Sacred Instrumentation with Doctah B. Sirius

Hip hop music may not be thought of as a spiritual movement, but one of the pioneers behind the success of hip hop music can attest to the power of this musical genre. Doctah B. Sirius, formerly known as Courtney Branch, is well known for his work with Living Color, AMD and Boss, all West Coast artists that helped bring hip hop to into the mainstream. It was the movement of hip hop into the spotlight, however, that had detrimental effects on Doctah B. Sirius. During his time writing, producing and performing with such artists, Branch’s own health suffered, eventually causing him to retreat from the stardom he had helped to create, focus on ways to heal himself, and eventually help to motivate and heal the world.

In his latest musical release, “Keys to the Inner Sanctum,” Doctah B. Sirius indulges in his love for hip hop and traditional percussion instruments like the djembe, mbira and djun-djun drum; instruments that can help awaken and align the consciousness through spiritually transformative rhythms and sound and music therapy concepts. It is this type of holistically-based healing that implored Doctah B. Sirius to integrate his knowledge of and love for music with the various health and wellness aspects of herbs, meditation and alternative healing practices.

After being diagnosed with “multiple system failures,” during the height of his career, Sirius turned to herbs and plant-based nutrition to heal his body. Almost miraculously, these treatments worked and inspired Sirius to begin motivational speaking, encouraging others to heal themselves through various holistic methods, as well as learn specialized topics like personal power and confidence and ways to become independently wealthy. With the history of drums like the djembe and its ceremonial purposes in celebrations of life, birth, weddings and other festivities, moving from hip hop music, which is also rooted in traditional and celebratory purposes, to sacred, healing music may not have been as much of a stretch as it first appears.

The tracks on "Keys to the Inner Sanctum" certainly provide a powerful combination of sacred drumming with a definite hip hop tone, giving credit to the ability of music to evolve and transform as well as heal and bring people together. Today, Doctah B. Sirius continues to speak and teach about his knowledge and experiences with holistic health and healing concepts as they relate to the physical, mental, emotional and even financial successes that can be achieved through personal power and commitment. These successes are as evident in his own life as they are in his latest music production that has brought a little bit of hip hop, and a lot of djembes, into meditative motivation.