1 Day Until Kevin Max’s SERVE SOMEBODY: Looking Back At “JESUS FREAK”

Kevin Max’s newest project, SERVE SOMEBODY, will officially be released on July 9th. This is the eighth in a series of MEANDERS MUSIC posts counting down to the release. Prior posts: The Hard Way – Existence – Creed – Playing Games With The Shadow – Kings & Queens – Red Letters – Infinite – Believer

JESUS FREAK, released in 1995, is the one album that needs no introduction. With a classic, blazing, grunge-infused rap-rock title track, DC Talk changed the game in the Christian Recording Industry. The album marks a distinct transition from music that contemporary Christian music youth listeners were hesitant to share with their secular-music-loving friends (for fear of being mocked) to a higher standard of authentically rocking music that many, including those well outside of the typical youth group demographic, were more than happy to embrace and share with enthusiasm. From the first uniquely characteristic “HUH, HUH, HUHOh!!” [struggling with how to represent that phonetically] vocal hook from Kevin Max, the song still rips through the ears and soul of the listener in a way that makes men now nearing their 40’s explode with impromptu, passionate, in-the-car rap performances for the benefit of their wives and kids only to settle down for a moment later to sing with utter sincerity and focus, “people say I’m strange, but, they make me the stranger…” JESUS FREAK, the album and the song, was a musical phenomenon that may never be replicated this side of eternity. It was the miraculous mix of Toby Mac’s confidence-inspiring raps, the frosty-passionate layering of Michael Tait’s vocals, and the iconic hook of the “peculiar display,” Kevin Max, that made it the standard-bearer of a song that it still is.

With the JESUS FREAK cruise soon departing and the release of SERVE SOMEBODY just one day off, I can’t think of a better song to wind down this Kevin Max retrospective countdown. SERVE SOMEBODY is a collection of expertly-interpreted songs that is sure to garner a name for itself, on it’s own terms, amidst the growing DC Talk family tree of releases from Toby Mac, Michael Tait, and Kevin Max. While circumstances won’t allow this fan to be on the JESUS FREAK CRUISE departing just days from now, I’ll be more than content jamming to SERVE SOMEBODY on repeat and on dry land.

“Jesus Freak” Live from Welcome To The Freak Show