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Hip-hop can carry a positive message. Eli Edwards, left, founded Rhyme4Reason after getting out of prison to inspire youth to trust God as he does. His partner, Joel Johnson, dances at Edwards’ home in the Town of Wallkill last week while Edwards spins the turntable.
Times Herald-Record/TOM BUSHEY
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By Ashley Kelly
April 14, 2008
TOWN OF WALLKILL — With his hands tucked tightly in his pockets the young boy watched the pallbearers carry his slain sister's white coffin.
It was the autumn of 1986 and Eli Edwards' 11-year-old sister, Tanya McKiernan, was murdered by her next-door neighbor while the young girl was selling magazine subscriptions door to door.
Her murderer was 15-year-old Charles Kimble — the brother of one of her playmates. Edwards was only 7 when she died. It was her death, coupled with a childhood spent in foster care, that landed him on a path of self-destruction.
At his lowest point, facing 25 years in prison, he found God. Edwards, now 29, is a Christian hip-hop artist. He uses his life as a testimony to encourage teenagers and young adults. Edwards and break dancer Joel Johnson call themselves Rhyme4Reason.
"I can see God's hand on my life," Edwards says. "Back then I didn't. I was like, where are you, God?" The duo's debut album, titled, "That was Then and This is Now," was released in 2006.
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Life after Tanya
"I used to always think she was coming home," says Edwards, whose family moved from Otisville to the Town of Wallkill after Tanya's death. It was there that they tried to start over — tried to move past the pain. "That's kind of where life went down hill," says Edwards, looking at old newspaper clippings of his sister. Coming to school with bruises on his body inflicted by an abusive stepfather landed him in foster care by 1989.
At 16 he left the foster-care system and hit the streets. "I basically lived with friends and rented a couch," he says. Working two part-time jobs, Edwards still managed to get his GED at 17.
"In the process of that, I was trying to numb the pain with drugs and alcohol," he says.
In 2001 a brawl in a Monroe bar landed him in jail. Edwards stabbed a man with a shard of glass from a broken beer bottle. He was charged with first-degree assault and faced a maximum of 25 years in prison.
Jail time
Behind bars, Edwards began reading a Bible his mother brought him. "I started seeing these stories and saw how God never forsaked his people," he says. Edwards began writing about his life in a notebook. "Basically I came to the end of myself, like what am I doing with my life?" he says. It was then that Edwards received his calling to spread God's message through music.
Edwards served only about seven months in jail because his charge was reduced. He then served five years probation. Edwards founded Rhyme4Reason in 2002. He and Johnson perform mostly at churches, youth events and music festivals. "I realized — wow — kids are relating to this music because this is life," says Edwards, who says he and Johnson are starting a youth music label.
"I trust God. That is kind of my motivation and purpose," Edwards says. "He's given me an opportunity to change."
The group's next CD, "Life Goes On," will be dedicated to Tanya.
akelly@th-record.com |
