Red Rover

Artist

Jeremiah Bligen

Artist bio

Jeremiah Bligen is a Johns Island, South Carolina–born artist whose music merges biblical conviction with lived experience. Drawing inspiration from ’90s and early-2000s hip-hop, R&B, rock, gospel, and the spirituals passed down through his grandfather, Benjamin Bligen—a singer with the Moving Star Hall Singers whose work is preserved by Smithsonian Folkways—his music resists genre boundaries in favor of honesty, depth, and reflection. As a rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer, Bligen creates authentically—prioritizing truth over trends and storytelling over formulas. His catalog includes Before I Wake, which earned him a spot on Rapzilla.com’s Top Freshman list for 2013, When Ravens Cry, Fighting Stance EP, the collaborative album Inventory, and his most recent release, The Flames Will Not Consume You (2024), which was nominated for Album of the Year and highlighted as one of the top albums of the year by Rapzilla. In addition to music, Jeremiah serves as a graphic designer, project manager, creative leader, and speaker—shaping and communicating vision across sound, visuals, and live spaces. His work has received multi-year recognition from Engage Art, earning top placements as both a solo artist and collaborator, including a first-place international award for the song and music video “Wake.” He now serves as an ambassador for Engage Art, continuing his commitment to cultivating creativity, excellence, and service within the arts community. Now based in North Carolina with his family, Jeremiah remains dedicated to using music, leadership, and collaboration to share faith, hope, and thoughtful engagement with life.

Music Video 2018 Contest

Title

Medium/Genre

Hip-Hop / Rap

Artist Statement

This version of Red Rover is a variant of a song from my first album, When Ravens Cry. The process to create this song started off as a normal one; selected the music, wrote and recorded the lyrics to the verse and chorus. Then - once I began wrapping the song up to send to mixing, I found inspiration for a second half of the song (which became a remix officially, but is included in this version). This song is special to me because it allows me to encourage other believers to fight the good fight, as I encourage myself to do the same.

How it fits into contest

I believe that this work responds to Ephesians 6:10-20 as it was created as a reminder to stand in faith and embrace the fight - noting that our perspectives on the how and why we fight as believers are different, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. Armor is used as a tool in a fight, and the scripture is using this imagery to exhort readers to put on the spiritual things as intentionally as one would put on the natural one. We stand to fight, and fight to stand in every season, taking in the fresh air of opportunity - the opportunity to walk with God in a new way (through struggle, abundance, uncertainty, the familiar, etc.) , growing in faith, knowledge and wisdom. We fight and stand in the face of obstacles and adversity, not to earn favor with the Lord, but because by grace we've been saved.