On April 23rd, 2022 — almost two years ago — a full length album called ‘Zion’ was released.
Since 2009 with my very first band from college, Sugar Water Purple, until now, I’ve released about two dozen albums and singles under either my name, or the name of a band I started and led (SWP, Current Personae, the Gatekeepers, etc).
However, there was something very curiously specific about the feedback I received from this particular album, which continues to lead me to believe that its debut is not yet done.
After the big release tour of Zion, my wife and kids and I were enjoying a nice breakfast at my parent’s house. While we were eating, my dad turned on the Zion album, and at some point, while the song Yom Hashem [featuring Natalie Hagwood] was playing, my dad shared some of his sentiments about the project.
Among the many great things he said about it (which meant so much to me), one of the things he said was that Zion would be an album that would take a minute to sink in. That the themes and messages in it are deep, foreshadowing, and for some songs, just straight up lifted from the prophets of the bible, like the song that was currently playing, Yom Hashem, which is based in the prophet Zecheriah chapter 13:1-6.
I really took what my father said to heart, and blessed G-d for giving me those songs.
A few weeks later, I’m in an Uber, on my way to rent a car, and my driver happens to be one of the talkative types. Normally I prefer silence, but the conversation quickly became one that I found life-giving. He was a Black American like myself, and we both had a very similar interest in and fascination with Africa and Pan Africanism. We chatted about that for a while, and he eventually asked me what I did. I told him about my family’s work in Africa/Israel relations which he found very interesting. Then I told him about my music.
After telling my driver about my music, he asked what some people tend to ask upon finding out: “are you on Spotify or something like that?” To which I responded that I was. He quickly switched from the radio to Spotify and played my album, Zion.
Starting right from the intro track Time I, it was the first time during the 30 minutes car ride that he was relatively quiet. After a few minutes to the second track, Return (With No Due Respect), he complimented me for the lyrics. Then he said something that perked my ears up again.
While the second track was ending, he turned the volume down a little and began to tell me that Zion is a deep album, and that many people aren’t going to get it at first; neither its message, nor its significance, but they would at the right time.
It was one thing for my dad to say that. I mean, it meant a lot to me, more than anyone could ever know really, but he’s still my dad. He’s supposed to build his children up. It was a completely different thing to hear the same, very specific sentiment,from a stranger in an Uber ride.
Some say most prophetic things come in groups of threes or more, but I would still like to think that there is something very significant about hearing the same word twice from two completely unconnected people. It also encourages me to continue moving forward. Knowing that not everything you say and do will fully resonate now is a comfort to me. It reminds me that I do what I do for a heavenly applause rather than an earthly one. Real success cannot be accurately measured by how many people like whatever we may be doing. Real success – true success – is spiritual. It can’t be seen or quantified, even if it looks like it can be. There are people who will never grace any big stage ever in their lives who are more successful than the most celebrated living human being today. There are also very celebrated human beings that do other incredible, life changing work that nobody in the general public will ever know about or appreciate.
Since the release of Zion, I’ve had the honor of performing it live all over the world. The most special time, however, was at a music venue in Jerusalem called Nocturno. I was there in the summer of 2023. That night, and particularly performing the song State of Freedom, which sings about Holy City itself, was more than a full circle moment. Despite all that has come to light from October 7th to now, plans are being made to go back and contribute whatever good can be contributed.
Keep moving. If you’re doing what you know you are supposed to be doing, your reward will come.
And with that, I will shamelessly plug the Zion album once more. 🤗
See you on tour~