Ok, so I meant to do this post last week sometime, but I didn't have the chance to sit down and write it.
I recently (on Christmas Day) purchased Jovan MacKenzy's new album "Strangers and Pilgrims". Jovan is a reformed (aka Calvinistic) rapper who makes it his goal to be "Christ-centered" in all of his lyrics. I think that with this album, he does an excellent job of meeting that goal. This album, according to Jovan, is meant to be based off of the book Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan.
I think the album does a fantastic job of keeping Christ at the center of the music--while approaching song topics that deal with real life issues. Songs such as "Gone Tomorrow" and "Boss" deal with real-life gritty situations. "Boss" deals with a big-time drug lord who has everyone under his finger, yet he hears from the true Boss about what being a Boss is really all about.
"Gone Tomorrow" deals with the brevity of life from the vantage point of people who have lost a loved one, including a young man who lost his friend, and a couple who lost their baby while still in the womb. It also deals with Jovan's own father's demise, and his hope for his father's salvation before he died.
"Jack Boy" is a bangin' hit about those who consider themselves "thugs" that are really no more than grasshoppers when they are faced with the true and living God.
There are certain themes presented throughout the album, one of which is the Sovereignty of God. This is no more clearly evidenced than in "Pioneer", which features a lengthy clip of James White (who, if I believed in re-incarnation... which I don't... would be John Calvin himself) presenting a passage from Hebrews and explaining the full and complete sovereignty of God in the entire salvation process.
Another theme throughout the album is the exaltation of Jesus Christ. "God Man" very clearly emphasizes this point, and it is a very clear portrayal of Jesus' Divine and human natures in lyrical poetry.
Finally, the major theme of the album would have to be the title of the album, "Strangers and Pilgrims". Several songs deal with the fact that this earth is not our home, and that we are awaiting our true home in Heaven when we "put off this tent."
Overall, Jovan MacKenzy's album is one of the most Gospel-saturated albums that I have heard in a long time. This young man knows how to "rightly divide the Word of truth". I really am encouraged every time I come across a new artist who has a passion for expressing the Gospel message in musical form. It is evident from this album that this is Jovan's passion--and I pray that God will continue to drive this passion down deeper into his heart as he continues to make Gospel-centered music.
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