Today we are are going to look at the theology of Braille in the album Native Lungs. By far it is some of his best work. Many may note the sound creativity, but there has been little commentary on the strong ideological and theological statements throughout the tracks.

The first track we are going to look at is “Feel It.” From the jump Braille hits you in the throat with the brutality of human interaction in the area of trust and personal betrayal. An interesting idea presented in this song is that others who “look Christian” or act like Christians can be using that element to set up and take advantage of us. The image of someone wearing a crucifix around their neck but really not abiding by its true meaning really hits home with me. Braille comes back to give context that personal problems are small in comparison to big global problems.  But he doesn’t use scale as a cop out from dealing with and facing the problems at hand. The idea of being transparent or exposing one’s own mess is not seen as a problem. I think one thing that Braille that really focuses on is that one has to just turn off the phone and stay focused.

With its clever Ice-T sample, “Nightmare Walking” is an retro-sounding song. The thing that strikes me as interesting is that woman who embodies death and sin is mostly described not by her characteristics, but by her after effects. I will say first hand when I first listened to this I thought about Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”  Braille also talks poetically about the spiritual bonding effects of such relationships. The Christian rap game mainly focuses on the biological effects and separation from God that happens with pre-marital sex. I’ve rarely heard a Christian hip hop artist talk about the long-term spiritual effects. But idea of the staining of the soul from the experience is very rarely touched on. One thing that Braille hits at the end is personal responsibility. It is nice to hear an artist be honest that their relationship problems are not the fault of God or the devil running amuck. Sometimes the problem is ourselves. If all our relationships go bad then we are most likely the nightmare.

The last song we are going to look at is “Deep Rest.” The song draws the listener out of themselves by hearing the a journalist report on the devastation  of sin and death. Braille lays out the common traps that people fall into to cope with the effects of the curse. Yet there is this rallying idea that Jesus will redeem all the situations. The second 16 bars demonstrate how Christ comes in and transforms reality when one submits to the ways of the cross. Braille is honest by showing that salvation is not just saying some words. There is a legitimate understanding of  maranatha (a phrase that embodies the desire of Christ coming back) in the song. One of the elements that is clear is that no point of the process of redemption is easy or painless.

Thanks for reading. My life is in chaos of transition. I’ve got a lot of various projects on my plate and I hope to have a theological review of “Mr. Ham Sandwich” aka Sean Slaughter’s Prototypealbum for you next.