"He-Motions" (Bishop T.D. Jakes)
America's best known contemporary evangelist - Bishop Thomas Dexter (T.D.) Jakes is back on the block with a scintillating CD for the `brothers' called, He-Motions (Dexterity/EMI Gospel), a musical offering that passionately speaks to men under social, emotional, spiritual and psychological siege.
Jakes has quickly gained a reputation for his albums that have fancied for the thematic tinge. With previous CD stories like Woman Thou Art Loosed, Follow The Star and Sacred Love Songs to his credit, He-Motions is yet another tale put to music. The result is a specific, heavy-handed message that's delivered through both his music and publishing ministries in fine fashion (He-Motions: A Deep Look At The Heart Of Man - the book - goes on sale July 15, 2004).
Like the bestseller the inspirational manual is likely to be, the theme-driven album is a timely message in melody addressing fathers, sons, husbands, church leaders and entrepreneurs that men face unique and daunting challenges in today's world. Bishop Jakes is one of the best communicators of our day. And in his latest album, T.D. eloquently speaks a poignant message about the complicated and daunting task of manhood, using several of today's finest psalmists to get the point across.
As a preacher, author, T.V. host and motivational speaker, Bishop T.D. Jakes has emerged as one of the pre-eminent Spiritual Leaders of our day. His ability to confront a wide range of contemporary issues using simple biblical principles and an extremely adept mind has strategically placed Bishop Jakes as a predecessor on matters of human condition.
In He-Motions, Bishop Jakes pushes all the emotional buttons to remind the listener (men and women, alike) that despite broken homes, lost careers and internal temptations, "it doesn't really matter...you can start all over again." The battle is not over...the victory is already won.
The album begins with an intro demonstrating Bishop Jakes ability to poetically flow over the soft, soothing rhythms produced by his musical director, Marcus Dawson. The album immediately gets off on the right foot with a song featuring two incredible talents in Michael O'Brien (lead singer of Contemporary Christian group Newsong) and Micah Stampley, an accomplished director, songwriter and vocalist from Houston whose work has been noted with John P. Kee's VIP Mass Choir and whose talents has been recognized at the Stellar Awards Gospel Talent Search.
On the next track - Emotional - a selection penned by Israel Houghton and Aaron Lindsey, the tempo picks up to lively musical pace, while being complimented by a script drafted by none other than Kirk Franklin. The style and presentation is reminiscent of Jakes and Franklin's last collaboration on 911 on the Rebirth Of Kirk Franklin. On the following track, Bishop T.D. Jakes is reunited with friend and spiritual brother Bishop Paul S. Morton, Sr., on the song, It Doesn't Really Matter, a song of hope, redemption and empowerment. The friendship between these two spiritual titans goes back some twenty years ago, when Bishop Morton first introduced the little-known evangelist from Virginia before tens-of-thousands at the Full Gospel Baptist Fellowship Convention. The heart-warming selection is a song of healing and new-beginnings, using the compelling voice of Paul Morton, Sr. on vocals.
Donnie McClurkin offers his talents to the project on the single, King Inside Of Me, a selection written by the Grammy award-winning Caldwell Brothers (Cedric & Victor). True to form, the song is inspirational in style and content, a noticeable preference in McClurkin's recent recordings. Once again, Michael Stampley is featured on perhaps one of the more memorable selections of the album with Take My Life, another Inspirational ballad that's an open plea for the guiding hand of Christ. Stampley's vocals on this track are particularly breath-taking.
Bishop T.D. Jakes engages the listener like only the bishop can, on a selection he calls Chapter 7, a moving testimony that will surely leave every father contemplating his irreplaceable position in the family and society. Bishop Jakes' ability to convey a message using reflective, passionate, down-to-earth phrases and words is one of the under told stories to his profound gift as both an evangelist and motivational speaker.
Selections featuring Israel Houghton (Where Are The Fathers), Anointed's Da'Dra Crawford-Greathouse (Thanks For Staying), Micah Stampley (Yes), Hallerin Hill (Beautiful) and Smokie Norful (It's All About You) round off a spectacular album dedicated to all the men in search of strength, forgiveness and affirmation.
In times like these, when men, particularly Black men, are presented with weak and limited images of themselves from the media or vilified by women who've grown cynical as a result of indiscretions, the album is a wonderful message to men of empowerment and hope for a brighter and better day. He-Motions is a carefully crafted album designed to nurture relationships between `brothers' and the people in their lives.
The album will also serve as a source of insight to women seeking to comprehend and decode the often baffling behavior of the men in their lives. The album certainly goes a long way at spelling out a lot of those mysteries through some very likeable songs that's rippled with deep-seeded emotions. Add to this one to your collection or perhaps make it a point to get this in the hands of someone who needs this message the most. - By Chrisopher Heron for BlackGospel.com
|