Lyric X-Press is a music group of a variety of artists whose goals are to break boundaries with their talents through music expression. I’m Brian Clark, better known as Brian Clark Music, founder and leader of Lyric X-Press. Going into this year we were excited to launch our first artist showcase event in March. The showcase unfortunately was placed on hold due to COVID-19. The year then took a major turn for the worse when the video of George Floyd’s death surfaced. It sparked protests throughout the nation, including our wonderful city. Before the makings of LXP there was me, Brian the hip-hop artist. 

I’ve been making music in Des Moines since 2003, releasing eight studio projects with three different acts: Des Moines Boyz, Lesson7 and myself as a solo artist. In 2016 I converted over to Christian hip-hop and have since released two Christian albums: “Heaven Flow” and “Parables.” Once the racial injustice protests began and the conversation about systematic racism and slavery grew, I knew as an artist and community leader that Lyric X-Press had to contribute in some way, shape or form. 

LXP artists Noel Price and G Seven were both very active in the peaceful protests and marches. I myself could not participate due to my daughter being at high risk for COVID-19 with an autoimmune deficiency. Though the case for change was needed, the safety of my family ultimately came first. At LXP we are a diverse group of artists and our business model is inclusion first. We strive to set the standard in the Des Moines music scene to be an organization that gives inspiring artists a platform, the opportunity to learn music and the business behind it. Standing up for the injustices in our city and nation was aligned with our values as an organization so we set forth to take a stand.

I knew I had to take action. Also, I knew the perfect way to do it, and that was to make an anthem song for Black Lives Matter. The first step was to find the perfect beat, one that would keep the heads bobbing. Once I had that, then I needed to pray over the track. I typically will do this to ask God to give me the words and the wisdom to complete the task he is asking of me. I will usually think of things to talk about for a couple of days. This part of the process is most important because when making a song like this you don’t want to have any wasted space. I knew this was a very sensitive topic so I wanted to make sure I delivered the message accurately and efficiently. 

Once I had the verses complete, I contacted Noel Price, who is the R&B act of LXP, and Gabe Cox “G Seven,” one of our hip-hop artists who also specializes in engineering. It was important for me to make this song using all LXP resources, not outsourcing our services, because I knew that this movement meant just as much to them as it did me. The three of us got together to record the song on June 20. We met in the evening and by the end of the night Noel created a beautiful pre-chorus and I then added the finishing lines of the chorus. As we were completing the song we knew we’d just created something special that would be a part of Des Moines history until the end of time. 

Our President Walker “DubYou” Harrell teamed up with Gabe to finish the mixing and mastering, and in seven days we had our legendary Lyric X-Press masterpiece. By day 11 it was being released on all digital outlets everywhere. “Black Lives Matter” is a powerful, insightful song that speaks the truth of the ultimate sin of our nation, which is racism. “BLM” gives you a clear picture of life as a Black man in America, including the history of slavery in our nation. “BLM” is appropriate for all ages. You can stream “Black Lives Matter” today on all media outlets(Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play and YouTube under “Brian Clark Music – Black Lives Matter ft. Noel Price”). 

Photo by Joe Crimmings