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Is Hip Hop Dead? Part II - SHONLOCK vs. WORD RECORDS |
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| 2007-03-29 | ||||||
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“..Things changed after I signed the deal and anything outside of the CCM or the white side of the industry they weren’t interested in putting money in. That was a hard pill to swallow because I’m black.” – Shonlock on his controversial deal with Word Records The rap game on Christian soil is no joke. The Iraq War has experienced fewer casualties – black and white. The confederate flag still determines the dissemination of music in America. And lyrical freedom in label distributed hip hop is as compromised as former CIA covert agent Valerie Plame’s identity. As much as mainstream rap causes some theologians and common lay folk to cringe, there is a more truthful liberty with the dollar making art form. Even with its less than subservient street philosophies, we always know where things stand. We know that Big and Pac had beef, and that 50 has been popped more times than grace allows - it is what it is. Black Entertainment Television boisterously reminds us on the daily, of the state of deterioration within the walls of urban America. However, the same truth doesn’t glare so righteously in the business of Christian hip hop. There are noted examples of failed marriages between hip hop’s born again lyricists and the Christian music industry. Case in point: the recent divorce proceedings between Word Records and Christian hip hop’s most distinguished and gifted freshman, Deshon Bullock a.k.a Shonlock. Ever been to a Shonlock show? The energetic Chicago reared rap artist is a performer. So when hip hop crooner’s, out-of-the-trunk CD sales receipts topped more than 15,000, record labels came knocking. However, two years after signing with Warner Bro’s Christian storefront Word Records, the Atl-ien hip hop artist sits restless on the back of a Toby Mac tour bus wondering like Marvin Gaye “What’s Going On?” The reality is Bullock knows exactly what’s going on. He signed on as the first hip hop artist to a label whose urban track record alone is cause for an NAACP intervention and now he’s out of a deal. Last week lawyers proclaimed the freedom of an artist who has been labeled ‘the most versatile and talented hip hop artist in Christian music’. After the ink was dry on Lock’s release, the estranged lyricist tackled the decision of whether or not to purchase his shelved project from the label or negotiate with another label whose benjamins are long enough to secure his 12 track project. The project, which includes solid collabo’s with Trinitee 5:7, V3, and John from the Katina clan, harnesses the possibility that a Christian hip hop project can ride with the finesse of mainstream offerings. With such a promising project and Lock’s standout performance at the labels showcase during last year’s GMA’s, the question of the labels decision to set idle is surprising. Lock, who signed a six album deal with Word in December 2005, believes that his former label never really understood hip hop and therefore sat on his finished project for over a year trying to figure it out. “When I signed with Word they said that they were willing to try certain things to break into hip hop. I believed them. But things changed after I signed the deal and anything outside of the CCM or the white side of the industry they weren’t interested in putting money in. That was a hard pill to swallow. I’m not calling anybody anything but if you’re a Christian label and you have an African American artist and you don’t want to market anything outside of the white market with respect to an art form that was made from African Americans then something is wrong.” One conversation with Lock and its obvious that he’s uncomfortable dealing with the race card, especially as it relates to ministry. The reality is no one is and that is why it’s swept under the rug. But unfortunately, Katrina happened and valuable lives where affected – get the point. Fortunately for Lock, who is married to Shelley Vinson of the EMI girl group V3, his resume is deep enough to have secured a solid underground following prior to his signing with Word. His lyrical credits are showcased on: EMI’s Kierra ‘KiKi’ Sheard’s Just Until remix CD, Trinitee 5:7’s upcoming 2007 Gospo Centric release, Toby Mac’s Renovating Diverse City, Verbs Unlocked CD, and EMI V3’s 2006 release. Prior to placing his lyrical D.N.A. on major gospel offerings, Lock championed the cause of dancer and choreographer for Arrested Development and the late R&B Princess Aaliyah. After a foray in mainstream, the Chicago native encountered a spiritual transformation with the assistance of Christian hip hop artists Verbs and Bonafied and Coffee of The Grits. After which, he began choreographing for some of the Christian industries most acclaimed acts. He added the electrifying spark to shows for Grammy nominated duo The Grits, Nicole C. Mullen and The Katinas. It was during this transition period that Lock was picked up by industry veteran Toby Mac as a touring hype man and choreographer, a position which he still holds today. Internally, Word secured Lock’s signing without the internal structure necessary to work a hip hop project or any other urban project. Outside of legendary Karen Clark Sheard, whose recent Word release was worked by radio, marketing and promotions professionals from outside of the Word system, the label has no other African American artists whose primary market is an urban demographic. The lack of urban/hip hop tenured staff at Word led to problems early on for Lock. “I remember being called by the label to do a photo shoot. And I do a lot of flips as apart of the show I do with Toby Mac and so they wanted to incorporate that into the photo shoot. They asked me to bring a trampoline to the photo shoot thinking that was how I did it, which was clueless. However my biggest struggle is the label wanting to dabble in hip hop because they see it as doing well on the mainstream side but not wanting to do it right.” On top of the bad business at the label, Lock states that Word requested that he water down his lyrics. “I wrote a song called Never Been a Pimp which was produced by Matthew Knowles production team The Bama Boyz and the label took the song off of my album because of the thought that it might not sell in Christian bookstores as a result of the word Pimp.” Listening to a bass ridden Pimp, it becomes convincingly obvious that the cancer of Christian perception still reigns over its efforts to win the dying souls that rap has the capacity to reach. And so it goes: “I never been a pimp / wouldn’t call myself a playa / can’t deny my hustle though I’m out here getting paper / what’s been on your mind / shine’n for the Savoir/ only spit that real and put the pressure on a faker / Never been a pimp.” Lock professes with an assertive truth that, “Everything in the song was combating the idea of being a Pimp and degrading woman but they pulled it.” According to Lock, in addition to fighting to water down his lyrical content, A&R at the label initially held his project up because of the opinion that Lock’s recorded material was not suitable for Caucasian-based radio. “They initially held my record because they said that I didn’t have a song for CCM radio. It’s a well known fact that a majority of the big hitters in CCM radio don’t even play hip hop, so why not go to urban stations that do. That was the worse part of the deal.” Lock, who is currently touring with Gottee frontrunner Toby Mac, says that the ultimate reason given for his release from Word was that they would never be able to satisfy him. Ironically, freshman-artist-pleasing 101 has never been a part of label culture, especially if it has anything to do with negatively impacting the bottom line. |
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