Art form for 'our generation'
McKeehan said his entry into the rap style was largely because it was "something we grew up in, just like (today’s youth are) growing up in it.
"It’s an art form that our generation is known for and I think it evidently had its effect on me," McKeehan said. "But at the same time I don’t picture us as just a rap group."
For instance, he says, their latest album, "Free At Last," contains a lot more singing than rap. "But it sill has a hip-hop feel to it even when the singing’s going on."
That’s evident in the group’s rendition of the 1970s Dobbie Brothers’ classic "Jesus is Just Alright" and Bill Withers’ "Lean on Me." Both songs offer a sample of original lyrics and arrangements, but also a great deal of DC Talk’s own hip-hop style and trademark gospel lyrics.
"We love those songs. They’re classics," McKeehan said. Still, he notes, there’s an irony in that during the ’70s – a decade in which much of the music was permeated with references to sex and drugs – the original songs had little or no trouble getting air play. Today, some rap music even has the added mix of violence. Nonetheless, DC Talk often hits a wall at some Top 40 stations.
Buzz is a married father of two, managing editor for print/online at The (Maryville, TN) Daily Times and pastors Green Meadow United Methodist Church in Alcoa, TN. He is a 1981 graduate of East Tennessee State University, where he is a member of the Mass Communications Department Hall of Fame.
Inside you will find a collection of columns penned by Buzz on topics ranging from the death of Rich Mullins, to his battle with Hepatitis C, to asking the question, "Does God have a sense of humor."
Buzz talks with those who, as the late Larry Norman would say, "rock the flock." His interviews range from members of Audio Adrenaline, Newsboys, Jars of Clay and Third Day, to David Crowder and more.
Follow Buzz as he travels with Vine International on two different medical misison trips to Guatemala, as well as one with Volunteer Medical Mission. In 1999, he also went to Estonia with a Volunteers in Mission team.
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