New Portrait (Commentary)

Track 10, "New Portrait," uh, continues this somber and, uh, sort of

Uh, more serious presence-feeling music. Um, and, uh, staying within

As we sort of go through the journey. Remember, this is like a day

You feel me? Um, this is sort of the thun— the— if you live in Tampa

Uh, around afternoon, around the same time, it rains, and it rains

For like an hour, and then that's pretty much it, the sun comes back

Out. Uh, and this is that rain coming down. Um, "New Portrait" is

Called that because it's a remake of the Truth song "Portrait" that

Was on his album The Faith years ago. Uh, originally, Truth was

Supposed to be on this song, but through circumstances, we weren't

Able to get his verse in time. Dun, dun, dun, I'm calling you out

Truth. Uh, hopefully, we'll be able to do a sort of a remix, and

Then he'll, um, be able to be a part of that one. Uh, but the song

Deals with, uh, this concept of who Jesus is. When you close your

Eyes and you think, "What does Jesus look like?" Uh, is that image

Even remotely close to what the reality is? Uh, we have no images

Of Jesus, yet we have hundreds of, probably millions of pictures

Of Jesus. Um, so there's a— there's a— there's a consequence to that

Because I don't think it's inherently wrong to paint, uh, or have

An image of Christ. Uh, but you gotta realize, though, that that

Lands on people differently. Um, I spent some time in Saint Pete

Meeting with some black nationalists, uh, who were very critical of

Me saying I was a Christian. Um, thought that I was a part of an

Oppression movement. And it would be dishonest to say, uh, that a

Large part, especially American Christianity, um, includes these

Movements of people that use the cross, um, and the person, uh

And the work of Jesus as a tool of oppression, you know what I'm

Saying? To extend some political or societal agenda. Uh, and that may

Not be a big deal for some, but it is a massive deal for those who

Are on the end of that oppression. And, um, so I did this song to

Help bring clarity and defense to the

True Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible