Sunday, January 29, 2012

The Good News. . . For Sale



My mother has often asked me why I did not consider
becoming a "Gospel Rapper". I usually explain the ultimate truth to her, after regaining my composure from an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

Back when record stores still existed, a music fan would walk into one and find that the CD's would be separated by category: Rock, Rap, R&B, Country, Classical, maybe International/World, and (surprise!) Gospel. There was no shrine in the back that these discs magically appeared from. They were usually sent by a company that also supplied the CD's that filled the other categories. The people actually making the music may have been sincere to an extent, but the number crunchers who kept the lights on in the studio were not compelled by the Holy Ghost. I've never witnessed any customer looking to purchase a gospel album being given the disc for free and told to exit "with the blessings of God". In the end it is all cold, hard, business.

I could argue that to sell faith-based music somehow seems contradictory, but my heart would not be in it fully. What is truly of importance is the understanding that business is simply supply and demand, meaning that when the public stops wanting to hear about God, gospel will vanish. It is fairly common to see artists who start out as gospel singers, only to go "secular" later. In this way, God is put into a role of a Diddy or any other powerful music mogul who has people join/leave his empire.


In the end, there is no "good vs. evil" dynamic in commerce. The person who listens to music made by Satan worshipers and the one listens to only "inspirational" music are both feeding the same machine. Things automatically lose value once they are put on the market for sale. The authentic is forgone for the popular, which equals money. Music can easily have the integrity sucked out of it once everyone's tastes are taken into account, even for something as specific as gospel music. The problem, then, is not with the actual product, but with the system that controls all of this.

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