On Friday morning when I woke up confused from a dream that I had interviewed Gadhafi, I knew I'd been watching too much CNN. Lol. Seriously; I literally dreamed that I was in my office at work interviewing Gadhafi and he was wearing some jean shorts and a T-shirt, complaining that Libyans were just copying what they saw in Egypt.... Yeah, definitely to much CNN.
To keep up with going-ons in Naija, I read Vanguard newspaper online. But watching and reading news can often be draining. I like knowing what's going on, but its often depressing. Bombings in Abuja, floods along the U.S. east coast, shootings in Detroit... Add all of that on top of my personal problems and it can really bring a girl down! Thankfully, the Lord is always there to pick me up again and help me face the world.
Music always helps too. It has unexplainable power when it comes to healing souls and touching hearts. Here are a few artists who have music that is really great at lifting spirits.
From
You Hold My World, to
Friend, and
I Am Not Forgotten, If Not For Your Grace Israel Houghton is skilled at making music that praised God and uplifts people. The dude is really talented. I don't think there's a song of his that I don't like. If you're not familiar with him, do yourself a favor and Youtube him.
Then we have Mr. Sonnie Badu. Hailing from Ghana, my brother is now based in the UK an makes amazing African praise and worship music. When I first came across him on Youtube, I was floored by his talent and anointing.
Baba is one song that I love to play when I need to cry out to God. In fact, let put that on right now.... :) All of Sonnie Badu's songs are awesome, and he does a really great job at bringing Africans together in worship by singing songs from several African countries. His Africa Worships series is an example of this. Also, there's his song
African Medley, a beautiful upbeat worship song that mixes together songs in different African languages.
Though I don't understand Yoruba, when Lara George sings, my heart listens. The first song I heard by her was
Ijoba Orun, and it brought tears to my eyes. My mom, who understands Yoruba, was able to translate for me, so I now know that the song is about how a car, money, and so many other things can't take her to her home, heaven. Another song I really love by Lara George is
Ko Ma Si and of course, I can't do without her song
Hallelujah, a very danceable praise song that I truly love.
I first found out about Coffey Anderson when he came to my church last year. He opened up with his fun remix to
Umbrella. Love that song. From seeing him in person, I saw his energy and charisma firsthand. Truly a great artist. I bought the two CD's he was selling on the spot after hearing him. The acoustic one, Worship Unplugged is awesome. His song
You Are My Strength is another one of my favorite.
Needless to say, there are countless musicians who make music that I love, but if I sit here and keep listing them, I probably wouldn't be able to finish and you'd probably get bored, so, I'm done (for now) :)