By: Josh Gloer

A crowded living room in Philadelphia once yielded the soulful sounds that only emanates from singing Gospel music. A woman sat behind the piano, and her friends egged a young boy to sing.

This living room became of one his first stages, where Japhia Life reluctantly agreed to sing, and his training to sing for the glory of God began.

Decades later, Japhia Life is about to drop his forth album, Nazareth, a collection of unreleased singles from his first three records. While some of the tracks have been posted on MySpace, this album boasts a truly unique compilation of this emcee’s work, including two never before heard tracks.

“This album is really an album of music that was made during a space and time where I was really trying to find a comfortable place musically, where I could express my talents with a good balance of quality music, balanced with faith expression,” he said.

It’s an eclectic mix, as these tracks span the course of his young career. Since he started writing rhymes, Japhia Life has been called a Christian artist, a hip hop artist, an emcee, and it’s safe to say, he’s had as many sounds.  He describes his first three albums in a range from 90’s classic to dark and emotional. His third album garnered criticism for being too “poppy.” (It was an album that ironically produced the biggest tracks of his career to date.)

“My style has always been an eclectic mix, just always trying to express myself and my growth and where I’m at, at that time in my life. I continue to grow, so each album is going to sound different.”

The projects were full, booming with passion and faith, and the tracks that didn’t fit with the final projects were too good to keep from his fans.

“It’s just a lot of different songs that I made when I was just really coming into my own and paving my own lane,” he said.  “A lot of Christians may hear that stuff and may want to work with them as an artist that’s actually in the Christian community. So that’s kind of what happened to me. Just kind of finding my way and saying, ‘Where can a person that’s a believer find a comfortable place that he can express faith, and what would that place look like?’”

And so the name, Nazareth was born.

“For me that place would be where Jesus would be from.”

But this isn’t just a slice of life from a budding career.

“I definitely want them to be impacted by my content, the things I’m saying on it,” he said. “Spiritually, I want them to be impacted by it. But also I just want them to have an alternative to the music that they listen to that’s secular, that they feel isn’t healthy for them spiritually. I def want them to have some songs that they can listen to that’s just good music, but at the same time, they can still be impacted by my content on a spiritual level.”

He claims this album represents his reinvention of faith, as it represents his own personal journey as an artist and as a Christian – two things, in his case, that go hand in hand.

“For me personally the balance is just having the freedom of expression as long as it doesn’t compromise my faith. Whether people label me as a Christian artist or just a hip-hop artist, to me, it really doesn’t matter, I am what I am. At the end of the day, you’re really not what people label you, as opposed to what you really are. For me that balance is just an expression of who I am as a person. A Christian is one of the things I am as a person. I don’t really have to label my music as Christian, but I don’t have a problem if people label me as Christian, because I am a Christian. People have the option to label me at their own discretion. I’m not concerned with the labels.”

Nazareth is set to drop in early March 2010, and his next project West Side Pharmacy is slated to follow shortly. For all the info, check out: http://www.myspace.com/japhialife.

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Josh Gloer is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles. He’s been a writer on six seasons of MSNBC’s Lockup: Extended stay. He has also written for MTV, TLC, TruTV, HGTV and Oxygen. Josh has been a journalist for about 12 years, doing celebrity interviews with actors such as Djimoun Hounsou, Dennis Farina and James Marsden; and bands like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Orgy and sax guru, Carl Grubbs. Josh’s work has appeared in Filter, Car Audio & Electronics, Zink!, ITEM and many other publications and websites. He was recently honored to have his fiction appear in an anthology of LA writers, including Charles Bukowski. www.joshgloer.com

By: Josh Gloer

Say the words “Christmas Album” and you’re likely to invoke less than positive reaction. Lounge style rehashes of the same old tired “Classics,” laid down for the almighty dollar, these albums generally run the gamut from dull to dreadful.

Enter Family Force 5.

In early October, the boys of FF5 dropped a Christmas album of their own. Simply called Christmas Pageant, the album knocks the dust off the cliché and offers some music to truly be merry about.

Old standbys like “T’was the Night before Christmas,” “Little Drummer Boy” and “Do You Hear What I Hear” get run through the grinder and come out mean, dirty and surprisingly fun to listen to. Some tracks grind while others thump, but none of them resemble anything you’ll hear at the shopping mall. Finally… some Christmas music that’s worth adding to the wish list.

The album also boasts the band’s own interpretation of the story of the three wise men. In “The Baby,” the majestic trio hales from the ATL and showers the baby like only kings from the “Dirrrty South” can. Front man Solomon Olds’ own baby makes his vocal debut on the track (his wife appears on another), making it truly a family affair.

Check out the tired Christmas CD’s you’ve got on the shelf. If you want to get into some Christmas crunk, show off a holiday hip hop routine or just keep grandpa up past nine, drop Christmas Pageant into your rotation – its about time. 

By: Josh Gloer

Haunting, dark, gritty, angry… not words that can often be used to describe a Christian album. Maybe its time. 

The Grey Area, from the mouth and mind of 24hits and Dj 2 Snaps is all of the above, shattering stereotypes as it delivers a poignant message – we’re all sinners, we all need Christ. 

The album comes in two different forms – in a hand made sleeve or as a free download – but don’t for a minute think that signifies lack of talent or authenticity. These tracks are raw, real and ready to turn heads. Tracks roll from monastery like drones to the screams of heavy metal and back again. Just when you think you feel the onset of predictability, it changes – never failing to surprise.

One thing doesn’t surprise – each track is more passionate than the last, too dark and disturbing to turn off. 24hits’ desire and drive seeps through the speakers with every thump, making the entire album have more feeling than anything I’ve heard in a long time.

Well worth the free download: http://www.moongardenrecordings.com/

By: Josh Gloer

With a guy like Sareem Poems, you never know what you’re going to get. Sharlock Poems or The LA Symphony, an emcee or poet, hip-hop or rap… While the man continuously reinvents himself, one thing is redundantly clear – you know you’ll get something worth listening to.

“Enter…” The challenge echoes in track one of the Renaissance musician’s latest endeavor, Black and Read All Over. A repetitive drone, it’s an invitation to experience life through lyrics that pour from the mind of a man who’s been there, lived it and come out the other side with a story to tell.

Black and Read all Over is an aggressively gritty trip back to the artist’s roots, the album like a punch in the face to remind fans that Sareem has yet to go soft. Angry yet thoughtful rhymes cause speakers to ache, humming the tracks as though this album, after a long wait, has fulfilled their purpose. Old school gangster laid over church organs, the vocals are the real star as this no flair, stripped down track list are reminiscent of Biggie and Busta rolled into one.

With Akil of Jurassic 5, Oddisee, Pigeon John and Lmno (to name a few) lending a hand, Sareem has given his fans something to think about. Stand up, be yourself, see the light, see the world through different eyes… in these 14 tracks, Poems proves that good lyrics don’t have to be polluted with negativity to be good. There’s a message here, and it’s positive.

It doesn’t matter what style he chooses or under what name he goes… Sareem Poems delivers.

By Josh Gloer

Poems is at a barbecue in Portland, Oregon when his phone rings. He steps away from friends to answer some questions – children’s laughter audible over his powerful drowning voice. It’s July 5th, the day after Americans everywhere celebrate their independence. The emcee spent his holiday weekend at a park with friends, watching fireworks, avoiding crowds.

Next week will be a different story.

Under the moniker Sareem Poems, the artist has announced his latest album, Black and Read All Over. The album doesn’t drop July 26th, but a promotional frenzy starts next week – kicking off with a new MySpace page for the album on Tuesday www.myspace.com/iampoems.

According to Poems, the title, Black and Read All Over, plays off stereotypes.

“It goes across the board with everyone,” Poems said. “It could be Black and Read all over, Brown and read all over. It’s just that people, at first glance, think they know who you are before they even get a chance to hear a word that comes out of your mouth.”

The album is also turning people’s perceptions of the former LA Symphony member’s on their heads. For this endeavor, Poems has united forces with producers Oddisee and Theory Hazit, and stylistically, the album isn’t run-of-the-mill Sharlok Poems.

“The emphasis on this record, for me personally, is giving people a little more up tempo stuff,” Poems said. “The last project was mid tempo, lot of poetry style writing which people know me for. Part of the reason I call this Black and Read All Over is because its not as typical. There’s a lot more guest spots on it. It’s a lot more forward as far as aggressive beats.”

Guest spots include LMNO, Pigeon John, Akil from Jurassic 5, Ragen Fykes and Georgia Anne Muldrow to name a few. According to Poems, the album strays from his typical story-telling depth and focuses on rhymes.

“I focus on being more of an emcee than being just a rapper or a poet. I want to make sure that there’s some substance and there’s some direction to everything that I give. I don’t want to give someone just some aimless music.”

The need to give direction is understandable. The fiery emcee has only met his father once, and his mother recently passed away due to a drug overdose. Avoiding the foster care system he was taken in by his grandmother, and Poems claims as a young man, he himself was searching for something – something he found through religion. Now, a strong Christian, the performer tries to incorporate good messages into his work.

“For a lot of people it’s a weird approach to life because they feel that its very judgmental,” Poems said. “[But] my message is love. I’m not trying to beat anybody over the head with my beliefs. I do my music and if you get something out of it, cool. And if it doesn’t touch you in that way, then cool.”

According to Poems, everyone is searching for something. While he’s found what he’s looking for, he knows not everyone else has.

“For me, at the end of the day, you’re going to hear who I am. That’s my heart. That’s the main thing for me, I’m not trying to water down who I am for anyone, but at the same time, I’m not trying to force feed what I believe or how I live my life down anyone’s throat.”

His music covers issues that he holds personal, from what he calls a sad but “common tale” of parentless children, drugs and even branching out into human trafficking. Poems now tries to help with benefits and events to bring these subjects to light.

“I talk about life issues,” Poems said, later adding that “I think as a Christian and just as a human being… you want to see people happy and enjoy the life that they have, because this is the only thing that we have that we can say is ours. Everything else that we have right now, when we’re gone, it doesn’t matter. This life is the only thing we have that we can say is ours.”

For Poems aficionados, Black and Read All Over, isn’t the only offering this year. Poems has teamed up with Atlanta based producer, Dust to form PND or Poems and Dust. The duo’s first offering Dirty Words (www.myspace.com/panddmusic) will be released sometime late 2009.

For now, Black and Read All Over hits shelves at the end of July.

“Do what you love. Period.” Poems said. “I’m doing what I love. This is what I’m putting all my energy into and everything you hear from me is inspired by life itself in general. You’re not going to hear any false tales from me. What you’re hearing is me.”

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Josh Gloer is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles. Currently he’s a writer on his sixth season of MSNBC’s Lockup: Extended stay. He has also written for MTV, TLC, TruTV, HGTV and Oxygen. Josh has been a journalist for about 12 years, doing celebrity interviews with actors such as Djimoun Hounsou, Dennis Farina and James Marsden; and bands like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Orgy and sax guru, Carl Grubbs. Josh’s work has appeared in Filter, Car Audio & Electronics, Zink!, Item and many other publications and websites. This fall, his fiction is scheduled to appear in an anthology of LA writers, including Charles Bukowski. www.joshgloer.com