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Emmanuel Jal Week: Day 3 "Many Rivers to Cross"


05/06/2008
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(antiMusic) This week we have a Day in Rock first as a hip-hop artist gets the spotlight. But Emmanuel Jal is no normal hip-hopper, as you'll soon discover when he tells us the stories behind the songs of his new album "Warchild". Emmanuel uses his music to touch upon on real subjects from his incredible journey in life from being a child soldier in Africa to the recording studio. "Warchild" hits stores next week, but this week will give us a preview of what we can expect from the album. We'll now turn it over to him for today's song:

Many Rivers to Cross: I was in the studio, and Roachie was having a very difficult time. He had lost his house in the Bahamas during a hurricane, and had also lost his son, as he had been arrested and put in jail. He felt helpless and didn't know what to do. For myself things were not any easier, my career was not moving, my dad was in hospital, and I had to somehow find the money to send back home to Kenya, not only to support my brother and sister, but also for my father's hospital bills. I had no place to live in London, as I was kicked out of where I was living by a relative. They were the only ones supporting me, so I was left with nothing, and no one. Times were very hard for me and the people around me. This Jimmy Cliff song was encouraging to all of us at this point, so I decided to write my own lyrics to it, as did Roachie and Ayak.

As you can see this isn't your everyday hip-hop. Even if you don't like rap you can agree that he has something far more important to say than his contemporaries. You can learn more about Emmanuel's incredible story, preview some tracks from Warchild, find out where to see him live and more at his - Myspace page.

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