Chris Greenwood (best known as Manafest) is a rapper from Toronto Ontario C… Read Full Bio ↴Chris Greenwood (best known as Manafest) is a rapper from Toronto Ontario Canada.

He is also a skater, which led to his career in hip hop; after an accident in 1998, he took time to focus on rap and was noticed by Trevor McNevan of Ontario-based band Thousand Foot Krutch. This led to his signing to an internationally distributed label, BEC Recordings, and debut release Epiphany, which was made primarily of West Coast hip hop with several rapcore outings in the vein of Limp Bizkit.

He released two independent albums, Mislead Youth (2001) and My Own Thing (2003), prior to Epiphany in 2005. He has toured in Canada, the United States and Ireland to date.

His second album, Glory, emphasized rap-rock elements with more Linkin Park-esque nu metal, and included more authentic hip hop stylings.

Central themes of Manafest's music include nonconformity, hip hop culture, and walking with God.

Manafest says in regards to Glory that: "I wanted to allow all of my influences show on Glory. Musically, I wanted to blend the appeal of Linkin Park, Sum 41, and The Beastie Boys. Vocally, I wanted to merge that with popular hip hop à la Eminem and Kanye West. But beyond musical influence, I wanted to reflect on the issues around me in the most positive way possible. And whether I am talking about the loss of loved ones and abuse, or breakdancing and skate culture, it's all for the glory of heaven. In the end, my prayer is that people would not simply bob their heads to this, but feel a very real sense of healing from the words. However, this record is not all serious. Some of my favorite tracks are the most lighthearted ones."

Turn It Up
Manafest Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

My first birthday was 79, my first worse day when daddy he died
Church on Sunday and you know I would hide, momma dragged me I would put up a fight
Let's go back to the day, when the schools would pray, when you were safe, no guns and rage
We played songs from M.J, heal the world and ate great
I got to say hey, things sure have changed, but uh

CHORUS:
SO TURN IT UP AND SING THIS SONG A LITTLE LOUDER

SHOUT IT OUT LIKE YOU GOT THE POWER
We've only just begun to live
We all need love so let us give

SO TURN IT UP AND SING THIS SONG A LITTLE LOUDER
SHOUT IT OUT LIKE YOU GOT THE POWER
We've only just begun to live
We all need love so let us give

Verse II
Well I can tell ye what you want love,
But won't like the outcome
I'd rather be a falcon flying over mountains
Drowning out the voices still doubting
Shouting out to God for a nation through was founded
People wanna steal, kill destroy, try to fill a void
I wanna bring the joy like playing with toys
Joy still comes in the morning, good morning
Fear still comes to bring torment, torment?
I bet your bottom dollar you can still win tomorrow
And maybe the cup could still be won by Toronto
I heard Jesus Christ was a tough act to follow
And that we all die is a tough pill to swallow
We can say forget it and never go check it
You can write a letter but still never send it
Citizens living in fear come on now
Let this light manifest sing it out loud

CHORUS REPEATS:

Verse III
You can go this way, that way, or that way
U-turn, to learn, we all got a have faith
Mayday were going down, down
No were not man were trying to figure it out
About 2000 and something we'll all be wondering
Have we moved to Mars, and is the kingdom still coming in

Music is the voice of the people, the mind is a muscle
To fight against evil work it out!!

Overall Meaning

In Manafest's song Turn It Up, he reminisces about the past and compares it to the present, highlighting the changes that have taken place. He states that his first birthday was in 1979 and how his first worse day was when his dad died. He goes on to mention how he used to hide when his mom dragged him to church on Sundays, but back then, it was a safe environment where schools would pray, and there were no guns and rage. They would play songs from Michael Jackson and eat great food. Manafest points out that things sure have changed since then.

In the second verse of the song, Manafest talks about how he would instead be a falcon flying over mountains and reminds listeners that joy still comes in the morning. He mentions that fear may still bring torment, but he stresses that one can still win and that the cup could still be won by Toronto. He reiterates that Jesus Christ is a tough act to follow, and death is a tough pill to swallow. However, he says that instead of living in fear, they should let their light manifest and sing it out loud.

In the third verse, Manafest discusses that one can choose to go this way, that way, or that way, but they need to have faith. He mentions how in the future, people may wonder if they moved to Mars and if the kingdom is still coming. He goes on to say that music is the voice of the people, and the mind is a muscle to fight against evil.

Line by Line Meaning

My first birthday was 79, my first worse day when daddy he died
The year I was born, my first tragic event was when my father passed away.

Church on Sunday and you know I would hide, momma dragged me I would put up a fight
Even though my mother took me to Church on Sunday, I used to avoid going and resist her efforts.

Let's go back to the day, when the schools would pray, when you were safe, no guns and rage
Let's reminisce about the time when it was safe to go to schools and they used to pray, without worrying about violent incidents.

We played songs from M.J, heal the world and ate great
We used to listen to Michael Jackson's songs such as Heal the World, and also had good food.

I got to say hey, things sure have changed, but uh
Things have changed a lot, but I still have hope.

CHORUS: SO TURN IT UP AND SING THIS SONG A LITTLE LOUDER SHOUT IT OUT LIKE YOU GOT THE POWER We've only just begun to live We all need love so let us give
Let's raise our voices and sing this song loudly, as we've only just started living and need to share love with each other.

Verse II Well I can tell ye what you want love, But won't like the outcome I'd rather be a falcon flying over mountains Drowning out the voices still doubting Shouting out to God for a nation through was founded People wanna steal, kill destroy, try to fill a void I wanna bring the joy like playing with toys Joy still comes in the morning, good morning Fear still comes to bring torment, torment? I bet your bottom dollar you can still win tomorrow And maybe the cup could still be won by Toronto I heard Jesus Christ was a tough act to follow And that we all die is a tough pill to swallow We can say forget it and never go check it You can write a letter but still never send it Citizens living in fear come on now Let this light manifest sing it out loud
I could tell you what you want to hear, but it might not lead to the best outcome. Instead, I prefer to be free like a falcon and let go of doubts. I am grateful to God for our nation's founding, even when people want to do harm. I want to bring joy to life like playing with toys. Even though fear can bring torment, there's still hope for tomorrow. It's possible for Toronto to win the cup. Jesus Christ is a hard role model to follow, and death is a tough reality to accept. We could ignore the problems, but it won't fix them. Let's express our light and overcome fear together.

CHORUS REPEATS:
The chorus repeats, conveying the message to keep being powerful and spreading love.

Verse III You can go this way, that way, or that way U-turn, to learn, we all got a have faith Mayday were going down, down No were not man were trying to figure it out About 2000 and something we'll all be wondering Have we moved to Mars, and is the kingdom still coming in Music is the voice of the people, the mind is a muscle To fight against evil work it out!!
We have various directions to choose from in life, but we must have faith and learn from our experiences. Even though we face challenges, we will figure it out. In the future, we might wonder if we've moved to Mars or if the kingdom has come. Music serves as a way for people to express themselves, and our minds can be trained to fight against evil.

Contributed by Hannah W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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TRACKS