John Cook Picks Up “Heaven’s Pen” On Debut Album

Brooklyn-grown Rapper Stays Positive On New Disc

Brooklyn, NY – In a time when the lyrics and messages of hip-hop and rap music are being questioned, John Cook has presented an answer with his first solo project “HEAVEN’S PEN.”  The debut album, set for release on May 15 by Christian Cultural Center Music Group (CCCMG), sets itself apart from music today through its positive vision, a vision Cook has created with inspirational verses dropped over head-bopping beats.

“John Cook is an extraordinary entertainer,” says CCCMG President, Carol Anglin.  “He is clear about his mission, audience, and purpose.  ‘Heaven’s Pen’ is a collection of music filled with wisdom that takes you through problems we all face and replaces them with the answer that is able to bring us through any situation.”

“HEAVEN’S PEN” takes listeners on a journey that starts with the first single offering us assurance that no matter what we do it “Don’t Matter” – we will always be loved.  Cook then transitions his message of forgiveness and encompassing love to one of self-love, dedicated to the young women listening in, telling those in destructive relationships to “Please Don’t Cry”: What you think you need the pimp type, how about the good life?/A place where you can feel alive…He don’t really understand what he’s putting you through, he’s not really a man…Please don’t cry/He don’t go to church with you/That’s one thing that I would do/I would open up my heart to you. http://www.myspace.com/freshspirit

Cook is not only unique as a Christian rapper out of Brooklyn, but he also stands out through his stories told as reflections of his own struggles growing up on the streets of Flatbush in Brooklyn.  He faced a lot as a young boy, and at the age of 4 Cook witnessed his father commit suicide.  Soon after when he was just 7 he had to deal with his mother falling ill with Sarcoidosis, a potentially fatal sickness.  The eventual healing of his mother and the strength he found at such a young age to cope with all he was forced to encounter is a testimony to faith, and is evident on every track on “HEAVEN’S PEN.”

“The song ‘Dreamin’ on my album is about treating the bad in our lives as something good…I wrote it when I was just 13 years old,” says Cook.  “The frame of mind I rap about in that song is one that has kept me going throughout all the hardships I’ve had in my life, keeping me focused on my music and my dreams.  This album has been a long time coming, and every single song came straight from my heart.”

About CCCMG:
Created in 2003 out of a need to organize the musically talented members of the Christian Cultural Center (CCC), New York City’s largest church with more than 27,000 members, the CCCMG has signed a variety of artists and is unique in the Christian music industry in its affiliation to a church.  Capturing the heart of hip-hop roots as having a message of social consciousness, with the artists’ rooting their sounds in the Christ-centered teaching they have enjoyed at CCC, their music applies faith to the greater culture surrounding us all.  CCCMG artists include debut solo artist John Cook, Malissa Redmond, The Saints, Andre Hawkins, Diana Gordon, and Gary Anglin and the Voices of CCC.

About CCC:
CCC (Christian Cultural Center), located at 12020 Flatlands Avenue in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn, is a non-denominational congregation founded and led by Rev. AR Bernard.  With over 27,000 members, CCC oversees a number of highly effective and successful outreach programs in the New York City area, including a thriving preparatory school for children ages 3-7, a community development corporation, several ministries and one of the largest Christian bookstores in the city.  They also have a food pantry that regularly serves the community on Thursdays, and was recently the site of a Starrett City/Spring Creek Towers Tenant Association meeting with more than 1100 residents, politicians and activists present.  For more information on the church visit www.cccinfo.org.