Hello, my name is Lance Wilbur.
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And I'm Dwayne Lemon.
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And we like to welcome
you to another episode of TKS,
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a True Knowledge of Self,
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where we get to know ourselves
from a biblical perspective.
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For those of you
who are just tuning in,
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we've been going over a story.
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The story is Dwayne Lemon's.
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And we discussed the fact
that we're involved in a war.
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We talked about this war in the
Book of Revelation chapter 12
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and we saw that
it began in heaven.
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And we saw that it--
Now has come to the earth.
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And the war, the battle is waged
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over the control
of humanity's minds.
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And we talked about the
fact that the Bible in verse 11
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of Chapter 12 gives us insight
into how humanity can overcome
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and gain a
victory in this warfare.
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And it shows that they overcame
them by the blood of the Lamb,
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which we will be talking
about in future episodes,
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and by the word
of their testimony.
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So we're talking about
Dwayne Lemon's testimony,
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we're talking about his story.
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We saw how he was
reared in the heart
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of New York City
in Hollis, Queens.
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We talked about his upbringing
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and coming from a
virtual obscurity,
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and getting involved
heavily into the hip hop scene,
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into the dance
aspect of hip hop.
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And eventually, he got his break
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and eventually, he found himself
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entrenched in the industry.
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And this is where we left off,
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and we were gonna be
picking up from that point.
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And so I'd like to now
ask you some questions again
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and kind of, if you
could just bring us up to speed
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and help us understand in brief.
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You came from a
regular family if you will
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and find yourself
now fully entrenched
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in the hip hop industry
as a dancer, choreographer.
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Again, just show
us where we are now.
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Yeah, I mean,
when you think about
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how many individuals try
to make it in entertainment,
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whether it be
through singing or poetry,
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rhyming, dancing
or whatever, acting,
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you get literally
millions of people
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throughout North America alone,
let alone throughout the world,
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who are trying to
make it to the top.
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So imagine, you got
this young black child
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growing up in
Hollis, Queens, New York
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listening to hip
hop like anybody else,
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going to those
clubs, going to the parties.
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But now here it
is that I was able to
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actually work with the people
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that one day I used
to watch on television,
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I was entertained by them.
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Now I'm on television
and I'm entertaining people.
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It felt like I
arrived, that's the best way
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that I can explain it.
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I'm making more money than
I could have ever imagined.
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I'm also on television,
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I have people
adoring me and admiring me
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and I can get any
girlfriend I want or anything.
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So I mean, I had
my own choices now.
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A lot of people
wanted to be my friend
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and to hang out with me.
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So at this stage in my
life, I felt practically like
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what some would
call even a god on earth
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because you know
when you think of God
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you think of one
who gets adoration,
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someone who gets worship,
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someone who people
are willing to sacrifice
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so that they can pay
homage to this person
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and receive His blessings.
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This is how
people were treating me.
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And this is how
people are treated
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in the entertainment industry.
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They're treated as gods,
they treated as individuals
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that are superior
to natural humanity.
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So now I'm in that mix.
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So you can imagine
my head is full of self.
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At this point, I'm thinking
I am all that and then some.
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I'm thinking I've arrived.
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So this is
something you were looking for
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as a young man,
in high school even.
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Getting it at a local
level and then now going up
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to an international
level, you're on tours now.
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So who-- who were
some of the people
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that you're
working with at this point?
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Well, at that point again,
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I was working with
people like Queen Latifah.
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I was working with
you know, hip hop group
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that was called A
Tribe Called Quest,
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which was a led out
a rapper named Q-Tip.
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I think he's still
pretty much out there today.
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You have
individual like Busta Rhymes,
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you have individuals
like the Wu-Tang Clan
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with Method Man
and all these folks.
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Then you have people in
more of the R'n'B scene.
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Again, this was
like Brandy, Keith Sweat,
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working with people
like Silk or Boyz II Men.
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This was the era that I was in.
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So it was working
with people like that
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that made me up to
this "celebrity status"
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as far as a
dancer was concerned.
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I was amazed at how much dancers
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receive so much adoration.
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And again, because I
moved from being just a dancer,
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performer to
now a choreographer,
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so now I'm not only
performing the steps,
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but I'm creating the steps.
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So there's a major
notoriety that comes with that
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to the point that now,
not only the common people
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that you meet on a day
to day basis in the world,
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they were adoring you,
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but even people
very much in the industry
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because now
they're looking at you
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as an innovative
person, a creator...
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So now artists
are looking to you
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because you can
make them look better.
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Exactly, exactly.
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So now I became
an asset to them.
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So how much, for
example, from a regular,
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you know, base level
dancer to a choreographer,
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what's the money difference?
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Oh, base level
dancer can do a music video
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maybe make
anywhere from $200 to $300.
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If you are fortunate,
you can probably make about
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$500 or $600 depending
on the artist many a times
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'cause some artist
have bigger budgets.
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And again, this is
numbers from that time.
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Yeah, numbers from that time.
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So you're talking
again around early '90s.
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These were the
kind of dollar figures
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that was real to a dancer.
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Sometimes you got
less than $100 too.
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But when you do choreography,
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I mean I could get paid $5,000
just to choreograph one song.
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And then if you write a contract
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where you're gonna
choreograph 12 deals,
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then you just
take 5,000 times 12.
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So the money was
drastically different.
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So once I got a
taste of that world,
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that was the world I
didn't want to leave.
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I said, "Oh, no,
I'm gonna stay here."
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Because
performing was the easy part,
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choreography took
much more brain work.
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It took a lot more
thinking and crafting.
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And therefore, it challenged
me and I wanted that challenge.
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So I accepted that part
so here's where I am now.
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Now I'm making a
good amount of money,
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I'm traveling,
I'm on television,
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I'm making the name for myself.
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And now I also
wanted to help people too.
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So I'm doing all that I can
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to just try to
get my name out there
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and to be as
absolutely popular as possible.
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Right, so you're also mentioning
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that there was a void
that even you know growing up,
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childhood, teenage
years, there was a void.
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You tried to fill it
with different things.
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Now you have material wealth.
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You can pretty much
do whatever you want,
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go wherever you want
around traveling globally now.
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Yeah. And the void still exists.
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What is it or what are some
of the things that explore or--
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You know, sounded the
alarm or the red flags
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that showed you that
the industry did not have
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what it took to fill a void?
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It was the quiet moments.
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That's why you'll find
in the world generally,
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and especially, in the hip hop
and R'n'B culture and industry,
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there's always activity.
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You're always doing something,
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you got to keep
yourself engaged,
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you got to keep yourself
moving on to the next project,
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next program, next
place or what have you.
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Because if you have too
many of those quiet moments,
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when you study the
Bible you'll remember
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that God doesn't always
speak through the major tempests
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or whirlwinds that take place
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but it's all still quiet moments
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where the voice of God speaks
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most forcibly to the conscience.
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So it is in those quiet
moments when you have downtime.
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maybe you're traveling somewhere
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and you don't have a
headset on where you're banging
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some music through your ears,
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it's those quiet moments
that now you start to listen.
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And you start hearing things,
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you start thinking about things,
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you start picturing life.
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And before you know it,
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you start coming face
to face with yourself.
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And to be honest that's
why most of those people
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at that level and
even in everyday life,
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people keep themselves busy.
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That's the point. To
avoid that quiet time when--
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To avoid the time
when you're by yourself.
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And God, as we
understand it now.
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God speaks to the
heart. That's right.
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It really challenges you
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and challenges what you believe,
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challenges your course in life.
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Exactly, so therefore,
that's what this phraseology
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comes from
"quiet your conscience."
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Where they teach you
to quiet your conscience
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and the way you
quite your conscience
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is that you have to drown it out
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by doing something else,
either filling your conscience
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with something else or
doing some type of activity,
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anything that will take
your mind off of that thing
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that by the grace of
God would lead one to God.
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So it was during the quiet times
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that I started to see.
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You know, I'm making
money, I'm on television.
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I'll tell you the truth,
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there were times
that I was on tour.
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And I saw a light, I saw a light
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and my eyes were open.
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Because a lot of people
think once you get on tour
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and you starting to perform,
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you're gonna just
see the limelight,
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you're gonna see all
of this magnificent stuff,
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you're gonna
see the Bling-bling.
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Yeah. Everything.
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But what happens is as you
starting to see things that
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if you have a
conscience, it bothers you.
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I remember one rapper,
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he had four women waiting
outside of his hotel room,
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just so that they
could be used by him
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as a piece of meat
for sexual pleasure
00:09:09.78\00:09:12.18
to congratulate him
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for making it another
year for his birthday.
00:09:13.58\00:09:15.45
In other words,
they were for women
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waiting outside
of his hotel room
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just so that they
could bid him happy birthday
00:09:18.22\00:09:20.92
by giving their bodies to him.
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And I remember
'cause I open my hotel room
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I see these ladies there
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and I'm like, "What
are they doing there?"
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And then I
found out the next day
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why I was disgusted by that.
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I mean, I was not
like, oh, that was cool,
00:09:30.10\00:09:31.90
I wish that was the
last thing on my mind.
00:09:31.93\00:09:33.80
In my mind, I said
that is disgusting.
00:09:33.84\00:09:35.74
I can't believe a woman
would degrade herself like that.
00:09:35.77\00:09:38.57
And therefore, I found
that it was the after parties
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and things of that
nature, believe it or not,
00:09:42.88\00:09:44.65
even though I would
perform and I would look like
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I was very much
into what I was doing,
00:09:46.95\00:09:48.72
when the performance was over
00:09:48.75\00:09:50.82
and the after
party would take place,
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nine times out of ten,
00:09:52.79\00:09:54.12
I wouldn't go to
the after parties.
00:09:54.16\00:09:55.49
I became disgusted
with the very people
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that I was working for.
00:09:57.39\00:09:58.73
Now what we
talked about this void
00:09:58.76\00:10:01.60
and we talked
about the other elements
00:10:01.63\00:10:03.80
of the culture
of hip hop culture,
00:10:03.83\00:10:06.23
for example, what
we've been focusing on
00:10:06.27\00:10:07.90
for the most part is
the "having fun" element.
00:10:07.94\00:10:10.47
Yeah, yeah. You know.
00:10:10.51\00:10:11.84
And that's pretty much
the most exploited element,
00:10:11.87\00:10:14.14
where it's just about having fun
00:10:14.18\00:10:15.84
and there's nothing else.
00:10:15.88\00:10:17.21
You know, anything goes
00:10:17.25\00:10:18.58
and there's really
no checks and balances.
00:10:18.61\00:10:20.78
But there is another side,
00:10:20.82\00:10:22.98
you know, there
is the knowledge,
00:10:23.02\00:10:25.02
the wisdom, what they
call the "over standing."
00:10:25.05\00:10:27.52
So there is the other elements
where you're actually supposed
00:10:27.56\00:10:30.13
to be seeking knowledge,
and discipline, and growing,
00:10:30.16\00:10:34.43
and developing righteousness,
truth, all those things.
00:10:34.46\00:10:37.53
So we're behind the
scenes now as you're,
00:10:37.57\00:10:40.04
you know,
escalating in your career,
00:10:40.07\00:10:42.27
were there some
of those elements
00:10:42.30\00:10:43.64
that you are getting exposed to?
00:10:43.67\00:10:45.57
What were some of the
things happening on that side?
00:10:45.61\00:10:47.34
Definitely.
00:10:47.38\00:10:48.71
Because of the fact again,
coming from the East Coast,
00:10:48.74\00:10:50.98
one of the major hip hop artists
00:10:51.01\00:10:53.28
in the East Coast was KRS-One.
00:10:53.31\00:10:55.58
KRS-One, K-R-S O-N-E for one.
00:10:55.62\00:10:58.29
Knowledge Reigns
Supreme over nearly everybody.
00:10:58.32\00:11:00.22
So he, you know, KRS was
really heavy into knowledge.
00:11:00.26\00:11:03.63
So any time you
listen to KRS-One,
00:11:03.66\00:11:05.66
he's gonna start
dropping a lot of knowledge.
00:11:05.69\00:11:07.90
Then of course, there
was the Brand Nubians,
00:11:07.93\00:11:09.66
you know, you
listen to Brand Nubians,
00:11:09.70\00:11:11.20
Grand Puba and all these guys.
00:11:11.23\00:11:13.37
And you know, again,
they're dropping knowledge,
00:11:13.40\00:11:15.44
the PRT, the Poor
Righteous Teachers.
00:11:15.47\00:11:17.37
All of these different
groups, you know were coming out
00:11:17.41\00:11:19.74
and they were
bringing in a different aspect.
00:11:19.77\00:11:22.14
Even though they
believed in having fun,
00:11:22.18\00:11:24.15
they also believed in knowledge
and education and science.
00:11:24.18\00:11:26.78
It wasn't made prominent.
00:11:26.82\00:11:28.32
Yeah, it wasn't made prominent
00:11:28.35\00:11:29.68
by any stretch
of the imagination.
00:11:29.72\00:11:31.29
But nevertheless, it
was something intriguing
00:11:31.32\00:11:33.72
to people who
were seeking knowledge
00:11:33.76\00:11:35.09
or open to knowledge.
00:11:35.12\00:11:36.46
So I did get exposed to that.
00:11:36.49\00:11:37.99
And I think that
maybe that paved a way
00:11:38.03\00:11:40.40
to some degree of
ultimately where I am even today
00:11:40.43\00:11:43.57
because it got me
interested in reading.
00:11:43.60\00:11:46.13
It got me
interested in searching myself
00:11:46.17\00:11:48.14
and starting to really
think about well what is my role
00:11:48.17\00:11:50.47
because remember, the foundation
00:11:50.51\00:11:52.24
of hip hop culture
is knowledge of self.
00:11:52.27\00:11:54.88
You know, when you
understand who you are,
00:11:54.91\00:11:57.01
when you
understand, in their case,
00:11:57.05\00:11:58.71
that you are a God, you
know, on earth and so on
00:11:58.75\00:12:02.38
that it gives a
level of understanding
00:12:02.42\00:12:04.99
or as they call it over standing
00:12:05.02\00:12:06.72
which supposedly puts me
00:12:06.76\00:12:08.09
at a certain
state in my existence,
00:12:08.12\00:12:10.73
where I can start
manifesting things
00:12:10.76\00:12:12.23
that are above and
beyond the common man.
00:12:12.26\00:12:14.10
So I did get exposed to that
00:12:14.13\00:12:16.03
as well along
with the "fun side".
00:12:16.06\00:12:18.53
The fun side was
dominant. No question about it.
00:12:18.57\00:12:21.40
But then I
started to see some things
00:12:21.44\00:12:23.14
that really
began to turn me off.
00:12:23.17\00:12:25.41
I would go to
certain parties or clubs
00:12:25.44\00:12:28.18
that a lot of our
artists were holding.
00:12:28.21\00:12:30.35
And there will be
everything from gunshots.
00:12:30.38\00:12:32.25
There would be parties
where there was fighting.
00:12:32.28\00:12:34.58
There would be women
that would get raped.
00:12:34.62\00:12:36.32
There were times
where I was promised money
00:12:36.35\00:12:38.22
and I wasn't paid.
00:12:38.25\00:12:39.59
There were all sorts of things,
00:12:39.62\00:12:40.96
there were times
I would go on tour
00:12:40.99\00:12:42.32
and I remember one
time working with one artist
00:12:42.36\00:12:44.69
and they asked me to grab
the bags to carry it on to,
00:12:44.73\00:12:48.90
you know, the bus,
00:12:48.93\00:12:50.37
which is what the
job of a roadie was.
00:12:50.40\00:12:52.47
They called them the roadies.
00:12:52.50\00:12:53.90
And I said, "Well, I'm
not a roadie, I'm a dancer.
00:12:53.94\00:12:55.44
So the roadie can handle that."
00:12:55.47\00:12:57.01
And I was told, you know what,
00:12:57.04\00:12:59.07
"You better do it
or else if you don't.
00:12:59.11\00:13:01.21
You're gonna have to
find your way back home."
00:13:01.24\00:13:02.81
And were you told that nicely?
00:13:02.84\00:13:04.41
I was not told that
not even halfway nicely.
00:13:04.45\00:13:06.82
So you know, I
got exposed to that.
00:13:06.85\00:13:09.18
And this was the
stuff that people don't see.
00:13:09.22\00:13:11.19
They don't see, I
saw a man get a gun shot
00:13:11.22\00:13:13.15
right in his eye
and die instantly.
00:13:13.19\00:13:15.22
That I can't erase
that picture from my head.
00:13:15.26\00:13:16.89
I've seen individual
get bludgeoned to death
00:13:16.93\00:13:19.43
by even corrupt police officers,
00:13:19.46\00:13:21.33
who would take
these guys and bring them.
00:13:21.36\00:13:22.96
I saw one police,
several police officers
00:13:23.00\00:13:25.10
bring one man into a bathroom.
00:13:25.13\00:13:27.04
And the door is this way
00:13:27.07\00:13:28.54
and they're
supposed to go outside
00:13:28.57\00:13:30.21
to the police car.
00:13:30.24\00:13:31.57
But instead they bring
the man to the bathroom
00:13:31.61\00:13:33.58
and you hear this man
screaming for dear life.
00:13:33.61\00:13:36.48
As they begin to beat him
and bludgeon him to death,
00:13:36.51\00:13:40.42
where his face was
covered with blood and swollen.
00:13:40.45\00:13:43.05
These are the pictures
that I saw that I said,
00:13:43.08\00:13:45.59
"Wow, you know, this
is not what I thought."
00:13:45.62\00:13:48.12
Right, so there is an
element to the street life
00:13:48.16\00:13:52.73
and to that culture
and that environment
00:13:52.76\00:13:56.10
that nobody can
deny is negative.
00:13:56.13\00:13:58.67
No doubt.
00:13:58.70\00:14:00.04
And there's people,
they find themselves
00:14:00.07\00:14:01.40
"trapped" in it if you will
or they have no other choice
00:14:01.44\00:14:03.27
and no other alternative.
00:14:03.30\00:14:05.57
But it sometimes left unsaid.
00:14:05.61\00:14:08.91
In other words, there is
individuals like you mentioned,
00:14:08.94\00:14:10.61
they're certain
artist who make it prominent
00:14:10.65\00:14:12.48
and highlight the problems,
highlight the challenges
00:14:12.51\00:14:15.42
of that kind of life style.
00:14:15.45\00:14:17.15
But many of
them, I can't say all
00:14:17.19\00:14:19.92
but many of them don't provide
00:14:19.95\00:14:21.29
a practical and viable solution.
00:14:21.32\00:14:24.09
So and I'd like to speak
to the audience for a moment.
00:14:24.13\00:14:26.86
For those of you who
have absolutely no idea
00:14:26.90\00:14:28.80
what we're talking about
00:14:28.83\00:14:30.17
and some of these
terms that we're using,
00:14:30.20\00:14:33.10
we're gonna be dealing with
these subjects moving forward
00:14:33.13\00:14:36.04
and we're gonna go in detail
00:14:36.07\00:14:38.17
and deal with some of the things
00:14:38.21\00:14:39.64
that we're talking
about and really explain
00:14:39.67\00:14:41.31
and kind of break it down
00:14:41.34\00:14:42.68
and kind of peel
the curtain back.
00:14:42.71\00:14:45.45
So that we can see if
these things are indeed
00:14:45.48\00:14:48.65
as viable as
they're promoted to be
00:14:48.68\00:14:51.49
or is there something better,
00:14:51.52\00:14:53.46
is there a better
choice, is there a better way.
00:14:53.49\00:14:55.89
So again, we
understand those dynamics,
00:14:55.92\00:14:58.99
at least now I hope so.
00:14:59.03\00:15:01.73
Now as you've seen these
things and you're having,
00:15:01.76\00:15:04.23
you're making
these moral judgments
00:15:04.27\00:15:05.87
and you're saying this is wrong.
00:15:05.90\00:15:07.44
This can't be and how is it
now affecting you, how is it--
00:15:07.47\00:15:11.27
Is it changing your perspective,
00:15:11.31\00:15:13.07
is it changing your
attitude towards their industry?
00:15:13.11\00:15:15.94
It's funny, I'm
starting to gradually
00:15:15.98\00:15:19.15
"See the Light"
because you know,
00:15:19.18\00:15:21.05
again, I came into
entertainment with an attitude
00:15:21.08\00:15:24.15
that this is gonna be
the best thing in the world.
00:15:24.19\00:15:26.45
And granted, there is money.
00:15:26.49\00:15:27.82
There is no question about that,
00:15:27.86\00:15:29.19
there is lots of sex
00:15:29.22\00:15:30.56
there is no question about that.
00:15:30.59\00:15:31.93
All of the
pleasures of this world
00:15:31.96\00:15:34.00
are definitely in the industry.
00:15:34.03\00:15:35.96
And they are there
because it's an entrapment.
00:15:36.00\00:15:37.70
It's something put
together by the enemy himself,
00:15:37.73\00:15:39.93
you know what I'm saying,
God already spoke about this
00:15:39.97\00:15:41.67
in the book of 2 Timothy 3: 1-4.
00:15:41.70\00:15:45.21
God talks about it.
00:15:45.24\00:15:46.57
He talks about
"in the last days,
00:15:46.61\00:15:47.94
perilous times shall come.
00:15:47.98\00:15:49.31
There is gonna be people
00:15:49.34\00:15:50.68
who are lovers of
their own selves,"
00:15:50.71\00:15:52.15
you know, and all of
these different things
00:15:52.18\00:15:54.18
but then in verse 5 He says,
"having a form of godliness
00:15:54.22\00:15:56.69
but denying the power thereof."
00:15:56.72\00:15:58.45
So even when I would
see these pleasure lovers
00:15:58.49\00:16:01.76
and there is lots of pleasure
to be fulfilled in there,
00:16:01.79\00:16:04.79
at the end of the day,
00:16:04.83\00:16:06.16
it still left the heart
void, it didn't fulfill.
00:16:06.19\00:16:09.16
So I started to go through that.
00:16:09.20\00:16:11.07
So there were
those quite moments,
00:16:11.10\00:16:12.43
going to bed at night.
00:16:12.47\00:16:13.80
That's why some
people, they smoke weed
00:16:13.84\00:16:15.17
until they can't
smoke it anymore.
00:16:15.20\00:16:16.54
Anything that takes
the mind into another world
00:16:16.57\00:16:19.14
instead of
facing the real world.
00:16:19.17\00:16:20.58
Like fantasy. Having,
yeah, you know fantasy.
00:16:20.61\00:16:22.81
So here it is, I'm
kind of turned off.
00:16:22.84\00:16:26.05
A Making money is my job
and I'm treating like a job
00:16:26.08\00:16:28.92
but I'm really not enjoy myself
00:16:28.95\00:16:30.39
because I've been
exposed to enough now
00:16:30.42\00:16:32.19
that I said you know what,
00:16:32.22\00:16:33.62
this culture is presenting
something that is not true.
00:16:33.66\00:16:36.69
It is not very
real, it appears real,
00:16:36.73\00:16:39.13
people call it
real but it's not.
00:16:39.16\00:16:41.03
That's why, that's
why you know, God gave us
00:16:41.06\00:16:42.60
the inspiration for this
because the foundation again,
00:16:42.63\00:16:45.70
of hip-hop and R'n'B
culture is knowledge of self
00:16:45.73\00:16:49.47
but God's word gives us
a true knowledge of self
00:16:49.50\00:16:52.01
and a true knowledge of self
00:16:52.04\00:16:53.38
is where you're gonna
end up finding that peace
00:16:53.41\00:16:55.21
and we're gonna build on that.
00:16:55.24\00:16:56.58
But I was looking for something
better than what they had.
00:16:56.61\00:17:01.52
A friend of mine
TJ, his name was,
00:17:01.55\00:17:04.29
his stage name was Psycho
and TJ was an amazing dancer
00:17:04.32\00:17:09.02
but what happened was, we
went on tour with Latifah,
00:17:09.06\00:17:12.86
and then we came
back for a break.
00:17:12.89\00:17:14.70
We're supposed
to go back on tour.
00:17:14.73\00:17:16.33
Well, TJ calls me up
00:17:16.36\00:17:17.70
and I knew that he
was a church going guy
00:17:17.73\00:17:19.10
so he calls me up
and he says, "Hey man,
00:17:19.13\00:17:20.57
listen I can't go back on tour."
00:17:20.60\00:17:22.74
I said, "Why not?"
00:17:22.77\00:17:24.11
He said, "Because Christ
and the world cannot mix."
00:17:24.14\00:17:27.51
Now when he said that to
me that sound like a Greek.
00:17:27.54\00:17:29.98
I was like, what
are you talking about
00:17:30.01\00:17:31.35
Christ and the world, I
don't even understand that
00:17:31.38\00:17:33.48
but he said,
"Dwayne, you're gonna
00:17:33.52\00:17:34.85
understand sooner or later
00:17:34.88\00:17:36.22
that if you're gonna
give your life to Jesus,
00:17:36.25\00:17:37.72
you got to be with Him
00:17:37.75\00:17:39.09
and if you're
gonna be in the world,
00:17:39.12\00:17:40.46
then be in world but
you can't ride the fence.
00:17:40.49\00:17:42.06
And to me, it
didn't make sense at all
00:17:42.09\00:17:43.99
but it was the
seed that was planted.
00:17:44.03\00:17:48.06
It was like Isaiah
55:1, where the Bible says,
00:17:48.10\00:17:50.93
"So shall my word be that
goeth forth out of my mouth,
00:17:50.97\00:17:53.57
it will not return unto me void,
00:17:53.60\00:17:55.60
but it shall
accomplish that which I please,
00:17:55.64\00:17:57.37
in that thing
whereto I sent it."
00:17:57.41\00:17:59.44
It was accomplishing
00:17:59.47\00:18:00.81
what God wanted to do in my mind
00:18:00.84\00:18:02.34
but at the beginning of
it, I couldn't understand it.
00:18:02.38\00:18:05.35
So therefore, it was through him
00:18:05.38\00:18:07.62
making to stand for
Jesus and trying of course,
00:18:07.65\00:18:09.68
to get me to follow Jesus,
00:18:09.72\00:18:11.05
that was like
no, no, no I'm not,
00:18:11.09\00:18:12.42
I'm not really
interested in that right now,
00:18:12.45\00:18:13.79
I want to make money,
00:18:13.82\00:18:15.16
I want to get
big, I want to this--
00:18:15.19\00:18:16.52
It planted a seed.
00:18:16.56\00:18:17.89
But it definitely
planted to seed, no question.
00:18:17.93\00:18:19.53
So it was through that
00:18:19.56\00:18:20.90
that something
major happened in my life
00:18:20.93\00:18:23.23
which actually
calls to paradigm shift.
00:18:23.26\00:18:25.40
And I believe
this paradigm shift
00:18:25.43\00:18:26.77
is the same paradigm shift
00:18:26.80\00:18:28.14
that a lot of
people have gone through,
00:18:28.17\00:18:30.11
unfortunately, some
may need to go through.
00:18:30.14\00:18:31.81
I don't want
people to go through this
00:18:31.84\00:18:33.17
but sometimes we
need things to wake us up.
00:18:33.21\00:18:35.91
My nephew
Charlie, who was just about
00:18:35.94\00:18:39.25
a year or two younger than
me through my sister Laverne,
00:18:39.28\00:18:41.98
he really wanted to
make money like his uncle,
00:18:42.02\00:18:44.12
he is Brownsville,
Brooklyn, New York.
00:18:44.15\00:18:45.65
They are not
making a lot of money.
00:18:45.69\00:18:47.02
Brownsville was
code name Murderville.
00:18:47.06\00:18:48.86
So he is in the area
that's really, really bad
00:18:48.89\00:18:52.03
and he decided to sell drugs.
00:18:52.06\00:18:54.76
And the night he sold drugs,
was the night he was killed.
00:18:54.80\00:18:58.33
And he gunned down by people
00:18:58.37\00:18:59.70
who professed to be his friends.
00:18:59.73\00:19:01.50
And when I went to his funeral,
00:19:01.54\00:19:04.67
and I'm looking at
this closed cascade
00:19:04.71\00:19:06.17
because his head
was so wounded badly
00:19:06.21\00:19:07.74
that they couldn't
even have an open cascade.
00:19:07.78\00:19:09.81
And I'm looking at this
cascade and nephew is in there
00:19:09.84\00:19:12.45
and as I'm looking
at this cascade, I'm mad
00:19:12.48\00:19:14.55
because I'm like
if you want the money
00:19:14.58\00:19:16.18
I would have gave you money,
00:19:16.22\00:19:17.55
you know, a lot of
things going through my mind.
00:19:17.59\00:19:19.45
But when that cascade started
to go down into the ground,
00:19:19.49\00:19:23.22
and I felt like
for the first time
00:19:23.26\00:19:25.39
he's been pulled out of my life,
00:19:25.43\00:19:26.93
it was at that
moment that I started to cry
00:19:26.96\00:19:29.73
and I really
felt like he's gone.
00:19:29.76\00:19:31.60
You know, and then I
went to the limousine,
00:19:31.63\00:19:34.34
and when I went
into the limousine,
00:19:34.37\00:19:36.47
this is the first time, it
was like the all the voices
00:19:36.50\00:19:39.61
in the limousine
were drowned out.
00:19:39.64\00:19:41.91
And I heard a
voice as clear as day
00:19:41.94\00:19:44.68
and that voice were saying,
00:19:44.71\00:19:46.05
"Will you accept me
now, will you accept me now?"
00:19:46.08\00:19:50.52
And it was from
hearing that voice that
00:19:50.55\00:19:52.55
even though I'm completely
ignorant of the Bible,
00:19:52.59\00:19:55.02
I remember the
few little stories
00:19:55.06\00:19:56.52
that I've heard about
how God can speak to someone,
00:19:56.56\00:19:58.63
and in my mind I knew.
00:19:58.66\00:20:00.26
I said, this is got
to be God talking to me.
00:20:00.30\00:20:02.46
So therefore, I
said, in that limousine,
00:20:02.50\00:20:05.23
"Yes Lord, I will
accept you in my life."
00:20:05.27\00:20:07.97
And it was from that point
00:20:08.00\00:20:09.94
that I began this journey
now of trying to understand
00:20:09.97\00:20:12.37
what does it mean
to be a Christian.
00:20:12.41\00:20:13.74
Right, so you
start going to church,
00:20:13.78\00:20:16.28
you're hooking up
with your boy, TJ?
00:20:16.31\00:20:18.55
Yeah, I mean, I
called TJ up I said,
00:20:18.58\00:20:19.91
all right talk to
me what do I got to do
00:20:19.95\00:20:21.28
and he said, well
you need to go to church.
00:20:21.32\00:20:22.68
All right. And
I said, all right.
00:20:22.72\00:20:24.05
And he was going to
the Pentecostal Church
00:20:24.09\00:20:25.42
so I went there with him.
00:20:25.45\00:20:26.79
So he started attending church
00:20:26.82\00:20:28.16
and you know, taking that
path, still in the industry?
00:20:28.19\00:20:31.36
Yep.
00:20:31.39\00:20:32.73
So how did you
make the transition?
00:20:32.76\00:20:34.86
How did-- did that
continue to escalate
00:20:34.90\00:20:36.73
the more the
depravity of the industry,
00:20:36.77\00:20:38.50
what was the final straw there?
00:20:38.53\00:20:40.87
The more
depravity of the industry
00:20:40.90\00:20:42.54
is constant climb
higher and higher,
00:20:42.57\00:20:45.14
okay, so definitely you see
the more depravity, big time.
00:20:45.17\00:20:48.74
It just get worse
and worse and worse.
00:20:48.78\00:20:50.75
But as I started
to read the Bible
00:20:50.78\00:20:53.25
a little bit
more and everything,
00:20:53.28\00:20:55.32
you know, things
started opening up to me.
00:20:55.35\00:20:56.95
Now I got to be
honest with you, man,
00:20:56.99\00:20:58.32
I went to the
Pentecostal Church.
00:20:58.35\00:21:00.56
Now when I see a bunch of people
00:21:00.59\00:21:01.92
that are running around
and speaking in languages
00:21:01.96\00:21:04.43
that I know I don't understand.
00:21:04.46\00:21:06.13
And I'm trying to figure out
00:21:06.16\00:21:07.93
why are they doing
this, what's going on here
00:21:07.96\00:21:09.93
and it doesn't make sense to me.
00:21:09.96\00:21:11.30
So as a result of that
I left, I got turned off.
00:21:11.33\00:21:14.97
I'm gonna be honest with
you because I started feeling
00:21:15.00\00:21:16.60
like these people are faking it,
00:21:16.64\00:21:18.24
I didn't even
think it was genuine.
00:21:18.27\00:21:19.91
So therefore, I left that church
00:21:19.94\00:21:21.81
and I went to
the Catholic Church.
00:21:21.84\00:21:23.58
And then I'm trying to go ahead
and see what's happening there.
00:21:23.61\00:21:26.05
You know, it was communion
00:21:26.08\00:21:27.42
and I took a
little of the grape juice,
00:21:27.45\00:21:29.92
so I thought, but it was alcohol
00:21:29.95\00:21:31.32
and I was familiar with alcohol
because that's my old world.
00:21:31.35\00:21:33.56
But nevertheless, I'm like,
a church that serves alcohol,
00:21:33.59\00:21:35.72
you know, so things
weren't making sense.
00:21:35.76\00:21:38.03
Slowly but surely,
00:21:38.06\00:21:40.10
I'm getting
exposed to Christianity
00:21:40.13\00:21:41.76
on a deeper level
than I've ever been before.
00:21:41.80\00:21:44.07
But at the same time,
00:21:44.10\00:21:45.43
I'm getting turned
off with Christianity now,
00:21:45.47\00:21:46.90
because I'm like this,
this doesn't make any sense.
00:21:46.94\00:21:49.80
And in hip hop,
because of the building
00:21:49.84\00:21:53.07
of the knowledge
of self principles,
00:21:53.11\00:21:55.11
my brother was part of
a group called Nuwaubians
00:21:55.14\00:21:58.28
And the
Nuwaubians that you know,
00:21:58.31\00:22:00.48
we'll probably build
on that in another episode
00:22:00.52\00:22:02.38
but, you know, they basically
00:22:02.42\00:22:04.32
like the Five
Percenters the O Five Percenters
00:22:04.35\00:22:06.96
and what they would instill
in my mind is that Christians
00:22:06.99\00:22:10.69
are people who just
don't really understand
00:22:10.73\00:22:12.19
what they believe, the
Bible is a white man's book.
00:22:12.23\00:22:14.93
You know, they would
just go down the list
00:22:14.96\00:22:16.63
of all these reasons why
I should not be a Christian?
00:22:16.67\00:22:18.43
Yeah.
00:22:18.47\00:22:19.80
Going to these
churches seem the confusion
00:22:19.83\00:22:21.77
and all these
other things reinforced
00:22:21.80\00:22:24.51
what I was hearing from hip-hop.
00:22:24.54\00:22:26.31
You know, from that
exposure that I had.
00:22:26.34\00:22:28.18
So I got to a point
00:22:28.21\00:22:30.21
that I was like look I'm really
getting turned off with this,
00:22:30.25\00:22:31.98
I'm turned off with
hip-hop, but quite honestly,
00:22:32.01\00:22:34.62
I was even more turned off
00:22:34.65\00:22:36.38
with the
pictures of Christianity
00:22:36.42\00:22:37.95
that I was seeing.
00:22:37.99\00:22:39.32
Hip hop to me was more genuine.
00:22:39.35\00:22:41.49
They're like
look, this is who we are
00:22:41.52\00:22:42.86
and this is what we are about.
00:22:42.89\00:22:44.23
And their
lifestyles were consistent.
00:22:44.26\00:22:45.66
Well, Christians were people
who were going around like,
00:22:45.69\00:22:48.13
hey, this is what we believe
but it was total hypocrisy.
00:22:48.16\00:22:52.10
But I knew that there
had to be something right
00:22:52.13\00:22:54.64
about the Bible, they had to be
00:22:54.67\00:22:56.10
something right
about Christianity.
00:22:56.14\00:22:57.97
But I think I was
getting some foul pictures.
00:22:58.01\00:22:59.91
Right, so you've been exposed,
00:22:59.94\00:23:01.38
you're chasing
knowledge of self--
00:23:01.41\00:23:03.01
Yeah.
00:23:03.04\00:23:04.45
And you think it's
here, it's not there.
00:23:04.48\00:23:06.58
You try something
else, you try something else
00:23:06.61\00:23:08.55
and you find
yourself now becoming grounded
00:23:08.58\00:23:11.35
in the Nuwaubian way, you
know, in that whole circle.
00:23:11.39\00:23:16.32
And crossing paths
with all the, you know,
00:23:16.36\00:23:18.79
the black moors
and the Five Percenters
00:23:18.83\00:23:21.16
and the NOI and all these people
00:23:21.20\00:23:22.73
now sharing some
of the same circles.
00:23:22.76\00:23:24.97
Yep.
00:23:25.00\00:23:26.40
What is your--
Were you challenged
00:23:26.43\00:23:28.00
with the industry, I know
that you turned something down,
00:23:28.04\00:23:31.24
you know, towards the end.
00:23:31.27\00:23:33.07
Well, basically
what happened was this.
00:23:33.11\00:23:35.74
In my quest for really
trying to understand myself,
00:23:35.78\00:23:39.28
God and His will for my
life, I found myself at a point
00:23:39.31\00:23:42.82
where I was confused in the
hip hop culture and Nuwaupu.
00:23:42.85\00:23:45.95
I was also confused as
it related to Christianity
00:23:45.99\00:23:48.32
of what I was exposed to.
00:23:48.36\00:23:49.76
So I found myself on the Friday
night giving God an ultimatum
00:23:49.79\00:23:52.59
and telling Him if you
don't let me know who you are,
00:23:52.63\00:23:55.50
by tomorrow I'm just gonna
totally give up on Christianity
00:23:55.53\00:23:58.47
and I'm just gonna go ahead
and join with the Nuwaubians
00:23:58.50\00:24:00.40
because it made more sense.
00:24:00.44\00:24:02.30
It was from that
that the following day,
00:24:02.34\00:24:04.21
a friend of mine found a
flier, laying on the street,
00:24:04.24\00:24:06.57
she brings it to my
house and she shows me
00:24:06.61\00:24:09.61
all these topics
that are on the flier
00:24:09.64\00:24:11.28
that were exactly the questions
that I had issues about.
00:24:11.31\00:24:13.42
Like, what were some of them?
00:24:13.45\00:24:14.78
Oh man, well first of all,
00:24:14.82\00:24:16.35
where is my
existence as a black man
00:24:16.38\00:24:18.55
because they
instill this in to me
00:24:18.59\00:24:20.29
in the part of hip-hop
culture that I was exposed to.
00:24:20.32\00:24:22.92
Angels are white,
patriarchs are white,
00:24:22.96\00:24:25.03
prophets are
white, Jesus is white,
00:24:25.06\00:24:26.86
everybody is white.
00:24:26.90\00:24:28.23
The only black man was
the Simon of the Cyrenes
00:24:28.26\00:24:30.17
who carry Jesus'
cross and you know,
00:24:30.20\00:24:32.27
and when they build
that package up right,
00:24:32.30\00:24:34.90
it does kind of create
and indignation in you like,
00:24:34.94\00:24:37.17
"What's going on, where
am I, where are my people,
00:24:37.21\00:24:38.94
what's my identification?"
00:24:38.97\00:24:40.44
So when this man had a study
00:24:40.48\00:24:42.01
on the role of the
African American in the Bible,
00:24:42.04\00:24:45.55
I said, wow, I
never heard that before.
00:24:45.58\00:24:48.02
He had the study
that night called
00:24:48.05\00:24:49.38
The African
American and the Pig,
00:24:49.42\00:24:50.75
I said, "Wait a minute,
00:24:50.79\00:24:52.12
Christians talk
about not eating pork?"
00:24:52.15\00:24:53.49
I know that from
the Islamic influence
00:24:53.52\00:24:55.16
but not from Christians.
00:24:55.19\00:24:56.52
So sure enough, man,
I had to go, so I went.
00:24:56.56\00:24:58.59
It 15 minutes from
my house, went down,
00:24:58.63\00:25:01.46
heard it and it was
the most explosive thing
00:25:01.50\00:25:04.03
I ever heard in my life.
00:25:04.07\00:25:05.40
I mean, everything
was biblical, everything.
00:25:05.43\00:25:08.77
And from that I said,
00:25:08.80\00:25:10.27
"Who are you people?
What are you teaching?"
00:25:10.31\00:25:12.31
And they began to do
Bible's studies with me,
00:25:12.34\00:25:14.38
they began to walk me
through the word of God.
00:25:14.41\00:25:16.34
And it got me to a
point that I made a decision
00:25:16.38\00:25:18.41
to go all the way with Jesus
00:25:18.45\00:25:19.78
and to follow Him
and to keep His word
00:25:19.81\00:25:22.08
and by His grace live His words.
00:25:22.12\00:25:24.15
All right, so
you came to the truth
00:25:24.19\00:25:27.92
as you
understood it at that time.
00:25:27.96\00:25:29.52
And you've been
walking that path ever since.
00:25:29.56\00:25:31.59
Now what was the final challenge
00:25:31.63\00:25:34.16
that the industry threw at you,
to try to trap you in their--
00:25:34.20\00:25:38.27
and where you
have to make a decision
00:25:38.30\00:25:40.20
for or against the truth?
00:25:40.24\00:25:42.24
Well, what happened was as
I began to study the Bible,
00:25:42.27\00:25:44.61
I began to learn about
the importance of God's people
00:25:44.64\00:25:47.28
keeping His commandments.
00:25:47.31\00:25:48.68
And keeping His commandments,
it meant all not some.
00:25:48.71\00:25:51.45
So therefore, when I
look at James Chapter 2
00:25:51.48\00:25:53.21
and it says,
that if I break one,
00:25:53.25\00:25:54.98
I'm guilty of breaking
all, I said, all right,
00:25:55.02\00:25:56.72
well, obviously
I want to honor God
00:25:56.75\00:25:58.09
and keep all of
His commandments,
00:25:58.12\00:25:59.49
which of course,
includes the fourth Commandment,
00:25:59.52\00:26:01.16
which includes the
seventh day Sabbath.
00:26:01.19\00:26:03.63
So when I began
to understand that
00:26:03.66\00:26:05.06
I started telling
everybody in the industry
00:26:05.09\00:26:06.43
I said, look I
can't work on Sabbaths.
00:26:06.46\00:26:08.00
And they said,
Saturday's are our biggest days.
00:26:08.03\00:26:11.57
Friday nights and Saturdays,
00:26:11.60\00:26:12.93
that's our biggest
selling days, bigger tickets.
00:26:12.97\00:26:14.94
So it got to a point
that in the beginning,
00:26:14.97\00:26:17.94
because of the money pull,
00:26:17.97\00:26:19.31
yeah, I found myself
selling out on the Lord.
00:26:19.34\00:26:21.51
And I began to do my
own thing but then overtime,
00:26:21.54\00:26:24.21
the conviction
started to dwell so heavily
00:26:24.25\00:26:27.05
that I've remembered
one time I was with Heavy D,
00:26:27.08\00:26:29.38
we went on tour and
I was dancing anyhow
00:26:29.42\00:26:31.62
even though I knew it was wrong,
00:26:31.65\00:26:33.05
and I was dancing on
the Sabbath, you know.
00:26:33.09\00:26:35.42
And as I began
to understand that
00:26:35.46\00:26:37.23
it got to a
point in my experience
00:26:37.26\00:26:38.59
that God spoke to
my heart and He says,
00:26:38.63\00:26:40.40
"Son if you continue doing this,
00:26:40.43\00:26:43.63
you'll never come back to me."
00:26:43.67\00:26:45.33
It was kind of
like God was saying
00:26:45.37\00:26:46.70
and I love the
words that God used,
00:26:46.74\00:26:48.07
it wasn't, if you keep
doing this I'll cut you off.
00:26:48.10\00:26:50.04
God says, "If
you keep doing this,
00:26:50.07\00:26:51.51
you won't come back to me."
00:26:51.54\00:26:53.27
Because you get
entrenched in it.
00:26:53.31\00:26:55.14
I had to make a decision beyond
my feelings and therefore,
00:26:55.18\00:26:59.05
I went and I called
them up and I said that's it.
00:26:59.08\00:27:02.05
And it was over with
the entertainment industry.
00:27:02.08\00:27:03.95
It got to a
point that I realized
00:27:03.99\00:27:05.32
that the entertainment
industry and God's commandments
00:27:05.35\00:27:07.72
are variants one with another.
00:27:07.76\00:27:09.59
And any Christian, any
person who claims to love Jesus
00:27:09.62\00:27:12.33
and wants to follow God's word,
00:27:12.36\00:27:14.00
Jesus' word says,
here is the proof,
00:27:14.03\00:27:16.56
"If you love me,
keep My commandments."
00:27:16.60\00:27:19.33
John 14:15.
00:27:19.37\00:27:20.70
So it got to a point
that I had to realize
00:27:20.74\00:27:22.57
if I love God, I
need to do what He says,
00:27:22.60\00:27:24.54
even though it's
not what my heart wants.
00:27:24.57\00:27:28.48
That's an
absolutely amazing story.
00:27:28.51\00:27:30.38
And you're able to overcome
00:27:30.41\00:27:31.75
and you moved
from that life style
00:27:31.78\00:27:33.82
into a life style with Christ.
00:27:33.85\00:27:36.79
Unfortunately, we're out of time
00:27:36.82\00:27:38.15
and we're gonna continue,
we're gonna talk about,
00:27:38.19\00:27:39.82
a little bit about
my story, my testimony.
00:27:39.85\00:27:42.56
So we want to encourage
you to come back again,
00:27:42.59\00:27:45.13
visit us again, invite a friend
00:27:45.16\00:27:47.66
and we want to remind you
again in Proverbs 2:6, it says,
00:27:47.70\00:27:52.73
"The Lord giveth
wisdom and out of His mouth
00:27:52.77\00:27:56.30
comes knowledge
and understanding."
00:27:56.34\00:27:58.47