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 Segment Twelve Welcome to the twelth installment of "It's Your Flava!", where we from time to time feature opinion and comments from visitors. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of GospelFlava.com 
It's one of the hottest topics to hit the Gospel community in some time. It's not just that hip hop sensation Kanye West has scored major radio-play and astounding chart success on the strength of his Gospel-themed single, "Jesus Walks".It's not just that the album that the song is on, College Dropout, also contains much of the regular fare all too common in mainstream hip hop (vulgarity, profanity, questionable lifestyle and the like). It's also not just that churches and Gospel enthusiasts across the land are loving the song. And it's not just that the song itself resonates with its statement of God's grace and redemption through Jesus Christ. No, it's more about the fact that the Stellar Awards Nomination Committee included the song on the ballot for consideration for nomination for the Rap / Hip Hop Gospel CD of the Year award. That fact has created much discussion in church circles, on the Gospelflava.com message board, in choir ranks and in record label offices. It's gone so far that the story has even been picked up by news outlets across the country, including The Washington Post and Associated Press (see article on MSNBC). Since then, the Stellar Awards Elegibility Committee has reconsidered its position, and on Sept 24, 2004, issued a press statement (read it here) announcing that Kanye West's album has been removed from the ballot. No doubt, there are numerous angles to this story, and they deserve to be examined. Below is the first of several perspectives on the issues that arise from these events. Longtime Gospel music industry veteran, Neily Dickerson, President of the ND Co. (a Gospel music marketing and radio promotions company) and CEO of ChurchHowse Music, offers her unique perspective in this It's Your Flava segment: Submitted by Neily Dickerson September, 2004 I think this is cool, cause it’s got us talking. the ND Co. worked “Jesus Walks” at Gospel radio. I wanted to work the song long before I got the call from Def Jam. I love the song because I believe it expresses Kanye’s heart. I think “Jesus Walks” should be looked at as a tool for Christians to start a dialogue about salvation. We are a part of a generation that is having babies at 13, smoking weed at 9, and ‘realizing’ they are homosexual and lesbian at 10. Too many of the kids in this new generation have not been near a church and don’t know or care who Jesus is, and the only way they might hear about Him is, “Jesus Walks.” I have heard Kanye’s whole project, and it is not something I want young people listening to, but since they are, I need to be aware of what’s happening in the hip hop community, and give them an alternative. For me that alternative becomes – The Cross Movement, Grits, BB Jay, Brent Jones & The T.P. Mobb, Tonéx, etc.
Kanye is not a “Gospel” artist and may not know Jesus the way we think he should. But my question —has anyone reached out to him and said, “Good song. Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus?” Has anyone witnessed to him or has he just been condemned because of the effort? If he’s heard about the controversy, I wouldn’t be shocked if he was thinking, “I’m right, Gospel people are a trip.” From what I understand, it was his desire to put the song out and do two videos because he wanted to make a statement and that tells me, a seed may have been planted and we need to water and/or nurture it. Bottom-line, as Gospel music continues to cross over, we are going to have to realize that we are impacting audiences/artists with the Good News, and if it is changing their lives, when they want to say so, they will, whether we accept it or not. Our responsibility then becomes to avail ourselves to present Jesus, after all, isn’t that why we do this? Peace & stay UP, Neily Dickerson the ND co. President
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