My story is pretty simple. I started out as a heavy metal kid not interested in rap at all. Actually i thought is was all terrible. I wrote it off a “stupid” music. That all changed with Atmosphere. I started to listen to the lyrics and love what was being said. It was almost like Slug was talking directly to ME! The feeling exploded the first time I heard “Forest Whitaker.” I couldn’t believe it. I got the chills. I got those chills again with “Good Lord.” And know I find myself listening to “Us (the Song)” Over and Over and Over. It just speaks the truth to me. Anyway, I did a little creative writing tonight that I explain what Brother Ali represents to me…. i hope it rings true for some of you as well.
Street Preacher- Eric “Lucid” Berg
The beat consumes him, overwhelms him, and fills him with this tide of words that slash out in a torrent of truth. He speaks his mind with passion and grace. So much so that anyone that hears this sermon can relate to it. He lays it all out there on the stage wearing his heart on his sleeve and the crowd can feel that. They move with the beat of truth that accompanies the words of this Preacher. His words bring together his congregation, a congregation of all classes and creeds, from the well off suburban kids, to the struggling inner city boys and girls. They all respond to his message, whether is being the bad or the good. They feel like family in the crowed floor of First Ave in the Twin-Cities. This Street Preacher is the father, the voice of hope, the rock that they place all of their weary heads. He rhymes and flows with words and feelings that speak directly to their core. He understands them, comforts them and teaches them. The truth that he speaks cannot be question, only interpreted and understood. They feel that The Preacher put his very soul into the songs that he performs, that he has pour everything into this in the hopes that they would connect with it. And miraculously they do. His words strike a chord with them that warms them and gives them something to hold onto. Like this music, this poetry, is directed towards them. He is no idol, no god, merely a man that was given a gift of speech. Not to be worshiped as a hero, but to be embraced as a Brother and an equal. This Preacher is one of his people, whomever that may be, white or black.
