This album is a great testament to how Christian hip hop (CHH) can have a relaxed sound and speak to intense issues of faith. From start to finish the listener is guided into the contemplative mind and vision of Mahogany Jones. 

The first song we are going to look at is “Easy.” I must say this song strikes a chord in me as a single man. The song starts out by addressing, from a female perspective, the pressure to go out there and pursue relationships. The scripture verses that comes to mind are Song of Solomon 3:1-5.

Verse five stands out when it says “I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.” I think that one thing that people should take out of this song is to be led by God when looking for a spouse. The world, and the church culture, puts a lot of pressure on singles to get married or be in serious relationships. But we have to take steps back and be led by God. If we rush such matters then it becomes easy for us to fall, not just into sexual immorality, but idolatry in our worship of love instead the One who loves.

The second song we will look at is “Everybody’s Everything.” The songs hits home because I think a lot of people in the Christian hip-hop arena are people-pleasers. We see it in songs that touch on certain, pre-approved topic matter. There is a lot doctrinal flag waving for its own sake to increase listeners. Or we see pseudo counter-establishment rap that is just there to cause buzz. This song shows the heart behind people-pleasing and how exhausting and toxic that way of living can be. And when we people-please we go against the purpose the plan and design that God put in us. Too many times we equate people-pleasing to idolatry, but just as easily we can equate it to rebellion against God. Exodus 9:15-16 is the best way to end this analysis “Now if I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth.  But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.”

A song with a fitting title, “Farewell”, is the one we will examine last. From start to finish this song has something you don’t hear from a lot of rap artists, even CHH artists, - creative metaphors. We see that Mahogany Jones shows us that we are soldiers in God’s army that have an active duty to serve and protect. The comparison of Satan to terrorists strikes home for the target audience. Not only that, but stating that people are “precious minerals” is priceless. The last 16 bars are a heartfelt letter to the listener to leave their comforts zone and go to war. Many times our (myself included) desire is to do ministry in comfortable places. It is often hard for us to think of ourselves like Jonah. But in our actions we do not go out too uncomfortable places and minister to people that are opposed to our view and we display the antithesis of the song. So for a Christian to only deal with Christians would mean failure and surrendering riches to the enemy.

I’m a big Mahogany Jones fan. I hope it didn’t come off to much of a fan boy. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed the article. If you have any albums ideas you think I should cover just type them in the comments below.

 EDITOR'S NOTE: With this series of articles we typically embed a version of each song for you to listen to as you read the piece. However, even after reaching out to Mahogany Jones, we discovered none of them are available in that format online. We suggest buying a digital copy from your favorite online retailer and spinning it as you read. :)