I was going to post a new set of articles regarding either The Prodigal Band Trilogy or a message for Christian authors in their writings. But then I learned rapper DMX, an avowed believer on Christ, died supposedly of a heart attack on April 2, which so happened to be Good Friday, the day Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross in the year (according to most historians) 29 AD.
While I was never a fan of rap, gangsta or otherwise, I was a fan (sort of) of DMX as he was an avowed believer on Christ and is known to have spoken about Christ to fans and rap fans in general. While I was not a listener to his tracks, I did hear him in various videos talking about ‘the industry,’ such as one on YouTube that was later incorporated into a ‘truther’ video upon his passing, such as this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7c0Z6P82hI (copy and paste the link into the browser; due to the ridiculous CASE Act, I will not post the video which might be copyrighted.) He not only denounced the evil within ‘the industry’ but also ‘preached’ so to speak about accepting Christ as Savior to fans at concerts and other events. Further, DMX was an actual inspiration while completing the trilogy in 2018.
Another new tribute to DMX has been posted by one of my fave pop culture sites, Vigilant Citizen, here.
According to the post, DMX was abused by his mother but never gave up on his childhood belief on Christ and it helped him get through his youth tribulations (similar tribulations, in a way, to what band leader Jack endured, who was beaten by his own father and, like DMX, ran away from the abuse). In his first rap album, DMX says that he “communicated” with a figure similar to the movie “The Omen” character called Damien (the song is called “Damien”). Of course I did not know this until I read the article. But to me the comparison between DMX’s real life experience and fictional character Jack’s experience was uncanny, and that is why I decided to incorporate this into a new post and new series of posts with snippets from the trilogy. According to the VC article, the lyric of the song or rap tells of the rapper’s communication with this so-called ‘angel’ named ‘Damien’ and of course it’s called Damien for a reason—it is an evil ‘son of Satan’ entity. When I saw the lyric on the VC post it reminded me of a ‘conversation’ guitarist-band leader Jack had with ‘angels’ which were in fact demons. Jack, praying for success, fame and fortune right before his band Sound Unltd went on a nationwide contest-winning tour of night clubs and show hall venues, believed he was praying to angels when in fact it was demons who answered, telling him the band would reach success ‘for a price.’
From Chapter One of Battle of the Band, Jack wonders what that ‘price’ will be. DMX, in reality, knew what that ‘price’ was, and he fought against it. Though he has passed on, by accepting Christ he has already beaten that ‘price.’ I just wish more rappers, rockers, whoever, would make that same choice! Below is the snippet:
Bound for London for fame and fortune, sleepy-eyed band leader Jack Lubin lifted himself out of bed, went to his wash basin and communed with the deities.
“If anyone is listening, please answer me. Look, man, we want to make it big. Huge! The greatest rock ‘n roll band there ever was. We got the talent, we got the ambition, and I got the will to drive us. Do you think you can fix it for us?”
“We hear you,” a deep voice answered.
The seventeen-year-old guitarist stumbled backwards into a dresser drawer, aghast. “Who the hell are you?”
“One of your guardian angels, as you would call us. As for your wish, it’s done.”
“Huh? Just like that? By wishing for it?”
“Of course, you won’t make it right away. You’ll have to work your way up like anyone else. That’s so nobody suspects our pact.”
“Our pact?”
“Yes. We will see you make your big break. And once you make it, no one will be able to stop you. Sound Unltd will be invincible. All you boys have to do is prove you want it more than anything. More than anything!” The Demons laughed in uproar. “When the time is right, we’ll name our price.”
Jack shook. “A price? What you mean by that?”
“Well,” the deep voice laughed, “you can’t expect fame and fortune for nothing, can you?”
Next week this series, The Truth About the Music Industry Expounded in The Prodigal Band Trilogy, continues with Part Two, as the band finds itself involved with the occultist New Age ‘church’ of the evil Swami Negran. Links to purchasing the various novels in the trilogy as well as downloading the FREE PDF The Prodigal Band are listed in the menu above.
The Prodigal Band Trilogy © 2019 by Deborah Lagarde, Battle of the Band © 1996 by Deborah Lagarde, The Prophesied Band © 1998 by Deborah Lagarde and The Prodigal Band © 2018 by Deborah Lagarde. Permission needed to copy any materials off this page.
Photo above copyright Deborah Lagarde
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