Meaning of Wizdome

Comments: 0

A lot of people have been asking me why the title of my new album is “Wizdome”. Well, let me take a moment to explain…

As a rapper and musician, I’m continually refining my CREATIVE PROCESS. I’m constantly thinking about how I can sharpen my craft and attain a higher level of EXCELLENCE. Whether it’s listening to other rappers, reading books about rap and hip hop, experimenting with new styles, or collaborating with other artists, I’m always looking for ways to get better.

At the core of my music is a desire to UPLIFT, EDUCATE, and INSPIRE. I measure my success by analyzing the impact my music has on the HEART and SOUL of the listener. I use my experiences and observations of the world to write lyrics that explore ELEVATED SOCIAL THEMES, such as peace, unity, and social justice.

One of the things that makes my album ‘Wizdome’ so special, was it was created at a time when I was beginning to dive deeper into my SPIRITUALITY. I was born into a family that practiced the Baha’i Faith, but I didn’t strongly embrace the religion and it’s teachings until later in life.

The Baha’i Faith, founded by Baha’u’llah, has so many BEAUTIFUL TEACHINGS, such as the oneness of humanity, the oneness of religion, and the oneness of God. Baha’u’llah taught about man’s HIGHER and LOWER NATURE, our loving relationship with our Creator, and so many important SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLES, like devotion, love, and detachment.

To deepen my UNDERSTANDING of these beautiful teachings, I began to delve into the Baha’i Writings anytime I was creating a song or writing lyrics. And one of the beauties of doing so was the AMAZING PALETTE of words, phrases, and concepts I had to draw from as an artist. The Baha’i Writings are loaded with such a rich SPIRITUAL VOCABULARY that leaves any language artist in awe. Every track on the Wizdome album was strongly influenced by various quotes and passages from the Baha’i SACRED TEXTS, as I sometimes even placed exact phrases into my rhymes and fit them into the rhythm of the beat.

In the beginning stages of writing the songs for the album, there was a passage that really struck me. It was written by Baha’u’llah, the prophet founder of the Baha’i Faith. I loved it so much I decided to recite it on the first track of the album:

“The Sun of Truth is the Word of God upon which dependeth the education of those who are endowed with the power of understanding and of utterance. It is the true spirit and the heavenly water, through whose aid and gracious providence all things have been and will be quickened. Its appearance in every mirror is conditioned by the colour of that mirror. For instance, when its light is cast upon the mirrors of the hearts of the wise, it bringeth forth wisdom. In like manner when it manifesteth itself in the mirrors of the hearts of craftsmen, it unfoldeth new and unique arts, and when reflected in the hearts of those that apprehend the truth it revealeth wondrous tokens of true knowledge and discloseth the verities of God’s utterance.”

I felt that this quote really SUMMED UP my creative process as a rap artist. The Word of God was the LIGHT that reflected on my soul, and my aim was to bounce back wisdom and knowledge through the craft of rap and song. It just tied everything together so beautifully. This quote resonated with me so much that it was even the INSPIRATION for the album artwork and t-shirt design, which include symbolic references to God (the sun), Baha’u’llah (nine pointed star), a book (the Word of God), a microphone (rap/spoken word), and a pencil (the written word).

As far as the spelling of Wizdome goes, one thing I really admire about rap and hip hop culture is it’s beautiful EXPRESSION of creativity and style. Renowned rapper KRS-One writes of Hip Hop, “to be hip means to have knowledge of…it is a form of intelligence. Hop is a form of movement. And together [Hip Hop] means moving or jumping intelligence, even KNOWLEDGABLE MOVEMENT.”

So I decided to express some creativity with the word “wisdom” and play with it. “Wiz” refers to wizardry, or the magic-like POWER of rap as a language art to captivate a listener or audience. “Dome,” a slang term for your head or mind, alludes to the intellectual or CONSCIOUS nature of most of my content. And the whole word “Wizdome” indicates that this album will be dropping some knowledge with style.

If you haven’t had a chance to listen to the full Wizdome album, you can check it out by clicking here. Hope you find the music uplifting, inspiring, educational, and most of all, full of that WIZDOME!!

So what are your sources of wisdom? How do you share wisdom with others? Let me know by sharing a comment below!

Be Wize!

-Colby

There are no comments yet, add one below.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *