Heroes for Sale reverberates with bold messages and infectious beats, yet in an unusual move, the album opens with the classic hymn
I Will Rise and Go to Jesus. "I loved it so much that I decided to sample it and use it to open up the album," Mineo says. "
So my album opens with a traditional hymn, which is very rare for a hip hop album, but I think that opening hymn embodies everything that I wanted to say on this project: ‘I will rise and come to Jesus, I'm broken, sick, wounded. All I need is grace.' Those are the kinds of lyrics you'll hear on that opening hymn and I think it's a perfect set-up for the rest of the album." The ethereal sounds of the hymn give way to
Superhuman. "Anytime someone gets a microphone we exalt the person speaking and often times we look at them as some kind of super human," Mineo says. "
We look at pastors that way. We look at basketball players that way, anyone who has a platform. So on the first song of the album I reveal a whole bunch of my struggles. I say, ‘Hey, listen, though I have a microphone and though I might be exalted in some platforms, I'm not a super human. I'm just a fallen, broken person who needs grace.' We put on these masks and I really wanted to tear some of those down and create some vulnerability on this project. That's a lot of what that song is about, just saying I'm not that great, but my God is. The Saints is a party anthem that samples the old classic
When the Saints Go Marching In. I was backstage with Trip Lee and KB and I was working on my album and I said, ‘Hey I want you guys to get on this song,' Mineo recalls of enlisting his two pals for the horn-laced production.
The song is all about what the world should look like when the saints are there. The first single,
AYO, is a potent number that showcases Mineo's in-your-face skills. "
It's an anthem, a fun party song. It has a big memorable chorus," he says. "
It's really just a call to say, AYO! We're enjoying our lives. We're enjoying our freedoms.' We're inviting people to come and see what this is all about. This life in Christ! It's a feel good song that a lot of people can enjoy and it's an open invitation for people to check us out." - reachrecords
CD Details
- Release Date: April 16, 2013
- Record Label: Reach Records
- UPC: 829569826926
- Number of Discs: 1
Listen Before You Buy
