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MUSIC: GROUP 1 CREW GIVING THEIR ALL TO ENCOURAGE TEEN DREAMS

JOE MONTAGUE speaks with hip trio, Group 1 Crew…

The beautiful vocals of Blanca Reyes from the US-based Group 1 Crew immediately capture your attention as she sings Love Is A Beautiful Thing. Sung with feeling, the song mirrors the testimony of the members of Group 1 Crew whose hip music has been breaking down barriers as they minister to youth inside and outside the church.

I HAVE A DREAM: Group 1 Crew “preach purpose” in US schools.

 

“Paul always stresses to do your craft with excellence, and to be ready to give an account for everything that you do know. God will give you the initial talent but He can’t make you a better rapper or a better dancer. You have to go practice and that practice will get you before the King or, in this case, will help you to be good enough so you can be in the schools.”

Group 1 Crew has been compared to Out of Eden and Mary, Mary whose music was good but not at the same level as Group 1 Crew. The two girl groups lacked the showmanship possessed by Reyes and the two males in the band – Manwell Reyes (no relation to Blanca) and Pablo Villatoro. These cats have the unique ability to combine melody with beats resulting in layered and textured music.

The trio – who have just released their debut, self-titled album – have become known for the many choreographed dance moves they’ve worked into their stage performances, something that has captured the imagination of the students they speak to and perform for in public middle schools and high schools across America.

“The only Christian that I know of that includes movement is tobyMac and I think it is phenomenal,” says Manwell. “I am actually producing tracks for that (more dance moves) now.”

Group 1 Crew is on a mission to be the best they can possibly be; not, they say, for ego satisfaction but because they want to attract young people to their music so they have a chance to share the message of Christ.

“I praise God for our look, style and the fact we can genuinely sing and rap,” says Manwell. “That is why Paul always stresses to do your craft with excellence, and to be ready to give an account for everything that you do know. God will give you the initial talent but He can’t make you a better rapper or a better dancer. You have to go 
practice and that practice will get you before the King or, in this case, will help you to be good enough so you can be in the schools. 

“The power of God in you is going to keep these people interested and change their lives. The talent is just so they will stop, listen and give us a chance.”

He adds that when they perform to students, they bring the message ‘I have a dream’.

“Don’t let any of these silly little things stop you from achieving your dream,” he explains of their take on words made famous by Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. “We may not be allowed to preach God (in the schools) but we can preach purpose and through purpose you can find God, you feel me.”

When Blanca sings words like – “Everybody’s gotta’ song to sing; Won’t you come now and sing with me; It doesn’t really matter where you’re from or what you’ve done” – they are more than mere lyrics. These three have stories to tell that bring an authenticity to them. These are the stories of Pablo, who grew up as a pastor’s kid and rebelled; of Manwell who once packed a gun; and, of Reyes who suffered abuse from her stepfather.

“Each of our ministries is unique because of our backgrounds,” says Villatoro.

Blanca talks about her commitment to Christ, which eventually influenced her mother to take the same step.

“Because of how God has been working in my life and in our ministry, I see a big change in my mother. It’s an area where God is still working, but it has definitely been improving. It’s amazing to see God’s hand working in your life and transforming the lives of those you love, even when you feel the chance of that ever happening is impossible. I think what has impacted my mom the most is not what I say to her, but the fruits of my labor. She sees the blessings of what I’ve been standing for this whole time.”

It would be very easy for Manwell, meanwhile, to dwell on his former life of crime, and the fact he was thrown out of three schools, however he takes care to steer away from the subject.

“I try not to draw too much (on) my past. I never want to earn someone’s respect because of all the negative things that I did in the past. I would much rather earn their respect with being honest about who I am, and where I am now. I don’t want to (live by) some kind of stripe system and say, ‘Hey you should listen to me because I used to carry a gun, or I used to do this, and used to that.’ I can do that when people question me one if they followed along the same path as me.

“Real knows real, and real can recognise real. They will know exactly where I come from when we speak face-to-face. They will know that I am not faking a funk or whatever. I do feel it holds a lot of credibility, and I can speak confidently to that crowd.”

“Real knows real, and real can recognise real. They will know exactly where I come from when we speak face-to-face. They will know that I am not faking a funk or whatever. I do feel it holds a lot of credibility, and I can speak confidently to that crowd. I don’t really lean on it, because I don’t want to be respected for all those things that I once did.”

Along the way, Manwell’s faith has been challenged – such as when he was sharing his faith with a man he encountered on the street.

“I was in Orlando witnessing to this cat and I was like, ‘Yo man, Jesus loves you whatever’. The dude swung and just hit me. He knocked me in the face. The first thing that I did was to look at him and say, you know what Jesus loves you bro’ and I kept screaming it while he was walking down the street until I didn’t see him anymore.”

Urban music has often come under heavy criticism from those in the mainstream because it often focuses on negative and, sometimes turbulent, themes. Asked about the impact of beats that combine a more positive approach to life, Manwell responds: “I think it is really up to the listener. I think that our job is to make the 
quality of the music just as good as anything that they have heard, so that at least it has a fair shot. I do not think that it is so dependent on our content and music, as it is on where that person is in his or her own life.”

Manwell says he believes that Group 1 Crew’s music offers “a great alternative to any person who digs this genre of music”.

“The only thing that we can do is create an amazing presentation. A lot of the time people are disqualified for lack of production and creativity. We have a solid project and that cannot be denied. This is a great record. I think that it can definitely be used as an alternative if someone wants to go that route.”

www.group1crew.com

 

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