The Spirit of Truth

The "Spirit of Truth" was a segment for a televangelist (under the pseudonym Reverend X - credited as Vincent Stewart) who appeared on a program entitled "One Man Show". The program was broadcast on Los Angeles-based Public-access television for five years during the late 1990s. A video of the program was uploaded to YouTube in 2006, and the televangelist's erratic behavior (including frequent swearing and uncontrollable dancing) led to his becoming an Internet phenomenon. Several more videos became available on the Internet over the following months. At present, many other previously unseen episodes are being added periodically.

Identity of the preacher

When the videos appeared on an episode of VH1's "Web Junk 20", he was identified as "Reverend X"; due to his unconfirmed identity, many people referred to both the show and the preacher as "The Spirit of Truth." The identity of the preacher was revealed as Don Vincent on the July 27, 2006 edition of The Howard Stern Show.^[1] In a July 31, 2006 interview with the Kidd Chris Radio Show, the preacher said his public-access show was taken off the air due to an incident in which he invited viewers to "look for some sin" and proceeded to drop his pants and expose his bare buttocks.^{[citation needed]}

Video observations

The camera operator zooms in and out of the preacher's face multiple times, as Chroma key effects are used for the production. In some shots, his head is at the bottom right hand side of the screen. In one video, the preacher is seen standing in front of a still image of Yosemite Falls in Yosemite National Park with a book. In another video, he is seen shirtless, sitting and standing in front of a still image of himself, reading rhymed verses from a much smaller book, consisting of what he calls 'my scripture'. In a later video he again appears in front of an image of himself in the background standing in a crane position. He holds a cane in some of the video clips, though having no apparent trouble walking or dancing. At one point, a listener jokingly calls in and says that the large book of scriptures he is holding 'looks like the Yellow Pages'.

Music featured in the videos

The videos feature several songs that play as the preacher speaks. These songs include:

• "Bop Gun (One Nation)" by Ice Cube featuring George Clinton
• "Ambitionz Az a Ridah" by 2Pac
• "Can't C Me" by 2Pac
• "Got My Mind Made Up" by Tupac Shakur featuring Daz, Kurupt, Method Man, Redman
• "How Do U Want It" by 2Pac featuring KC and Jo Jo
• "No More Pain" by 2Pac
• "Here I Go" by Mystikal
• "Gangstas" by Mystikal
• "The Creator Has the Master Plan" by Brooklyn Funk Essentials
• "Somebody Told Me" by Teddy Pendergrass
• "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer
• "Cross 'em out and Put a 'K,'" "King Of The Hill," "Westward Ho," "3 Time Felons" by Westside Connection
• "Kick in the Door" by The Notorious B.I.G.
• "Hypnotize" by The Notorious B.I.G.
• "Nasty Boy" by The Notorious B.I.G.
• "Sky's the Limit" by The Notorious B.I.G. featuring 112
• "Going Back To Cali" by The Notorious B.I.G.
• "Playa Hater" by The Notorious B.I.G.
• "Notorious Thugs" by The Notorious B.I.G. featuring Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
• "What Is Love" by Howard Jones
• "King of Glory" by James Bignon
• "Killing me Softly" by The Fugees
• "Gettin' It" by Too $hort

Cultural impact

On April 4, 2006, the Florida-based radio program The Hideout played a portion of The Spirit of Truth, with commentary from hosts El Jefe and JDubs.^[2] On the June 9, 2006 edition of "Web Junk 20", a video of the preacher was ranked #3. Radio station WRIF in Detroit mentioned the preacher on its "Drew & Mike" morning program and on its website, as well as KLLI's "Russ Martin Show" in Dallas.^[3] On September 8, 2006, Frank Kramer from the Frosty, Heidi & Frank Show played the audio from the first Spirit of Truth video. He now occasionally plays Spirit of Truth saying "Stupid bitch". The All Out Show, featured on Sirius' Shade 45, uses a truncated version of one of the Spirit of Truth's rants, which covers him saying "I don't give a fuck what you think, bitch", and immediately runs into "Cut that bitch off, next caller." Rapper Sean Price (formerly known as Ruck, of the duo Heltah Skeltah) used several audio clips from the first Spirit of Truth video as interludes on his 2007 release, Jesus Price Supastar. Author Tariq Nasheed uses several clips from The Spirit of Truth on his Mack Lessons Radio.

On May 18, 2007, Don Vincent appeared on Kidd Chris Show on Philadelphia's WYSP. On the program, he confirmed that he had all of the videos from his "One Man Show" days, which spanned five years. The hosts asked if he planned on releasing them on DVD. Vincent said that there were plans in place to do so through his new production staff "Thee Production", although an exact date was not provided. Vincent also mentioned that he was currently in talks with cable network Black Entertainment Television and VH-1's "Web Junk 20" for future projects. In addition, he will explain the reason for his brash treatment of callers in an upcoming book.

Don Vincent appeared as a guest on the Comedy Central show Tosh.0 for the "Web Redemption" segment, August 18, 2010.^[4]

Don Vincent is credited with coining and making popular the phrase "who da fuck iz you doe?"^{[dubious – discuss]}

Spill.com creator, animator and contributor Korey Coleman named the email section of the podcast "Let's Do This", to a quote by Rev X which is "F your thoughts". Mr.Coleman has gone over the fact many times in his show and outside.^[5]

New YouTube Channel

On August 31, 2010, Vincent emerged on YouTube with a new channel under the user name Tapper7765. In a series of cryptic and somewhat incoherent videos recorded and uploaded via an Android mobile phone, Vincent takes on the new pseudonym of "Bishop Nigga" and talks into his middle finger as if it were a microphone. As of July 27, 2011, the channel contains 175 videos of Vincent.

External links

Videos

• The Original Spirit of Truth Video
• The Second Spirit of Truth Video
• "Video 3 - Part One"
• "Video 3 - Part Two"
• "Video 4 - Part Two"
• "New Rev. X video" - Part 1; Part 2
• "Rev. X - Adore / Here I go" (removed)
• "Rev. X - The Healing Dance"
• "Rev. X - Hey Love"
• "Rev. X - The Sermon on the Mount"
• "Rev. X - Spiritual Seduction in 3D"
• "Rev. X - I Come With The Truth (debut video)

Others

• Spirit of Truth Production Company MySpace
• Official Don Vincent, aka "Reverend X" MySpace page
• Howard Stern interview audio
• Ultimate Spirit of Truth Sound Clip Collection (rar)
• Don Vincent's YouTube channel (as Bishop Nigga)

References

1. ^ Howard Stern Show recap
2. ^ The Cursing Preacher
3. ^ WRIF's Drew & Mike
4. ^ Comedy Central.com: Tosh.0 Season 2 Press Release
5. ^ Part 2 is when it's mentioned, at around the 32 minute mark]