The song is done! [RAP SONG 11-15/30]

Sorry for the lack of updates. Between my daughter turning one, and changing our entire church service to be online (I’m a pastor) due to Coronavirus, I haven’t had a lot of time to blog. The song, however, did get done.

It’s taken a lot of tweaks, and I’m really happy with it. Now, we got to move on the to music video (which could be incredibly difficult since our State is banning a lot of public gatherings).

We’ll figure out something cool I’m sure.

ANDREW [RAP SONG 8-9/10]

Andrew Jennings helped me record the vocals for my song! He setup a home studio with amazing equipment and even provided his Blogrimage drawing for inspiration.

He helped me get great quality recording, taught me how to put on fancy in ear headphones, and coached me through out the whole process. We recorded several takes, debriefed and then experimented with different tweaks and styles.

I’m so thankful for his expertise and coaching! If you need someone to record you, definitely contact Andrew Jennings!

Helpful [RAP SONG 6/30]

My hope for this song is that it helps parents who are dealing with frustrations of Autism. At the end of the music video, I’m going to show a link for parents to get helpful resources—ones I wish I would have had in the beginning.

As ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) rates increase (I believe 1 in 29 boys now are diagnosed with it), more parents are looking for help and next steps. There are many groups, websites, and resources that helped me navigate those early days. Even now, I’m finding more helpful options. If I can help parents get a jumpstart on their journey, I’ll feel really good about this project.

Re-Writing [RAP SONG 5/30]

I was taught that the key to good writing is re-writing. I was also taught to “write drunk and edit sober.” As an example, my mentors taught me that The Catcher in the Rye was rewritten 100 times. A simple google search did little to validate that claim, but I still like the general principle.

After writing my first draft, I kept rewriting and rewriting and rewriting. Adjusting the content, the flow, and arrangement helped me feel better about the messaging each time. So much of what I do is shaped by feel. It’s not very often that I have a fully detailed vision of what I want to accomplish. Usually, I start and then tweak and mess with something until it feels right. In my leadership and creativity I lean more art than science.

Writing [RAP SONG 4/30]

The lyrics for my song came really fast. I wrote 95% of them in one night. I think it’s because I have pent up emotion and I’m constantly working on phrases for my sermons at Kalos Church. When I preach, I write out two or three memorable, pithy, or rhyming lines to help the Church remember the message. That same muscle works really well for writing a rap song.

For example, I once preached a message called, “See the need? Take the Lead.” to encourage initiative in people helping one another. I used this simple rhyming scheme for a line from the second verse in the song:

What should I do when you scream for hours? 

I wanted to be super dad but I lost my powers. 

Rapping is a completely different skill, and I don’t feel very confident creating the song, but of all the aspects (writing, performing, cadence, etc) this came most naturally.

Jameson [RAP SONG 3/30]

Jameson is not the son of James.

He is, however, one of the main reasons I’m doing this Blogrimage. I was thinking about doing some other things like starting a food cart or a podcast, but I chose creating a rap song. How did Jameson help me make this decision? By saying he would help me create the song! I thought, “If he’s involved, this could actually be good.”

He’s listened to me unintelligently talk about my hopes and influences for this song, received a bunch of unnecessary texts from me, and has already made this song way better than I could have alone. He’s taken all of my thoughts and ideas and worked with me to create a song I like within my vision.

We met a couple of years ago in Bellevue—He was one of the first people to join our Kalos Church launch team. Since then, he’s move to Chicago and we’ve corresponded digitally. It’s amazing how much you can collaborate over the internet.

I’m extremely grateful for him, and if you want someone to help you make an amazing song, you definitely should contact him.

Here’s one of his former projects: