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MOMENTOUS MONDAYS: INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS OF ALL TIME – WEEK 43: LECRAE

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I’ve never been in a box. It’s really the irony of it, but publicly I didn’t realize how much of a box I was in. Personally, I was able to navigate in a million different spaces, but I remember [author/theologian] Christena Cleveland challenged me by saying I was an evangelical mascot. I said, “Wow, is that really how I’m perceived?” When I saw that, it really made me do some internal soul searching and say, “Wow, I didn’t realize that was the perception.” I had to ask friends. I was in the dark. By placating people so often in certain circles, you’re viewed as an advocate. If you hang out at the biker club so many times, people will say, “He’s a biker.” I’m way more complex and nuanced than that. It’s not to say that I hate that world or anything like that; I have great friends over there and everywhere. Now I’m just content with saying I’m just a follower of Jesus. That’s it. I don’t belong in any camp. I guess to drive it home for me, it’s not being worried if I disappoint the box people thought I was in in the first place. Because it’s like, “Oh, you’re hanging out with this person? You must be liberal. No, wait. Why are you hanging out with this person? Are you conservative?” It’s like, “No, because I’m nuanced and complex and I like both of them.” I’m not going to worry about the way people perceive me because if you meet me you’ll say, “Oh, OK, I didn’t realize that there was this lane in the middle here that people could run in.” But that’s what you’re going to have to deal with.

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Momentous Mondays: Influential artists of the next 5-10 years – Week 16: Demi Lovato

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Demetria Devonne Lovato, or Demi Lovato as she is known by her fans, friends and the general public. A future star in the 2000’s, she was thrust into the spotlight at a very young age. Fame at a very young age can make you or break you- it can destroy and warp a person’s psyche beyond belief and beyond reparation, and while we all may be laughing and just shrugging off the effects of fame and the pressure of always being watched as something that comes as part of the package of being a role model for young kids; let me tell you that the long lasting effects of not having much of a childhood can be closer than we all can imagine, fathom and comprehend. In 2018 Demi Lovato had an overdose on drugs. The type of drugs were irrelevant- the fact was that in July 2018 in the middle of her Tell Me You Love Me World tour, she was fighting for her life, broken beyond comprehension and stifled by what she later described as a toxic management relationship. I’m not sure if you know this about me, but I’m not the one to speak ill about anybody especially without any proof or tangible evidence, but when the evidence presented before me is Demi fighting for her life way back in 2018 and her revealing interview with Ashley Graham in 2020 about her plight; well then that gets very real and scary. Truth be told, I wasn’t really much of a Demi Lovato fan, but right now as of this moment, I am definitely a Lovatic. Not to the extent of camping outside of a concert line for hours and hours and hours- that’s crazy talk, however after investigation into Demi’s story and her songs and her passion for making the world a better place; I can definitely say that the world needs to sit up and take notice of this emotional and powerful singer.

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MOMENTOUS MONDAYS: INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS OF ALL TIME – WEEK 42: LADY ANTEBELLUM

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Have you realised that the more and more you try to explore something there’s more and more to discover, and you find out that there’s more that you know that you don’t really know at all? Let me explain for a bit. If you haven’t been around regularly on our website 365DaysofInspiringMedia.com since last year, then let me tell you this- we’ve decided to undertake a series that is bold to say the least, unique and challenging, and a chance to explore music that we as a site may not initially check out from the get-go. Yes, we’ve decided to write a list of our own- 100 Influential Artists of All Time, 50 Up-and-Coming Artists, and 30 Classic Artists, each entry and post discussing a band/artist from one of these categories as we delve deep into the artist, their songs and what it means not only in our lives, but in terms of shaping music, culture and society as a whole. And about a year in, our site has unpacked a lot of artists and their music- from Josh Groban, Avril Lavigne, Casting Crowns, for KING AND COUNTRY, Switchfoot, Rascal Flatts, Tina Arena and Carman, to Maren Morris, Selena Gomez, Zach Williams, Matthew West, Echosmith, Marc Martel and Rachel Platten; this site has been stretched, in a good way, in relation to music and what we believe are such music that have shaped culture to a point where God Himself has shown up in a lot of these songs and has changed our own perceptions about what we believe inspirational and uplifting, challenging and thought-provoking music to be or even to look like. Which brings me to yet another artist I’m about to discuss and delve into today- Lady Antebellum. And yes, you guessed it- another country artist/band. You scratch your head and wonder- why haven’t you discussed a lot of country artists before? Yes, yes I have- artists like Shania Twain, Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, The McClymonts, Faith Hill and Martina McBride have all been artists that I have decided to deem worthy of being within the confines of the top 100 influential list, and maybe, just maybe, I’m becoming more and more biased towards country than I was when I first started this blog series. And maybe that’s ok.

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