Health & Fitness
What Does a Pastor, an Aveo, Rap Music, and a Guy Named CraCajaC Have in Common?
Music - it's everywhere...even in my little Aveo. It may surprise you to find out what kind of music...
I drive an Aveo.
That is not the proudest sentence that I’ve ever written, but hey, it’s a car, and gets great gas mileage. But, yes, it’s still an Aveo.
Every once and again, I’ll be driving down Boughton (or better, waiting at the lights on Boughton) and someone will do that sneaky side-ways glance we do at stop lights, to see who is sitting in that goofy little car, listening to Rap music. And they see me. A Pastor. A Caucasian Pastor. Listening to Rap music.
Find out what's happening in Bolingbrookwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Yes, I did just say that. I am an almost-40-something-Caucasian Pastor who listens to Rap. And no, not Vanilla Ice (but come on, who didn’t love Ice Ice Baby!!), but guys like Lecrae, Trip Lee, Shai Linne, Andy Mineo…
But I also listen to some guy named CraCajaC. Never heard of him? Well, now’s your chance. <Shameless plug alert!!> He is releasing his newest CD, Onalim, at an event on July 27th at the Grounds for Hope Café (details via Facebook here).
Find out what's happening in Bolingbrookwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
CraCajaC is a Bolingbrook local, who attends New Song Church. His name, surprisingly enough, isn’t CraCajaC, it’s Matt Gaskins. Matt helps lead a community group at New Song, regularly leads worship there, and put together this band. He’s also insanely sarcastic, so we get along really well.
I listened to an advance copy of Onalim and a few things stood out to me that I wanted to make sure you all knew about this CD:
The lyrics are filled with hope. In Lay it Down: “Hope outlasts my fear of the past.” That’s one of the most hopeful things we can know – we no longer fear our past, no matter how frustrating or painful it might be, because our hope trumps it!
The lyrics are filled with reality. Life is tough. Don’t let anyone lie to you, it’s hard. In difficulty comes great opportunity to succeed, to thrive, and to write really cool Rap lyrics.
The lyrics have a way of cutting to the soul. In What Happened to Love, we are punched in the gut with “We can say all we want but our actions define, so faith without works is lasted to die, by our lips we can praise but we truly defy.”
When you release your own Rap CD, you end up having friends with cool names, like WhiteRice, ZEKE, and Kromey. Me, I hang with guys named John, Phil, Bill, Tom, Toby, Adam, Matt, Ryan…
The lyrics are true. “So many times you’ve believed all the lies and you’re finally ready to sever the ties. You’re at the end of your rope with your arms wide open, He heals your heart and He knows that you’ve chosen, fall at His feet when He finds you… beautifully broken.” From Beautifully Broken.
Seriously, I’m no music reviewer – but I enjoy the CD – the music is catchy, entertaining, and unlike some other Rap, the lyrics are understandable, and there are lots of opportunities to sing along with Matt, I mean, CraCajaC. Take advantage to check out some of the songs from the new album here, or see the video for one of the catchiest songs on the album, Hold my Head High.
I’d love to see you all at the café next Friday night.
And yeah, if you see my Aveo bouncing down Boughton this week, it’s either a pothole, or I’m listening to Onalim.
