Random Thoughts 3 - Intellectual

³ Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You[d] must be born again.’

To be “born again” can be done by repenting from your sins, believing in Jesus Christ, and confess his His name.

Matt Damon starred in the critically acclaimed action film series, The Bourne Trilogy. In the latest movie, Jason Bourne supposedly dies but many fans sense a sequel movie coming out showing that he is indeed alive.

Shai Linne expresses to be truly born again you have to not be a sequel to your old life, but turn from your old ways and pursue Christ with your life.

Shai Linne feels that Christian Hip-Hop has become preoccupied with competition instead of being focused on theology and worship; there has been a loss of “brotherly love”. Since Philadelphia has been the epicenter of some of the most theologically minded hip-hop with artists like The Cross Movement and Shai Linne himself and the city’s name means “city of brotherly love”, there are multiple levels on which it feels like CHH has forgotten or abandoned Philly.

This has to do with early Christian Hip Hop (CHH) rappers, Ambassador and Phanatik, both part of The Cross Movement. Shai was heavily influenced by these artists, especially evident in his early albums, “The Solus Christus Project” and “The Atonement.”

John 1:12 states: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name”

This is also a reference to Bad Boy artists 112.

Another reference to The Notorious B.I.G., a.k.a. Biggie. Possibly a reference to Shyne as well, another Bad Boy affiliate and who sort of sounded like Biggie.

Bill Laimbeer was part of the Bad Boy Pistons in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. They were notorious for cheap shots and dirty playing.
ESPN made a 30-for-30 documentary on how they won back to back NBA championships (1989 & 1990), ended the Lakers and Celtics dynasties of the 80’s, brought a rough swagger from the inner city to the court, and forced a young Michael Jordan to become a tougher player.
Notable players on the Bad Boys included Isaiah Thomas, Dennis Rodman (referenced with “rod, man”), Vinnie “The Microwave” Johnson, and Joe Dumars.

Shai is referencing his reckless behavior before the grace of God saved him, even though in his sin he deserves the “rod” of God’s fiery wrath.

Shai ties it up nicely with an interpolation from Biggie’s “Respect”.

I made it out, I’m bringing mad joy
The doctor looked and said, “He’s going to be a bad boy”

The Tonic was another original Cross Movement rapper.

Shai promotes Jesus' teaching in Matthew 16:19-20, when He says,

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

In this verse, there is a play on words directly from Jesus Himself. In the Greek text (the original language of the New Testament), the word translated “Peter” is petros and the word translated “rock” is petra. The word petros also means rock, and so Jesus uses a play on words with the name of His disciple and a metaphorical foundation for the church.

Now, there are a few different ways this verse is interpreted, and much controversy has erupted in Catholic and Protestant circles. Catholics interpret this verse as the inauguration of the papacy, and believe that here Jesus was appointed Peter as the first Pope.

However, it seems quite doubtful that this verse actually means what Roman Catholics have traditionally claimed it means; this interpretation seems to be a forced eisegesis of a single verse in order to back the tradition and authority of the Catholic Church.

Instead of following the Roman Catholic method of interpretation, one can rightly assert that Peter was the foundation of the Church without embracing
the Catholic notion of Papal succession. As Ephesians 2:20 states, the Church is “built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the corner stone.” This seems to fit in line with other verses, such as 1 Corinthians 3:10-11 and Colossians 1:18. The reason Peter is mentioned in the verse in Matthew is due to the conversation prior, in which he confesses Jesus as the Christ. Though ultimately, Jesus Christ is the Rock of the Church, Peter is one who helped lay the foundation by the future proclamation of the Gospel, as recorded in the book of Acts.

Regeneration and being born again are essentially synonymous. The first theological idea is routed in Titus 3:5, “he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.”

A reference to the “The Notorious B.I.G.”.

Shai says in an interview to DJ Wade-O, where he talks about the shift in Christian Hip Hop (CHH). He says that Christians talk less about God, while secular artists talk more about their false notions of God. His goal in this song (as seen about 3:00 into the interview) is to stand in the gap between the CHH and secular trends – and deliver Christ-centered music. This is why he titles the album, “Still Jesus.” Ever since “The Solus Christus Project,” it’s been about Christ, and over 12 years later, the message is “still Jesus.”

Full interview can be seen here:

This is an allusion to 1 Corinthians 11:26, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” Shai intends to proclaim the death of Christ just as the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper (or Communion) does the same.

Cruz Cordero, also a member of the Cross Movement.

Precise, and Corey Red (mentioned below), dropped the classic Resistance Iz Futile album.

Shai expounded on this shift in the following video (3:07-13:22):

Continuing with the Bad Boys theme, Shai gives reference to Sean “Puffy” Combs and a rapper on his label (Bad Boy Records) Mace.

This is possibly an allusion to the extremely influential rapper Tupac Shakur.

The key passage that the doctrine of new birth comes from is John 3, though there are others. Jesus says in John 3:3, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Many translations include a footnote to this verse which indicates it could also be rendered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born from above he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Shai is speaking of his life “Before Christ” – before his spiritual rebirth.

referring to Jackie Hill Perry

reference to Bad Boy records artist Faith Evans

Shai is talking about how he went from living in sin to following Christ. The “gold city” he’s talking about is heaven.

Hebrews 3:1 says:

Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus.

shai linne wants people of this generation who are focused on themselves (as they take “selfies”) to focus on God. “Theocentric” just means “having God as a central focus”.

Shai refers to his friend and fellow Christian Hip Hop artist Trip Lee.

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This is the first portion of the song where he begins to mention the Detroit Pistons Bad Boys. The way he says, “…time is” sounds like he’s saying “Thomas”, which he follows up by saying,“But I ain’t read Isaiah.” Giving a nod to the leader of the Bad Boy Pistons – Isiah Thomas.

This is a reference to the Bible verse Luke 7:47 in which Jesus says,

I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.

Many Christian Hip Hop (CHH) wanted to make a “crossover” to appeal to the audience of secular hip hop, and Shai is critiquing them of not bringing the cross (of Christ) with them in their appeal to reach the lost.

It appears that Shai is also directly calling out Lecrae with his reference to a song off Lecrae’s first album, “Crossover”*.

This is a play on how Shai starts “Random Thoughts” on his debut album, “The Solus Christus Project.”
This is “Random Thoughts 3” because he has an song, “More Random Thoughts” that was never released on an album, but can be found below:

A classic NYC Christian hip-hop compilation that dropped in 1999, I think. Helped launched the careers of Corey Red & Precise.

Yet another Detroit Pistons reference, this time Joe Dumars gets the shout out.

Mirrors the ending of “Random Thoughts:”

So welcome to The Solus Christus Project
Son, we just gettin' started and we got a lot left!

This line is somewhat ironic since, according to Rapzilla.com, Shai is considered the 7th best Christian rapper of all time.

Top 20 Christian Rappers of All Time — Rapzilla

To countdown the Top 20 Christian Rappers of All Time, Rapzilla recuited an expert panel. Panelists consisted of Rapzilla owner and music industry veteran Chad Horton, longtime Rapzilla contributors Steve Patton and Tyler Burns, and three Christian hip-hop label executives, Tim Trudeau, Josh Niemyjski and Joshua Wann.

Nevertheless, Shai Linne does not rap with this purpose in mind, but gives glory to God in all his bars.

there are supposed to be 13 bad boy records references in this verse, and 9 detroit piston’s references for a total of 22. Here is a possible reference to Black Rob’s “Whoa” single

This is an allusion to biblical passages like Ephesians 5:25 and Revelation 19:7-8. Shai, as a Christian, is part of the church who is the Bride of Christ.

This phrase is a reference to the reformed doctrine of “Total Depravity,” which is the first point in the acronym TULIP.

This doctrine states that every aspect of human existence has been radically affected by sin. Left to ourselves in this sinful state, human beings are both unable and unwilling to come back to God and be saved. Thus, a radical transformation of heart by the Holy Spirit–i.e. regeneration, new birth–is necessary for redemption to occur.

A reference to Enock, a former member of the Cross Movement as well as to the Biblical figure Enoch, a man who is mentioned in the genealogies in Genesis 5:22-24 as a man who “walked with God” before God “took” him. Hebrews 11:5 clarifies that this was because God was pleased with Enoch’s righteousness and faith such that God took him up to heaven long before he died of natural causes. (Others in his lineage lived to be more than 900 yeas old, but God took Enoch when he was 365.)

This is in reference to shai linne’s Patreon supporters. As shai wrote on his Patreon page:

That’s an allusion to the 7,000 in Elijah’s day who didn’t bow the knee to Baal (Rom. 11:4). I don’t know how many people will be interested in this, but my name for you is “The 7,000”. I see you as the remnant, those who haven’t bowed the knee to the idols of fame, mainstream success and even the Christian music industry’s “superstars”. If you’re a committed supporter of my music, you clearly have an ear for what’s not necessarily popular, but faithful to God’s truth. I ask you to read 3 John 5-8 and prayerfully consider if you’d like to join me in this endeavor as a “fellow worker for the truth”.

Rick Mahorn was one of the Bad Boys' fiercest enforcers.

Shai cleverly drops some Hip Hop names in this verse. Here, he alludes to Craig Mack’s “Flava In Ya Ear.”

Reference to rapper FLAME and producer J,R, (Courtney Orlando) who are from St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.

On July 20th, Shai Linne tweeted a thread clarifying why he’s not “dissing” or “beefing” with Reach Records. He points to these lines and discusses the confusion caused and the issue of being silent in the face of error, among other things.

This is a hot topic in the Christian Hip Hop genre. Many rappers have responded to this topic including Ruslan with his track “Random Thoughts 4” addressing his former relationship with Shai Linne.

Once upon a time, I started out as a fan
Your lyrical theology made you sound like the man
Stories that you told really showed me your depth
Penelope Judd inspired me, but you lost your step

Before God came to Earth in human flesh through the Person of Jesus Christ, those who looked forward to a Messiah in the Old Testament can be said to have been saved “on credit”. The payment was yet to be paid. After Jesus Christ paid the penalty of sin in full, those who look back to His payment can be said to be saved “on debit”.

This is a reference to R-Swift’s 2007 album, Revolutionary Theme Muzik, which was a Christian Hip Hop (CHH) anthem in the CHH “Golden Age” (Mid-1990s to mid-2000s).

Shai and fellow Lamp Mode artist Stephen the Levite appeared as guests on the track “Dear Holy Hip Hop.”