalog cannot be denied but there's something about 3 Stacks that moves me.

"Aquemini" is one of my favorite Outkast albums. There was something so dark and hypnotic about that album. There is no cohesive theme. To listen from beginning to end is to risk getting lost in the crevices of your mind. As much as I have listened to that album, I can't recite the lyrics to one song. My mind wanders with each rhyme, each insanely delicious melody, each gut wrenching story told so naturally... This album was like a hallucinogen. You see colors and creatures your mind had never imagined when you close your eyes, bob your head and smile when "SpottieOttieDopaliscious" comes on. (Come on yall, SOMEBODY was high when they came up with that title!)

What has me up tonight jonesing on "Aquemini"? The Bible. Yep, you read it right. The Bible. I was reading Exodus 14:14, which says, "The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace." That one little verse gave me so much. I read that line over and over, in about five different translations but I kept coming back to the King James version, "... and ye shall hold your peace." And then I thought about Andre 3000's opening monologue on "Return of the Gangsta."
Its like niggas always be hollerin peace
Peace my brotha, peace this, peace that You know what im sayin but... Every time I try to get a peace of mind A nigga try to get a piece of mine So i gotta grab my piece
In this song 3000 is letting it be known, you come for my peace, I'm going for my gun! But the Lord has a different course of action, one that will never fail. "The Lord shall fight FOR you and ye shall HOLD your peace." You have to HOLD your peace. You can't let it go! While God is fighting for you, the enemy will try to take your peace from you but you have to tighten your grip and keep holding on!

This sounds easier than it is, right? Of course it does but most times we make it harder for ourselves because we're trying to do the fighting. God has freed your hands to hold on to your peace with because He's FIGHTING FOR YOU. God is invincible, he doesn't need your help to win the fight. Take your hands off the fight, put them on your peace and don't let go!

2 comments:

  1. Very interesting analysis. I don't think I would have ever connected the dots like that, but I'm loving it. Great work.

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