2021 has been a hard year for many of us, fraught with loss and pain; we need music for that. Fortunately for us, Virginia based artist Rep has a song for us. Unfortunately, this song was crafted out of his own personal losses. Back in August he lost a friend to Covid. She left behind a husband and a four year old. This coupled with the passing of Rep’s father at the beginning of the year, made Rep think about how hard it is to stand strong in your faith during hard times. From these thoughts comes the single “Even If He Doesn’t.”
The beat, produced by Unbeatz, sets the the tone with it’s somber mood. Rep starts the song off with the hook, where he says that he knows God will make a way. The question them comes, if God doersn’t make a way for you is He still God? Many times we acknowledge that God is Lord and in charge, but when hard times come, God suddenly isn’t God to many of us anymore. Rep dips into his singing bag (Did you know Rep could sing?) and he sounds good on this. Rep starts the first verse by saying that life is a race and it feels like he’s in last place. “Enemy got me on my back right now/Running this race but I’m last right now,” and that’s a real sentiment. Nobody likes to be in last place; that’s the one place you don’t want to be in a race.
As we head into the second verse, Rep gets into the song a bit more with lines like, “Some people bow just cuz they’re told/Cuss you to your face just cuz they’re bold.” His goal is to keep walking with the Lord and never sell his soul. My favorite lines from this record are, “Honestly, i’ve been burned before/Rather follow trinity til they see a fourth.” This speaks to the theme of “Even If He Doesn’t,” as it parallels the sentiments of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. When the king of Babylon told them to either bow or be thrown into the fiery furnace, they believed that the Lord would deliver them. however, they also said “Even If He Doesn’t,” they still wouldn’t bow. When they were thrown into the furnace, the king looked in and was astounded to see a fourth person. This person looked like the Son of God. To me, Rep’s line says that he’s going to keep following God until He shows up in the situation. Rep isn’t just walking though, as he’s got “Ashy knees and a worn floor,” which speaks to him being on his knees praying. Rep takes us out with the hook and we hear more of his vocals singing as the song fades.
This is a great song from Rep that can minister to people in a hard time. 2021 to many feels like an extension of 2020, arguably the worst year in recent memory. This is all questions and no answers, and that’s a good thing. Life isn’t always wrapped up in a bow. Rep asks something that we to direct inwardly, “If God doesn’t make a way, is He still God?”
