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result of this obedience is The H.E.R. Project, the first all female
compilation in hip-hop (that we’re aware of). By God’s
leading, it grew from an EP to a full album. Even if other projects
like this have been done, they weren’t done with eternity
in mind. See H.E.R. is an acronym for Healing and Evangelism through
Rhyme and the sistas all spit about issues, situations, and experiences
that resonate universally but have never been addressed quite like
this. Here are a couple cases in point. What’s That challenges
brothas who claim they want a virtuous sista for a wife but who
fail to initiate because of…fear?! (gasp)
“In your heart you asking God for
a wife, wanting to live a holy life, but you ain’t seekin’
what you speaking…”
“What’s That?…I hear you want me
by your side. What’s That?… Why you be actin’
like you shy? What’s That?… I see that look that’s
in your eye… What’s That Fear?” –
Shekinah
Or what about the sister who (unlike the
ladies in our “Thuggish”conviction comic) holds her
ground and rebukes a worldly brotha who arrogantly steps to her?
“…Matters of fact I feel
some wrath, the audacity of you tryin’ to throw me off my
path. I fret not cause I know that trouble don’t last, Psalm
16:8 means I stand steadfast.”
- Sistah Dee / 2 Worlds Apart
 I
could go on, there are joints about fake thugs and parents in denial
about what their kids are into - Untold Truth.
Teens caught up in high school - A Way Out. The
persecution of Christians – Manifesto. And
even that rare joint of praise and encouragement for formerly wayward
brothas who are now godly men – Proud of You.
But instead, let me officially introduce you to the women of The
Yuinon who put it down on the H.E.R Project, a disc many are already
calling a classic and more importantly, one that is already living
up to its name (peep the testimonies on the BuildBoard). They are:
Light (Pittsburg), Techniq (Syracuse),
Shekinah (New Jersey), Mahogany (Brooklyn),
EP (Detroit), and Sistah Dee (Baltimore).
The Yuinon: How well did you all know each other before the
recording of this project?
Light:
The only one I knew was Shekinah. I had talked with everyone
on the phone but… I actually met Mahogany on the bus coming
down.
Sistah D:
Well, Shekinah and I are like the Wonder Twins, I just met Light
(at Red and Precise’s release), still haven’t met Techniq
but what’s dope is how God put us all on one accord without
us all having met.
Mahogany:
I’ve known Shekinah for 3 years, Sistah Dee for 2
years, Techniq for about a year, Ep for a year and Light I just
met.
EP: It
was as if everyone knew each other for a while. I’d met everyone
except Light from previous events like Virtuazz Sistas and Sound
the Alarm, it was good to see everybody again.
Shekinah:
I know, I mean it may sound clichéd but having Christ
makes the relationships seem longer and older.
The
Yuinon: What was it like creating the H.E.R. Project?
 Techniq:
It was, sooo blessed. The Spirit was flowing so thick in Maji’s
basement. The anointing on the other sisters rubbed off on me. I’m
the youngest, (a high school senior) so it was like they were feeding
me. I was absorbing everything. It was wonderful, hard work though.
My body was tired but my spirit was so full. No one stopped; we
did like 3 songs in 2 days when I was there.
Light: The experience was exciting,
new, fresh, because this hasn’t been done before, it was like
a pioneering type thing. There is no love among females in the secular.
The unity was there. If we didn’t like a hook, we could check
each other and know it wasn’t out of spite, you know what
I mean?”
EP:
It was a really charged atmosphere, just writing in the basement
and cranking it out.
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Sistah Dee:
(Pauses) Wow, it was what I needed. For real. I was feeling discouraged
in rhyming, the producers helped me with that. I didn’t even
want to come up (from Baltimore). It was a great encouragement for
my walk to see sistas on one accord. The timing was perfect. I wrote
II Chronicles in the studio, that night.
 Shekinah:
The experience was, let’s see: awesome, totally dope,
vibe was off the hook, the fellowship was ridiculous, I mean it
was hot. Encouragement, advice, we were on some fa real family stuff
with sistas. I’ve never been around a bunch of females where
the vibe was like that. I wouldn’t trade the experience for
the world.
Mahogany:
It was phenomenal! It was the most supportive, exciting and
fun environment that I’ve ever been in.
The
Yuinon: What are your expectations for the project?
EP:
I expect it to continue to touch lives and change people’s
views on hip-hop like this.
Sistah Dee:
I expect for brothers and sistas but especially females
to be blessed. I expect praise reports to come in from unexpected
places. From “small places and in small ways” you know
to the point where we’re not going to hear about it all til
we get to heaven. It’s a powerful statement, a powerful witness
that God would take the humility from this project by all involved
and glorify Himself.
Techniq:
Whoever hears it will be touched. Doors will be opened.
It has diverse styles and its uncharted waters as far as subject
matter. I took the CD to school, the cover alone draws
people. They were blown away, I was asking them what does the cover
mean and they were responding correctly. So much has already happened,
different attacks and stuff. One of my teachers was suspended. He’d
asked if there were any objections to playing the CD in class and
everyone said no, but this student who is wiccan snuck and told
the assistant principal who is atheist. We hadn’t even made
it pass the intro. The seniors are gonna protest. My school is gonna
be blessed, I kinda wish I wasn’t a senior right now. I pass
out Yuinon flyers, we got mad cats in the library peepin’
the website. I’m sorry for rambling, I can talk all night.
Mahogany:
To be honest, I don’t have any expectations; I just want what
God wants for it. In my heart I know it’s going to bless many.
Light:
Expect the word of God period. Expect it to supercede everything.
My motive is to reconcile people to Christ, not to me, not to the
Yuinon, not to hip-hop or holy hip-hop but to Christ. If it draws
people to the anointing of God, then yolks will be broken, we can’t
ask for anything more than that.
The
Yuinon: If you had one person in whose hands you could put this CD,
who would that be?
All:
Dag! Only one? Oooh let me see.
Light:
My heart is sayin’ Lil Kim, I had never thought about
that but I’d love for her to find out who she really is.
She may not openly admit it, but… yeah Kim.
EP: Oprah! Talk about maximum
exposure! (laughs)
Sistah Dee:
A pastor. One that has mad youth, and who is opposed or doesn’t
understand Christian hip-hop.
Mahogany: There
are so many people hands I would want to put it in. Ahhh, it’s
so many people! Just one person? (smile)
Techniq:
(Right away) 50 Cent. No, Mase. Yeah Mase. People say music cannot
manipulate how you think. I disagree; it feeds a lot of negative
energy into our youth.
Shekinah: That’s
hard to say, one person huh. I wanna say stuff like Oprah, but honestly,
a young girl, that’s lost, hurt, or dying. Confused, feeling
neglected or alone.
Let
the healing begin, continue!
-Filed by vessel
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