THOUGHT PROVOKAH – LOOK AT GOD & GOD IS #CyphLyfeReview

It’s funny how the scarriest season of the year is right before the Holidays. Maybe its supposed to symbolize how there can be no hope without something to fear first.  How real joy & healing can’t be experienced without going through a period of pain and sadness. Or how the darkest hour comes right before the dawn. This hurricane season has left a lot of people in Florida, Georgia, The Carolinas and Tenessee in the dark and struck fear in the hearts of many more. However it also gave a reason for neighbors to come together, and care about someone other than themselves. It brought the sense of community and generosity out of alot of people, even those who werent directly impacted by the storm. It gave birth to a sense of gratitude, and a glimmer of hope that working together, things could get better.  For me and my closest friends, it also provided a chance to pray for those in need, and a strengthening of faith that comes from seeing your prayers get answered in real time in todays world of skeptisim.  While we were awaiting a catagory 5 Hurricane heading straight for the Gulf Coast, with all News Stations predicting mass casualties and massive property loss through out all of central Florida, I received a text from my good brother up in New York. THOUGHT PROVOKAH, a long time supporter of WVCC Radio & the Cyph Lyfe Blog and one of our 1st PROFRESH PUBLICITY Clients from outside of Florida reached out to me to make sure I and my family were taking measures to be prepared and safe in the midst of the storm.  He showed compassion and empathy for myself, my kids and those he knows in our Florida Hip Hop scene and shared with me that was just as scared as we were, being that he had Family living in the Lake Wales area, right in the projected path of Hurrican Milton.  We both watched and thanked God as the storm weakened and hit just south of Tampa, as a catagory 3. Other than inconvinient power outages, minor flooding in some areas and some cosmetic damages, Milton did not end up being the monster that was predicted. Was this a case of exagerated reporting for the sake of increased TV Ratings? Or had we just witnessed the Hand of God once again calming the storm out of mercy, and answering the prayers of his children?  Once you press play on the latest back to back releases from THOUGHT PROVOKAH, “LOOK AT GOD” and “G.O.D. I.S.” it will become pretty obvious what THOUGHT PROVOKAH believes happened.

After following THOUGHT PROVOKAH, not only as a Hip Hop Journalist, but even closer as his Publicist for the past 2 years, I can tell you that something happened to him since the release of his last delux project, the Arseno Hall inspired “WE’LL BE RIGHT BACK AFTER THESE MESSAGES”. Something seems to have made a dramatic change in his life, which is evident in every song on his current double release, LOOK AT GOD & GIVING OUR DAYS IN SACRIFICE (G.O.D. I.S.).  Whether it be the influence of a friend, reminding him to practice his daily prayers and affirmations, or the memory of his Mother taking him and his brother to bible studies at a young age where he was rewarded for memorizing Scripture, something has called PROV to look a little deeper into the unseen, and depend more on a Force greater than himself.  As I prepared to cover these 2 exceptional EP’s which THOUGHT dropped weeks apart, I asked him what had lead him to take such a sharp turn towards spirituallity on these releases.  He humbly shared with me….

“The inspiration & goal was to create a narrative or series with these albums. The first was to describe a serendipitous result for us when we believe in God, aka LOOK AT GOD. There’s times where we can only say “Look At God” after braving a storm. The second being how do we handle that storm which is (G)iving (O)ur (D)ays (I)n (S)acrifice. Giving into to faith and belief that these storms will pass.” – THOUGHT PROVOKAH

So the album begins with a call to start your day right by putting your priorities in the correct order, as THOUGHT announces “Look, I aint need DAT PIFF to get the Download/ Stick to the Sound Jam taped in the mix to dedication for me to tune Chi with a morning Prayer/ Could hear my Grandma’s whistle across the morning air/ Could hear pops in the Rocking Chair/ The Ancestors near, could feel um right here/” on the album opener “PRAY”which rises like a New Dawn over a soulful marching drum roll and slowed down song sample programed by producer EYEZECK. The unsigned New York spitter weaves a style that sounds like NASSIR JONES suffering from ADHD with a steady supply of Aderal to keep his pen focused, and it cuts sharper than I have heard in his past releases. On the 2nd album cut, a smooth joint produced by TALEN TED, named SACRIFICES, TOUGHT describes how he “gives up the ONES (Air Force Ones) for the KNEES” as he submits to his Creator and in the process learns that their is no I in Team, and that it will take more that M.E (Me, Himself or Selfishness) in order to succeed. Its going to take sacrificing his Ego and playing on the right squad under the right Coach.

I asked THOUGHT about his earliest memories concerning his faith and he took me on a trip down memory lane.

“I used to go to a place called Sidewalk Sunday where on a Saturday, we would be taught lessons based on the Bible and if you remember the verse explained during the lesson, you would win some sort of prize. I would win that prize like 8 out of 10 tries, and my mother would make me and my brother read the Bible for a half hour each day. That was between the ages of seven and nine.”

On “HEAR ME/HEAL ME”, my favorite joint off of LOOK AT GOD, THOUGHT shares how God hears us when we call out to him by way of  a soul stirring tale abou His deceased Grandmother & Father giving him guidence from the other side by way of his dreams. He pads his bars with a trove of Bible Verses that if you take the time to look up, make the lyrics even more powerful. At the end of the FURIOUS STYLE produced gem, he invites a special guest to share his powerul testimony about how he trusted in a God who not only Heard Him when he cried out for help, but also Healed him as he answered his prayers. PROVOKAH explains the inspiration behind HEAR ME/HEAL ME as he opens up to us about what lead him to start his current journey….

“The testimony at the end of HEAR ME /HEAL ME is from my God Brother Maurice. A great man whose climb back to the word and to God I truley admire. I find his story inspiring so I asked him to share it on the record.  As far as the story I tell on the song,  I was living in my hometown upstate and I didn’t have a plan or purpose for my life. My Father had just passed away in 2017 and by 2019 I felt like I was living in a ball of confusion. When I prayed for direction on what to do, my father came to me in a dream imploring me to get my life together and I feel since that day, I’ve been making an effort to improve each day.” – THOUGHT PROVOKAH

From the realization that you cant love your neighbor unless you take some time to Love Yourself on “GAVE MYSELF LOVE”, to the other eye peeling banger on the album  “THE NEW W3BS” produced by long time WVCC Radio Favorite KING VIR2UE, where THOUGHT weaves a web of wordplay to describe how the internet traps the minds of the masses, even those who claim to follow the Creator. Are we really spending time with God through earnest prayer and time spent in His Word, or simply through quick fix motiviational Reels and Memes?  On MOM IS SPEAKING, Washington DC Songstress THE SWEETSCODE sets the vibe over the BEN MALIK R&B bop with her reworked rendition of the soul classic by Junior, “Mama Used To Say”. The first 7 track EP ends with a smooth bop titled “I’M TRYING”, featuring LIL DERICK, a voice WVCC RADIO was not familiar with before but whose brave verse instantly caught our attention.

We asked THOUGHT about the colaboration and he responded…

“Lil Derick is a dope underground artist from St.Louis. We’ve collaborated before on his project and I thought I’d reach out to him and do the same.”

He definetley understood the assigment and added his personal account of walking by faith, which fit in perfectly with the rest of the EP.  As I replayed the bouncy album closer produced by NUMBZ several times, I couldn’t help but be encouraged and inspired by these two young men, boldly professing their faith in the midst of a Hip Hop Era that glorifies Drug Sales and Selling Our Souls for Sucess over skill and love for the culture.

Within weeks THOUGHT PROVOKAH delivered a shorter, but twice as powerful sequel E.P. by the name of (G)IVING (O)UR (D)AYS (I)N (S)ACRIFICE aka GOD IS.  Clocking in at only 5 Tracks produced by duMB-o, Be Franky, Lonsso, Talen Ted, and ScottZilla., this EP packs a more concentrated punch, where THOUGHT not only talks about his walk with God, but is honest about all the bumps in the road that have been part of his journey.

“This is the follow-up to Look At God and explains driving towards the storm–transgressions included–with faith in hand, praying to come out better on the other end.” – THOUGHT PROVOKAH

As I bumped the 2nd EP, I’m greated by THOUGHT shouting out what I swore was a new Moniker, THOUGHT PROVOKAH NISH.  I asked him about the new title and what it might mean. I felt stupid as hell when he explained…

“Not NISH, I’m actually saying Thought Provoking Ish…replaced the curse word …just an attempt to try not to curse as much on albums. I want to get away from profanity as much as possible.”

On the EP opener DRIVEN BY THE CLOUD produced by long time colaborator duMB-o, THOUGHT uses his unique lane swerving style to describe how God has been guiding him like the “Cloud by Day” and “Pilar of Fire” by Night. A message from Pastor Rick Hufton sets off the High Speed Banger, where he is teaching that “God redeemed us, leads us and will guide us by His strength into His holy dwelling”.  “CANE & ABLE” is another slapper on the 2nd installment of the spritual series. A social commentary about how being our brothers keep is our God given responsiblity, and ignoring this call to loving our neighbor as ourselves may be a community destroying sin equal to the 1st Biblically Recorded Murder. “BUTTAHS”, produced by BE FRANKY, is a chill display of THOUGHTS unique Word Association Steeze, while the 1st single off of the “G.O.D. I.S.” EP, “(K)illing (I)nfinite (D)reams” produced by LONSO, is a relatable dialogue with the youth in our Inner Cities to stand against the push by maintstream and social media to choke out their God given dreams of being more than another statistic.  They were created with a much bigger purpose than whats being constantly transmitted to them. As he explains earlier on the project, THOUGHT is no stranger to being influenced by his surroundings and the wrong decisions he saw his family making. However he doesn’t let the story end their.  He has found an alternate road worth taking, and after benifiting from the results of traveling on this less popular path, he is eager to share it with both Older and Younger Generations.

“I was drinking heavily, wallowing in self hatred and self destruction after the death of my Father, which was my best friend. I didn’t know how to cope. I have personally been deconstructing my childhood traumas and trauma bonding mechanism and I can say God and the secrets of the universe and the spiritual realm has guided me through both of these storms. One, being my father’s spiritual return in 2018 and the other God is currently guiding me through.”

Having recently returned to the faith myself, after the recent passing of my Grandmother, both of these projects hit home for me.  My “Mama” was the first person to take me to church, and when I was 13 and turning to the streets, she took me to a Youth Ministry where I first accepted Jesus Christ as My Personal Savior.  As I sat with her at the hospice during her last week on Earth, reading to her from my deceased Grandfathers Bible, and singing the songs that I had learned at her church as a child, I felt the Spirit of God comforting me and filling me with a peace that surpassed my understanding. The peace and strength that had kept this woman strong as an ox for 92 years, was now helping me get through the biggest loss in my life to this date. This is the same Peace and Strength that is piloting THOUGHT PROVOKAH through the Storms of Life. Leading him to pray for others while they go through their storms, both figurativly and litterally, and giving him the courage to share the God News that is transforming him daily.  Even if it means some in the Hip Hop Circles no longer rock with him.  He is fine with that outcome, because at the end of it all, even if you are not a fan of THOUGHT PROVOKAH…. G.O.D. I.S.

Follow THOUGHT PROVOKAH on Instagram @thought_provokah

Check the Latest Single by THOUGHT PROVOKAH & NUMBZ – “The Inferno of Antuofermo” , Off the Upcoming Album “Hagler Hearns” dropping Nov.15th.

THOUGHT PROVOKAH – Spotify

Founder of Vice City Cypher, WVCC Radio, PROFRESH Publicty. With over 20 Years in South Florida’s Hip Hop Scene 8ch2Owens has carved his name into the Miami Hip Hop history books, and now uses his talents to promote the best in South Florida Indie Hip Hop and Underground Hip Hop from around the globe.