Friday, September 14, 2012

Jesus Take the Wheel from Mary Mary


So last night I made the huge mistake of watching the BET Awards. What can I say - I was a fan of MJ's music and BET CEO Debra L. Lee had promised that the show was going to be a tribute to Jackson so I was curious enough to tune in. I wish I could get those 3+ hours of my life back. I want the memories of this show permanently excised from my memory it was so bad. There were many disturbing performances, such as Drake and Weezy's R. Kelly-esque rendition of their song (I have no idea what it is called and I don't care.) 

The worst moment of the night unfortunately belonged to the (former?) "gospel" artists Mary Mary ft. Queen Latifah. I have defended their music in the past. When people criticized them for basically remaking Jamie Foxx's "Blame it on the Alcohol" with a few references to a vague God, I argued that the song was innovative and more biblical than first listen. For instance, as I said in my previous post, Mary Mary's song "God in Me" seemed harmless, but the video was ridiculous. The performance last night easily eclipses the horrid video, in my opinion. First of all, they were dressed like . . . how can I say this nicely? . . . these women basically looked like street walkers. I am not exaggerating or being mean, just look at that picture up top for goodness sake!They waddled along the stage clearly out of breath (perhaps their clothes were cutting off circulation) and then they bring out their special guest. Now, unless I missed something Cleo is not a Christian . . . so why would Mary Mary make the odd choice to include her in the one performance of the night that was supposed to explicitly exult Christ? Where was Kierra Sheard? Why didn't they attempt something different like Beyonce and her rendition of Ave Maria? The Sound has plenty of deep album cuts that proclaim the gospel boldly - why didn't they perform one of those and use that platform to reach those lost souls? 

Like I said earlier, I can't defend these chicas anymore. I will pray that they find their way back again, but for now I can no longer consider Mary Mary gospel/Christian artists. The message has not just been watered down, it has been married to the darkness of the world to the point where the salt and light is entirely missing. I pray that somebody in their inner circle sits them down and lovingly sets them back on course. I want to see the sovereignty of God on display at places like the BET awards. Mary Mary had a great opportunity to witness last night, and instead they chose to simply continue down the road to secularization. Jesus, please take the wheel, by force if needed, and get these two talented women back on course. Christian music needs them.

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