In today’s age, technology has flooded our lives with content. Caught in the mire are modern musicians who champion an art form that’s more widely distributed than any other throughout human history. And we, more often than not, overlook the music created by unfamiliar faces because it’s challenging. We’d rather have an easy listen, a known quantity to skim through while we think about something else.
Hearing is easy, but listening is difficult. Welcome to “Why We Like It”, where we rebuke the trends in favor of thoughtful analysis and underknown sounds.
“40oz of Holy Water” Ft. Backwud Marc — Sir Calloway
Listen On:
How We Found It
“40oz of Holy Water” is a spiritual cleansing from the mouth of Atlanta emcee Sir Calloway to our SubmitHub inbox. Produced by frequent collaborator Spittzwell and featuring a fiery verse from label-mate Backwud Marc, the track’s message of spiritual fortification feels empowered by the artists’ ability to tap into their spiritual motivations.
Why We Like It
There’s a three pronged system to wellness: mind, body and soul. Stop short of sharpening the first and you’ll lack the discipline to maintain the second. The third, however, requires its own special attention and determines the foundation of wellness from which we can build. “40oz of Holy Water” is Sir Calloway’s hymnal of spiritual rejuvenation — the mechanism by which he maintains agency over mind and body in overcoming the disease of addiction.
There’s a gritty sense of fire and brimstone amid the old school flow and bounce of Sir Calloway’s verses. The hums of a choir fill the production, and his bars hang with the potency of an impassioned preacher witnessing first hand to the power of God. He raps: “Closet full of fly threads & I still feel naked / praying and reading scriptures yet I still feel wretched.” His religious imagery is as smart as it is stark — the significance of wretchedness goes beyond despair or depression. The original meaning of the word wretch was to be a person so ungodly that even God would cast them aside. To feel as far from God as possible while actively searching for the presence in prayer and scripture is to truly feel another level of lost.
I was a lost soul, searching for self at a crossroad / seeking directions but wasn’t heeding them lessons / cold sweats in my sleep, I swear I heard hell screaming / then awakened to church bells ringing” – Sir Calloway, “40oz of Holy Water”
Seeking help at a crossroad could mean at a divergent path in life, but I’m more keen to believe Sir Calloway is keeping with the clever imagery of his hell-fire sermon of recovery. Crossroads have long had a significant place in North American mythology as the meeting places of lost souls and demons looking to take advantage of a well-leveraged deal. From the lessons he feels he’s painfully missed and the cold sweats of withdrawal, the demon would propose the temporary solution to the pain, but at great cost. As his mind falters and his body punishes him, it’s Calloway’s fortitude of spirit that sees him through temptation and despair at his lowest point.
From Sir Calloway
Peer pressure, surroundings, trends, trauma, refusal to actually FEEL and DEAL with those uncomfortable feelings or dwell on those disturbing thoughts.. Escaping through substance abuse provides the illusion that everything is alright and that there are no problems, that if we numb ourselves then we don’t have to feel & deal with them. I said illusion because, well.. what goes up must come down and after the high is gone, the problems or emotions we’ve been evading through drug use will be down there waiting for us.” – Sir Calloway for CentralSauce
More From Sir Calloway
You can find the artist at their socials listed below. Give them a follow to keep up with new releases.
Sir Calloway: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter
Spittzwell: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter
Backwud Marc: Instagram, Twitter
More to Discover
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