{"id":24,"date":"2026-08-22T22:01:40","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T22:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aurapulse.live\/?p=24"},"modified":"2026-08-22T22:01:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T22:01:40","slug":"braille-young-paul-sober-minded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aurapulse.live\/?p=24","title":{"rendered":"Braille &#038; Young Paul :: Sober Minded"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I never really got my head around why Christian rap is a thing. Perusing CD liner notes back in the day, I saw <strong>every<\/strong> rapper was thankful to God, whether they were Christian, Muslim, or whatever Kanye West is. The beautiful part of rap is the freedom to rhyme about whatever you want, but focusing on one religion, particularly when it comes to citing one book, just felt so restrictive. \u201cSober Minded\u201d, a nod to Boogie Down Productions\u2019 \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rapreviews.com\/2007\/06\/boogie-down-productions-criminal-minded\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"2060\">Criminal Minded<\/a>\u201c, is purposefully designed to be the lyrical antithesis of hardcore Hip-Hop, while retaining the musical aesthetic. In that sense, it\u2019s a successful venture if you can stomach the verses littered with Bible references.<\/p>\n<p>Houston\u2019s Lecrae once said,\u00a0\u201cChristian is my faith, not my genre,\u201d\u00a0to distance himself from the limitations the label can impose, but it\u2019s the execution that ultimately determines where the artist lands. Andy Mineo is another artist I have enjoyed albums from, and here we have Braille, who I\u2019m mostly familiar with from his excellent run of albums released in the mid-2000s. Many of the references to Christianity on those records were surface-level and digestible \u2013 the ultimate sin for many rap fans is being hit over the head with Bible quotes. Maybe I\u2019m an idiot, but growing up on a diet of underground Hip-Hop in the 2000s, it wasn\u2019t obvious that Braille was Christian rap. He just made dope music. \u201cShades of Grey\u201d and \u201cThe IV Edition\u201d still slam hard today and probably deserve more recognition. Now a grey-haired father, he returned in 2024 after a decade away and \u201cSober Minded\u201d with mentee and fellow Christian, Young Paul, caught my attention earlier this year.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"cb-video-frame\">\n<div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\"><iframe id=\"fitvid0\" title=\"Ol Heads\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tFOQ7Xtnmgc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The two get reflective on \u201cOl Heads\u201d, which foregoes the expected nostalgic look back at their earlier years, instead touching on how becoming a man has highlighted how we can, and should be, leaving a better legacy for the next generation.<\/p>\n<p><em>Young Paul: <\/em><br \/>\n<em>\u201cI looked up to crews like Dipset and The Lox<br \/>\nIn my hood with the gang fit fresh from the block<br \/>\nWreckless juveniles, kids left with no pops<br \/>\nBumpin\u2019 music glorifyin\u2019 blicks, that they cook rocks<br \/>\nI want to do better as a man for them kids<br \/>\nThan what we heard from Fif\u2019, Jim, Cam, Hova and Kiss<br \/>\nI\u2019ma rhyme about how beef left us in a ditch<br \/>\nAnd how to give up childish ways, teach love and forgive\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Young Paul possesses a haggard, gruff voice more befitting menacing mobster rap \u2013 it\u2019s not far off of Flee Lord or Eto. In that sense, it\u2019s refreshing to hear someone push back against that negative narrative in the same style, because it proves you can make hard-edged, head nod Hip-Hop with a more positive message. \u201cItchy\u201d is a dope track calling out this obsession with negativity, with YP stating \u201c<em>they turn away from truth and choose myths\u201d, <\/em>which is fair, but also hugely ironic if you\u2019re listening as an atheist. \u201cFree Sons\u201d has a dope YP verse and highlights the need for spirituality in the streets without feeling heavy-handed, or at least feels more digestible to anyone familiar with more conventional street rap.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s such a solid record musically even if you can\u2019t get with the Christ raps, you\u2019ve got some nice Inspectah Deck cuts on \u201cThief\u201d, which is probably my favorite track.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"cb-video-frame\">\n<div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\"><iframe id=\"fitvid0\" title=\"Thief\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LHNjm6pnRp4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>I think there is still an opportunity to push this Christian rap further. Killah Priest was good at combining religious imagery with more grounded street tales, and what Braille and Young Paul have achieved here isn\u2019t far from this. The songs all work and I enjoy most of the tracks, but some are let down by a religious rant to close out the beat. It\u2019s an unwelcome reminder that the listener is being talked down to. The last few songs on \u201cSober Minded\u201d remind me why I liked Braille\u2019s earlier output. He knows how to craft catchy Hip-Hop that retains a sentimental purity. With Young Paul, he\u2019s got a strong ally with a voice that lends their work a grimier edge, and there should, and probably will be, a market for traditional Hip-Hop that possesses a positive outlook. I just don\u2019t know if promoting Christianity will ever be to everyone\u2019s taste.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I never really got my head around why Christian rap is a thing. Perusing CD liner notes back in the day, I saw every rapper was thankful to God, whether they were Christian, Muslim, or whatever Kanye West is. The beautiful part of rap is the freedom to rhyme about whatever you want, but focusing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hip-hop"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Braille &amp; Young Paul :: Sober Minded - Aurapulse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/aurapulse.live\/?p=24\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Braille &amp; Young Paul :: Sober Minded - Aurapulse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I never really got my head around why Christian rap is a thing. 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