A few years ago, as I was driving home from Bible study, the Lord gave me a rap song. I kept repeating the lyrics so as to not forget. I got home and ran to write out the lyrics. The following morning I got up and shared with Mike about the rap song; he laughed in disbelief and continued with his workout on the treadmill.
I shared the song with several close friends and family members, and for the most part the responses were positive. My godson Marcus suggested that I submit the lyrics to a popular Christian Hip Hop group. The task of reaching this group was nearly impossible, and for months I left messages with Gotee Records, but to no avail. I prayed about it often, but but I still got no response.
I was checking my LinkedIn account, and out of the blue was the face and name of the lead singer. I immediately contacted him, and to my amazement he quickly responded with instructions as to how to get the information to him through We Transfer & Dropbox. He was kind and humble, but of course I had no clue about what he was talking about. I followed up and explained that I only had the lyrics.
At that point the few songs that I had written were not copyrighted, so I quickly did a poor man’s copyright. The poor man’s copyright is done by mailing the songs to yourself with a postmark date from the U.S.Postal service. This copy must always remain sealed because if the lyrics becomes a legal matter or a copyright infringement the poor man’s copyright will hold up in court. When the poor man’s copyright arrived a few days later, addressed to me, Mike opened it, so I had to do it all over again.
After Mike opened the poor man’s copyright, I did not feel comfortable and determined that I needed to take the proper measures and do a government issued copyright. I contacted several copyright services online, but did not want to pay $150. Again, I prayed and was lead to the government website for copyright. The charge was $33. It took over five hours of perseverance and prayer before I could breathe a sigh of relief. After I sent the information electronically, I felt comfortable to forward two of the songs to famous Hip Hop group.
Months later I received a warning dream from the Lord. Yes, God talks to me, and guess what? I listen. This was the dream:
I was in my backyard patio with one of my sisters when Mike came in with two white envelopes from Federal Express, with blue writing. Mike handed them to me, but I told him that I would open them in private. I stepped inside and when I opened the first envelope, it was one of my songs. As I took a closer look at the song I saw that some of the words in my original lyrics were whited out, and other words added. I opened the second envelope, and saw the same thing, with some words whited out and new words added in. This was a clear message that I could no longer have the Christian Hip Hop group continue with my creation. I contacted the lead singer and shared the dream, telling him that because of the warning dream I had to pull the project. The leader of the group was gracious and thanked me.
I am not a starving songwriter, so I’m just waiting to hear from the Lord on how to promote my new venture.
This song is about a good girl who is serving the Lord, and being pursued by a worldly bad boy, as follows:
The Odd One
She doesn’t like the limelight doesn’t like the flair
She sings a cappella while waving her hand in the air
She is the odd one, the God one
The odd one, the God one
She is despised by the others because they gave it up
She operates in love not on any luck
She moves to the soft sound of the beat inside her head
Don’t think that you can get into your bed
She is sold out
She is the Odd one the God one
The odd one the God one
She has a shield about her
She knows her way around
But when she passes me all my heart does is pound
She is the odd one, the God one
The odd one, the God one
She combs her hair but once, all I do is stare
She never bothers to look in the mirror
Her beauty well defined
She calls me by a name that is not even mine
Doesn’t matter to me to hear her voice divine
She is the odd one the God one
The odd one the God one
Her life in one direction
My heart all up in her affection
She is the odd one the God one
The odd one the God one
© Lynda Ciriza
