This rapper has lyrics you will want your kids to memorize
Summary
In this episode of The John Henry Weston Show, host John Henry Westendorf sits down with rapper Yassif "Enoch" Yassir, better known as Enoch, to discuss his new album, "Traditions," which is an album about being a Catholic, being a traditional Catholic, and also includes a controversial pro-life song.
Transcript
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If you're anything like me, it is very difficult to find good music for your children.
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In fact, as your children move on into the teens and their early 20s,
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And right now, it's very popular to be listening to rap music.
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The beats are kind of interesting, but for the most part,
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you're really hoping your kids are very much like you.
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They don't actually listen to what's being said.
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Any parent of teens or kids in their early 20s will tell you,
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They memorize all the lyrics, and it's a bloody nightmare.
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Imagine a rapper who not only raps good lyrics, but does it really well.
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oh, yeah, that was like he was trying to rap, but yeah, it didn't get there.
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We're going to be talking with one of those rappers today.
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Let's begin, as we always do, with the sign of the cross.
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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
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This is from your album called Traditiones, if that's right.
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You are actually doing an album about being a Catholic, being a traditional Catholic,
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Even before we get to a lot of the controversy, give us some of the lyrics, if you will, of
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One of the lyrics I have on there is just calling out, just giving shout-out to those who just
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profound job throughout the years for the pro-life movement.
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And the second verse starts off with a shout-out to Lila Rose and the Kristen Hawkins and the
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Abby Johnsons and other sidewalk counselors for those who were arrested and sacrificed that
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Even though the consequences were monstrous, you took it up.
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So those are some of the lyrics that are on there, just giving shout-out to the pro-life
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woman as a whole and the fantastic job that they've done in saving babies and taking care
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I migrated here with my family when I was about seven years old.
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My father wanted an opportunity for us to succeed and not be in more of a tyrannical
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And kudos to him for that sacrifice that he made for his family.
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And I've always carried that with me, the sacrifice for the sake of mine as well.
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I grew up listening to rap in the heyday of the 90s.
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I guess the golden, what they call the greatest decade of hip-hop is the 90s.
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My brother and I, we started rapping around eighth grade and just writing some stuff.
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I joined the Protestant faith for about a year.
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I had my first community in the Chaldean, Syriac, right?
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And then the church fathers kind of brought me back into the Catholic, to the fold of the
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And I did find, I found the tradition around 2013.
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And so, I attended the tradition of Latin Mass.
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So my brother and I, we switched over to Catholic rap.
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And we put out an album at the time called Spirit Versus Flesh.
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And then after that, I got married, had a few kids.
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And we took about a 10-year hiatus from making music.
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You know, family life took over, things like that.
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And then it wasn't until I moved to Kentucky about two years ago is where I started picking
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I didn't have much time in California working multiple jobs for the sake of my family.
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And then moving to Kentucky homesteading, I found myself to have a little bit more time.
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And then six months later, the album Traditiones came out.
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And that's what I put out for the sake of the traditional movement and, of course, for
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You're actually on this show on a day that's kind of special for your family, are you not?
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I was joking around earlier saying, you know, if you're a doctor saying, push in the background,
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It's got the timing for Clement Charbel is his name to arrive and be a great addition
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You grew up, as you said, involved with rap music.
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What's your assessment of popular rap music nowadays?
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Is it stuff that parents should let their children listen to if they are concerned about
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And that's something I've wrestled with myself as I became a parent.
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You know, rap music and music has a hierarchy that is just like the hierarchy of man.
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You know, the man has the intellect, the will and the passions.
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Music also follows that same hierarchy because it comes from within man.
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And rap music, rock music, even country music is what we call syncopated music.
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And the only correct hierarchy of music, you have chant and classical.
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So those are the only ones that are simple and follow the hierarchy correctly.
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So those you can listen to almost, you know, all the time without worrying about the passions.
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And especially with teenagers, because they're so accustomed to using the passions as the
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Now, if it can be done in moderation, maybe at the gym or something that is more rhythmic
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to get you pumped up, it can be done in moderation.
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As long as the content, the lyrics on that song are actually either identifying, they're of
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the faith, but if a lyric are modest or blasphemous, I think it should be avoided, to be honest
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Because I think we end up memorizing lyrics, whether we know it or not.
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And sometimes I was listening to a rap song at the gym the other day, and a song came on
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And then I finally got to pay attention to the words.
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I'm like, I can't believe I used to listen to this.
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And you just don't realize what they're saying and what you're picking up subconsciously.
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So in moderation, I think it's fine, as long as the content are good.
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I always figure, oh, they're listening to the beat.
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They're really not paying attention to the words.
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But then I was horrified as my kids got older and older to hear they were rhyming off the
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lyrics to rap songs that were rather extremely offensive.
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So it was, you know, having to say, absolutely not.
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And when they're so old at this point that, you know, I'm saying, absolutely not in my house.
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I still think it's a bad idea, but that's on you.
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So it's great to have something to give to them that is edifying, that works.
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But you very interestingly have that challenge you have to face.
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So that is, except for my middle child, he always tells me to turn it off.
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And, you know, as a parent, as yourself, you know, that's a mark of a good parent.
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It's a good father, making sure that your children consume what is good for the soul.
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So, yeah, that's a challenge at times, but it's definitely necessary.
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What is your challenge for artists who are Christian, who are struggling in this world of, you know, they want to produce something.
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They might have super talents, but the industry is very, very difficult.
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Unfortunately, Catholic music, no matter what genre it is, has kind of fallen behind.
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I know a lot of the Protestants have made, you know, they really control the rap game as far as Christian rap.
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The secular has the machine and the money behind it, so their productions are just completely astonishing.
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And I think we need to, as Catholic artists, to compete, because not only do we have the fullness of the faith and the truth that we can present and the beauty to the world, but, you know, beauty and truth belong to one another.
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So to, you know, to make music, to compete with the world, and to have the same production, to seek it out, and to really push yourself to compete, I think is very important.
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And a lot of times, I think we just kind of put it to the side and say, well, it's a song about Jesus.
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It shouldn't be cringe just because it's about Christ.
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It should be as powerful and as beautiful as anything else that the world is offering.
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And I think that's the challenge as a whole, as an industry, is to challenge all these artists out there.
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It's, you know, let us rise to the occasion and compete with the whole world.
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Now, how could you possibly up your game when you're doing all sorts of stuff and you're now living in, it sounds like you're rural Kentucky?
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By the grace of God, to be honest with you, and my wife stayed home.
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And to be honest with you, the funny thing is my wife came out to me when I finished the CD.
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She said, you could have come out, handed me an album, and I would have never even known that you did one.
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I made sure to do it while the kids were sleeping or early in the morning, I would write, and then late in the evening, I would record.
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And outsourcing, talented folks who know how to mix the music, put it together, master it, outsourcing, working with producers who are incredibly talented, making sure that I write every single lyric.
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I want to make sure that all the songs were written by myself and content, things like that.
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There's people out there who are very talented and willing to work with us, and I just tapped into their talents, and Traditiones came out.
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The second album I'm calling Et Cum Spiritu 2.0.
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So that one's going to be, I just want to put out Catholic music.
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We have a YouTube channel called Enoch and Elijah CMC, Catholic Music Channel.
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And what we're doing is we really want to highlight Catholic musicians who are talented.
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We want to interview, we're interviewing Catholic artists in any genre, whether it be folk, country, rap, or chant, whatever it may be.
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We really want to put Catholic music out there and compete with the world, because I think there's talented folks out there.
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That's my plan, is to really elevate Catholic music to the highest I can get to it.
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And where else can people find your album and get in touch with you?
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Instagram, Holy 40 Project, or if you go on Spotify, any digital stream or channel or music stream or stores, is Enoch, E-K-N-O-C-K.
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So you could find me on YouTube also at Enoch and Elijah.
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I'm pretty much everywhere on Twitter at Catholic Kingdom.
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But I also plan with the word with the prophet Enoch.
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And thank you for your gift of music, which I'm very happy to share with my children.