Raising awareness. Expanding consciousness. Dropping ten tons of
wisdom with the express purpose of tackling reality head-on, no
apologies, no excuses. When hip hop began in the late
nineteen-seventies, these were its tenants, the foundation upon which
a musical revolution was built the likes of which the world had never
seen.
The first generation of hip hop artists were poets and
prophets, men and women who had faced up to real-world hardship and
felt compelled to share their stories, to change minds, to inspire
action, to open eyes. The music of Pastor Weston represents a return
to that ideal, paying homage to the substance of hip hop's
revolutionary roots and marrying that substance to innovative modern
style and production. And all of this in the name of the Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ.
Every bit as iconoclastic as his hip hop
forefathers, Pastor Weston crafts tracks that burn with palpable
passion, genuine flow, and sincere, unconditional praise. Psalm 98:4
commands us: “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD.” Leave it to Pastor
Weston to show us how it's done.
Raised in a single-parent home in Jacksonville, Florida, Pastor
Weston is no stranger to the challenges faced by America's youth.
Growing up, he witnessed desperation first hand. He watched as his
peers were claimed by the careless evil of those apathetic streets,
brilliant minds eroded and eventually erased by drugs, friends gunned
down in the gutter before they ever had a chance to climb toward the
stars, good people locked away in prison all because they never knew
there was hope for them in the world beyond their neighborhood.
Far from perpetuating the tragic cycle, these things inspired a sense of purpose in young Edward Weston. Just as Romans 8:28 tells us: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are called according to his purpose.” Even the pain, the
tragedy, the heartache that he had experienced could be shaped by God
into something beautiful.
At a young age, he devoted himself to
making a positive, compassionate impact on the world. He had to show
kids like him that the world didn't end at the end of their block,
that Christ could shape their lives and give them access to worlds
they never dreamed existed.
Now, Pastor Weston is channeling his passions for music, Jesus
Christ, and the salvation of young people into some of the most
blazing, well-produced, and fiercely passionate hip hop tracks to ever
come out of the Christian hip hop genre. Weston's razor-sharp rhymes
aren't hokey, he doesn't play sensational games or employ
scare-tactics to turn young people's lives around. These songs are
crafted to reflect reality, to tackle real-world issues head on, face
to face, songs that respect the listener's intelligence, songs that
paint a picture of a recognizable world where stories of temptation
and salvation play out every single day.
Violence. Drugs. Sex. Self-harm. Pastor Weston addresses them all in his songs, flowing frankly, compassionately, and intelligently. On his face-melting new single, “A Change,” Pastor Weston sets it all out on the table for us:
“This is not a song about me glorifying sin, bragging about my past
and all the stupid stuff I did. Matter of fact, I wrote this track
hoping that you would repent. Invite the savior in, let him clean up
all your sin.”
“A Change” is a rallying cry, a mission statement writ large for
everyone to see. While the production bounces and bumps through a
musical landscape combining 21st century electro-hip hop, smokey latin
guitar-work, and a blistering rock and roll rock and roll chorus, the
effortless flow of the lyrics are designed to elevate, to
congratulate, to show solidarity with those who are already walking a
path with Christ, and to light up a sign on the horizon to raise the
awareness of those who might need guidance and hope.
The song is a distillation of Pastor Weston's philosophy. Too often, Christian hip hop artists are merely regular hip hop artists who couldn't make it in the industry and think Christian hip hop will be easier. Christian
hip hop deserves better than that. Pastor Weston's music is about
salvation. It's about praise. It's about thankfulness. It's setting
down the gun, setting down the drugs, sending the message: “Try
something different.
Maybe there's a better way. Maybe there's hope. Maybe there's a change".
PRLog (Press Release) - Mar 31, 2009 - A Jacksonville, Fl software developer launched the nationwide initiative One Million Kids Safe Campaign. This Internet web browser and website is designed to help reduce online crime by 30 percent and create a world of online responsibility through mentoring, monitoring, education and training. The initiative includes four primary components:
* Grassroots - geared toward reaching caregivers on a personal level to educate them on the importance of protecting our children.
* Faith-based - partnering with churches and organizations around the country providing training and education to church leaders, youth leaders, and parents.
* Youth Awareness Rallies - engaging youth of every race, culture, gender, and social class in workshops, panels, and forums that stress the importance of online responsibility.
* Campaign website - a conduit between communities, state agencies and the federal government regarding child Internet safety.
Founder Edward C. Weston comments on the need for the campaign:
"Why the necessity of a national campaign? America is in a national crisis. And not only is the crisis in America, but Internet crimes are occurring all over the world. The FBI is not the only organization chasing pedophiles and predators. INTERPOL has its share of case studies. A national campaign is not only a good suggestion, it is a requirement. It takes an entire village to raise one child."
The One Million Kids Safe Campaign echoes the concern of Mary Kay Hoal, concerned mother of five and creator of Yoursphere, the safest online destination for kids and teens through 18. Yoursphere is a community designed to provide a safe, engaging place for kids to interact and explore their interests. Yoursphere proactively blocks cyber sex offenders from creating memberships using age verification and confirmation of parental identity.
By actively providing resources for children to be safe on the web, sites like http://1millionsafe.org are helping children to enjoy the benefits of the Internet while staying protected from sexual predators and pedophiles.
# # #