When you think of our friend, Nancy Leigh DeMoss, you probably aren’t thinking of words like hip hop or rap. That’s just a guess. But Nancy’s words are featured on the hip-hop album, The Mosaic Mixtape by Joseph Delacruz and Jose Canas.
The Mosaic Mixtape was released in August 2012 and is the collaboration of two artists in different crafts:
- DJ Average Joe (aka Joseph Delacruz), producer, DJ, turntablist, and engineer
- Zae da Blacksmith (aka Jose Canas), rapper.
Their songs “Virtuous Sister” and “Excellent Wife” feature quotes from Revive Our Hearts radio programs, with most coming from a series called “Becoming a Woman of Discretion.”
Joseph and Jose had been listening to Revive Our Hearts when they came up with the concept to use Nancy’s words as part of their music.
Joseph's Take
“Jose gave me a call one morning and suggested we use excerpts from Nancy’s radio program,” shared Joseph. “It was crazy because I was thinking the exact same thing. Actually, weeks before, I brought the idea to my wife. She was excited about it since Revive Our Hearts has been a consistent part of our morning routine and devotional life.”
Hip-hop artists often use sermon excerpts to further expound on the content of songs. Joseph and Jose were excited to use Nancy’s words because of her many years of women’s ministry.
“We could've gotten excerpts about biblical womanhood from a solid, sound preacher, but Jose and I were both aware of Nancy and her ministry,” Joseph continued. “One of Nancy’s main goals has been to spread a passion for biblical, gospel-centered womanhood in the hearts and lives of women. For us, it was a perfect fit, since Jose's lyrical content sought to do the same thing.”
Jose's Take
Nancy’s influence on the lives of the women surrounding Jose is what motivated him to explore her words further for a song.
“Nancy's name began to pop up in conversations with sisters at my church and particularly with my girlfriend at the time. On occasion, she would share how Nancy's teaching encouraged and challenged her in her walk with the Lord. That made me decide to look into her ministry, so I began to listen to her radio broadcasts,” shared Jose.
After listening to the Revive Our Hearts radio program, Jose was convinced that Nancy’s words from her own mouth would reach more women who would listen to his tracks.
“After a while," Jose said, "the idea of incorporating Nancy’s teaching into these songs seemed like the most exciting idea I could imagine. It made sense on so many levels:
- the goal of Revive Our Hearts and the hope of how God would use these songs
- the appropriateness of having a woman speak to women
- the impact that ROH has had in the lives of women in my church
- the way God impressed both Joe and me with the same idea before we even brought it up to each other.
"In short, I would say the Lord motivated us."
The Mosaic Mixtape is available on Amazon, iTunes, Bandcamp, and more. CDs are available at www.ChristCentric.net.
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