One of the most consistent artists in Christian Rap dropped an album last Friday. With Less is More, Mission isn’t messing around: The project demonstrates who he is, how God works in his life, and portrays his past.
“On this album, I went back to the basics. On all my albums, you’re going to get storytelling, I’m going to talk about where I came from, and all that. When we throw the Barely Finished [series] in there, that’s more me having fun, me and BrvndonP just getting together, shooting the breeze, making fun music, laugh music, and hype. But when you hear my albums, I get to tell my story. A Mission album by itself and a Barely Finished with Brandon is who I am.”
‘Less Is More’ Is A Mentality
Less is More‘s concept is twofold. First is the common meaning of the phrase. Mission explained that JAY-Z’s verse from Drake’s “Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2” encapsulated his mindset throughout his career as an artist: “The homie said, ‘Hov, it ain’t many of us’ I told ’em, ‘Less is more, n****, is plenty of us’.”
“When I heard that, I got really inspired because I was in a season when I felt like I didn’t have a lot of help, but that verse helped me use what I have instead of always wanting more and then overlooking what you already do have,” Mission said.
The second part is how Jesus used a little for a lot. The example Mission used is when Jesus fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two fish.
“I started to reflect on my own life and through my music career on how I always haven’t had the best production, and I’ve always haven’t had the best studio situation, but we made do with what we had. Now that we have better equipment and better producers, it’s a testament through us to start stewarding over the little we had, and then God was able to multiply and make it more.”
Earning The Mentality
“Dangerous” particularly demonstrate’s how Mission is accustom to a “less is more” mentality. The song takes listeners through a story from Mission’s childhood about his introduction to Christ. Through the story, he shows his family’s impoverished situation, how he started out working to make and earn more with what he had. Anyone can have a “less is more” mentality though; you don’t have to grow up poor.
Listen to “Dangerous” Below:
“If you grew up with a million dollars your whole life in the bank, you may understand that’s a lot of money. But for me, if I only grew up with a hundred dollars in the bank, I’m like ‘bro, I need that million’. You’re looking at that some million like ‘it’s just a million dollars’, but I’m looking at it as something that could change my life. So, I think it goes for both parties, understanding what you have and understand the significance of stewarding over what you have.”
Diamond
Mission has leveled up his life though, and he’s got a team. One of the most important members is his wife, Shawnay. Mission dedicates his song “Diamond” to her. The song is even more meaningful if you know they remarried six years ago.
“When we got remarried, it was us rededicating our lives to our covenant and to God. We couldn’t just say that, we had to do it and put action behind it. So we felt remarrying would be the correct thing to do. We had our mentors, our counselors, and everyone else in agreement with that.”
While it all depends on their situation, Mission said he believes more couples “should be open for that.” Overall though, in Mission’s eyes, only God can make that reunification happen because of how serious the wounds can be.
“We completely rededicated our lives to God first. We focused on that relationship, and with those individual relationships with God, that’s when God worked on my heart, worked on her heart, and worked on forgiveness at His level on how we should forgive. That’s when we were able to reconnect,” Mission explained. “When you get hurt by someone on the levels I got hurt and I hurt her, the only person who can heal that is God and Christ. If those wounds are healed, you ant to be careful to not reopen.”
Listen to “Diamond” Below:
Embracing Underappreciation
Mission ends Less is More on a solemn note with one of the best lines in the project: “Can’t nobody smell their flowers in the tomb.” As “Generally Speaking 3” portrays previously, Mission is talking about how no one can fully see the impact they made and the appreciation they have garnered since it all shows when they are dead. There’s also the literal sense of the phrase, making the line a nice double entendre. Mission is specifically saying this line as a reassurance for those not in the limelight. In a way, this includes himself.
Read This ReTweet by Mission Below:
So many people read this and kept scrolling. They know what’s up tho ???? https://t.co/h5JHSQ0DNK
— Missionismusic (@missionismusic) July 14, 2021
Mission and his fans have had a conversation like the one above for some time now. Like him, there are many artists, in CHH and outside, who have made impacts but have not had the success or appreciation they deserve.
“Let it fuel you, but don’t let it overtake you… I’ve had those same feelings, but that doesn’t stop me from doing what I believe God has called me to do. I’ll say you got to keep working. Look at Chris Paul. He has just lost a finals again. For 16 years, he doesn’t get what his ultimate goal would be, but he showed up every year,” the rapper said. “You may never get that recognition, but then that’s when you got to check your heart and ask what you really doing this for.”
Legacy
Less is More is an artwork about Mission’s life and God’s work on and through him. In the end, that’s how he wants to be memorialized as, someone being unashamedly himself.
“This is not a cliche. This is what I feel. I want people to leave and say ‘Mission was Mission’. He cared about God’s people. He had integrity, had good character, and made good music. I was telling one of my friends this, I said ‘every time I’m on a track, I approach it the way Mission would’.”
Mission does exactly that with Less is More. There’s much more to the project than described above, so go stream the project, learn about the veteran, and support him for all his accomplishments and grind.
“Eight albums in and still feeling somewhat unappreciated and underrated, but there’s no quit, no stop. I made that decision since day one.”